Focal awards multilingual futur

Application Platform: UKRI Funding Service

Application Sections: Summary, vision, approach, positive culture and environment, capability to deliver, partnerships and governance, use of resources and project partner details.

Assessment Process: Applications are assessed by an expert panel which reviews proposals and recommends which applicants should be invited to submit a full application.

Co-Funders: Not specified

Collaboration Rules: Proposals must involve collaboration between multiple higher education institutions and partner organisations beyond academia.

Competitiveness: Not specified

Consortium Requirements: Proposals must involve at least two higher education institutions and at least one non-academic partner organisation.

Decision Risks: Applications may be rejected if eligibility requirements are not met or if proposals fail to demonstrate strong consortium partnerships or training strategies aligned with the funding objectives.

Decision Timeline: The full application stage is expected to open in summer 2026.

Eligible Expenses: Doctoral studentships including tuition fees, student stipends, research training support, cohort development funding and additional stipend support for collaborative doctoral awards.

Eligible Scope: Programmes must provide doctoral training that develops advanced linguistic expertise, interdisciplinary research capability and career pathways across academia and other sectors.

Funding Intensity: Funding provided at UKRI doctoral stipend and fee levels.

Important Notes: Each higher education institution may submit up to two outline applications as lead and may also participate as partners on other applications.

Ineligible Projects: Applications from a single higher education institution, organisations without doctoral training capacity in languages research, organisations based outside the UK, or proposals focused on master’s level training.

International Collaboration Requirement: International partners may participate as collaborators or project partners.

Interview Stage: Not specified

Key Requirements: Consortia must demonstrate strong doctoral training capability, collaboration between higher education institutions and partners beyond academia, and strategies to develop multilingual research skills addressing national skills gaps.

Lead Organisation Requirement: The lead organisation must be a UK higher education institution eligible for UKRI funding.

Match Funding Requirement: Institutional matched funding is not required.

Project Duration: Minimum of seven years to support four cohorts of doctoral students.

Project End Date: Final cohort expected to begin in the 2031 to 2032 academic year.

Project Start Date: First doctoral cohort expected to begin in October 2028.

Publication Date: 2025-11-21 00:00:00

Renewal Rules: Not specified

Research Category: Doctoral training and research capacity building within arts and humanities disciplines focused on language-grounded research.

Research Organisation Funding: Funding is provided to the lead higher education institution administering the doctoral training consortium.

Subcontractors: Not specified

Total Fund Available: Not specified