Applications for ARC East of England ASCENT Seed Funding 2026 are now open. The deadline is 30th October 2026 at 5:00pm.
Introduction
The ASCENT Seed Funding Award is designed to support social care staff working in public, private, and third-sector organisations to initiate or further develop their research skills. The award provides funding to undertake research training (i.e., course fees for relevant training) and, where appropriate, to cover backfill costs, enabling staff to attend and participate in training activities.
You may start your award on any date on or after 1 January 2027. Awards cannot commence before this date. The end date for all awards is 28 February 2028, regardless of the start date. Applicants may request up to £4,000 in total.
For this funding round, awards are available only for research training and related backfill costs. Funding is not available for small-scale research projects or evaluations. If you are interested in undertaking small-scale projects, please consider applying for our ARC East of England Research and Impact Fellowship Programme.
Eligibility
Applicants are eligible to apply if they are employed by one of the following organisations and support the delivery of adult or children’s social care services in the East of England:
- Local authorities
- Third-sector organisations (e.g., charities)
- Private-sector organisations (e.g., care homes)
For applicants employed part-time by an eligible organisation, funding will only be provided for training directly relevant to their social care role. Funding cannot be used to support training associated with other roles or activities (e.g., doctoral studies). Applicants must clearly demonstrate how the proposed training relates to their social care role and responsibilities.
Finding the Right Training Opportunities
If you have identified training needs but are unsure where to find suitable opportunities, please first review the application template, which can be downloaded below. The template provides further guidance.
If you require additional support in identifying suitable training opportunities, please contact the ASCENT Programme Coordinator Dr Lida Efstathopoulou, at l.g.efstathopoulou@herts.ac.uk by 15 October 2026. The Coordinator can provide a list of potential external training opportunities and, if needed, arrange a brief meeting to discuss your training needs and help identify suitable options. Please note that this support will not be available after 15 October 2026.
Further eligibility criteria, the potential award start and end dates, available budget, and contact details for any queries are included in the application template.
Before beginning your application, please ensure that you read the instructions in the template carefully. Applications that do not follow the guidance provided will not be considered for funding.