RES COVID Academic Support fund (NOW CLOSED)

The fund’s objectives are to support members who have been particularly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK universities and academic departments, and to support innovations in teaching economics that have arisen from online/blended learning delivery during 2020.

The Society particularly welcomes proposals for funding/support of:

Stream 1 – Late-stage PhD students who require additional time to complete their research following the pandemic;

Stream 2 – Early career economists seeking funding for research activities (eg. data purchases, RA assistance);

Stream 3 – Development and dissemination of innovative economics teaching methods in universities arising from the lockdown. For the teaching fund, the Society is particularly interested in work that consolidates and evaluates what has been learned from the rapid pivot towards blended learning during 2020. It welcomes applications exploring effective forms of teaching, learning and assessment that will be of lasting value beyond the pandemic. 

The Society will consider funding requests for multiple PhD students or early career economists within the department/school. The Society will also consider funding requests from heads of department/school for research activities of other academics (e.g. from non-ECR assistant professors, associate professors and professors), but these proposals will be assigned a lower priority than those above.

Funding examples under stream 1 and 2 include costs related to completing research e.g. data purchase and research assistants, and living costs incurred from an extension. Under stream 3, funding expenditure could include licences, equipment and research & technical assistance that result in the development of open resources to support teaching and assessment. 

Applicants are also reminded of the support being offered by UKRI for doctoral students affected by the pandemic. 

Stream 1 – PhD students and Stream 2 – Early career economists

1. PhD students should be studying at a UK university and intend to enter the job market within the next two years.
2. Early career economists should be in the first two years of their career following their first academic appointment.
3. The constraint on the individual’s capacity to conduct research should have been the impact of the pandemic, rather than any other issues.
4. PhD students and early career economists need to be RES members in order to receive the funds but do not need to be members for their application to be considered.

Stream 3 – Innovative economics teaching methods

1. Beneficiaries should be individuals or teams from a UK university currently engaged in UG or PGT teaching in online or blended format in any area of economics.
2. Beneficiaries should be able to commit to develop, evaluate and disseminate the proposed innovation in teaching or assessment over the period of the grant.

Applications should be made for each category by the head of department/school/unit. You will need to be a RES member to submit an application. If you are not, a staff colleague who is a member may submit on your behalf. Please ensure the application meets the fund’s objectives, eligibility criteria and conditions set out in the application form.PhD students and early career economists need to be RES members in order to receive the funds but do not need to be members for their application to be considered.

Download the form and complete all relevant sections, providing as much detail as possible to justify the proposed amounts and setting out details of any other funding. When the application round opens early April, upload the form via the submit button (on the right) ensuring that any Word documents have been converted to a PDF.

Those receiving funding will be asked to provide a report at the end of the funding period detailing the impact/outcome of the funding. Those receiving funding during the academic year 2021/2022 will additionally be asked to provide an interim progress report.