RTPI Early Career Research Grants 2024
This grant round is now closed. A new round will open in 2025. Watch this space!
The Early Career Research Grant aims to support PhD students or researchers within five years of receiving their PhDs to gain experience of leading research projects that have an impact on planning practice and/or planning policy.
Level of funding – up to £10,000
Number of grants to be awarded for 2024-25 – 3
Duration of funding – up to 12 months
Eligibility – applicants based at a university offering accredited RTPI courses, who are within 5 years of receiving their PhD or equivalent professional training
Closing date for proposals – Sunday 13th October 2024
Up to 4 grants of up to £10,000 each will be made, tenable for up to 12 months. Research grants are funded by contributions from the English regions of the RTPI. We encourage proposals which include a case study or focus located geographically within at least one of the following English regions: North West, North East, West Midlands, South West, South East.
Benefits include the chance to disseminate your work through RTPI channels. The call for applicants went live on Tuesday 27 August 2024, and was announced on Monday 2 September at the UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference at the University of Reading. The closing date for proposals was Sunday 13 October 2024.
Proposals for either collaborative or individual projects are equally welcome but the principal investigator (PI) must be based in/employed by an RTPI accredited planning school or must be a member of the RTPI (excluding affiliate membership).
Further information on previous winners is available at 2022-23 Early Career Research competition winners.
You can read more about the opportunity in this blog by Dr Charles Goode, a previous grant recipient, who is currently investigating Young People’s Attitudes Towards Car Dependency and Development. Please also see this blog published by Dr Andrew Hoolachan, a previous recipient, who was awarded funds to investigate how rain affects everyday life in cities and the impact this has on planning practice.
Eligibility
You can apply if you are an early career researcher defined as one of the following:
- PhD student enrolled at a university offering accredited RTPI courses.
- Researcher who is within 5 years of receiving your PhD or equivalent professional training (measured from the date of successful PhD viva to the point of the RTPI’s receipt of your proposal) and:
- based at a university offering accredited RTPI courses.
- not enrolled or based at a university offering accredited RTPI courses but are a member of the RTPI (excluding affiliate membership).
* Please note that you can apply if you have spent time away from research within the last 5 years e.g. for a career break, maternity leave, - long-term sick leave. We will make allowance for this when considering your proposal.
Level of award and description
The maximum grant is up to £10,000 over 12 months. Proposals should demonstrate that RTPI funds are sought for a clearly defined, discrete piece of research which will have an identifiable outcome.
We encourage proposals which demonstrate value to RTPI members, regions and networks.
Funds are available to facilitate data collection, data analysis and to enable the advancement of research through workshops or conferences. Funds may be utilised to carry out additional research activities for already-funded research schemes (e.g., ESRC or UKRI funding).
When grants are sought for topping up existing funds they cannot be used solely to support attendance at conferences or workshops. Grants are not intended solely to support travel where there is no planned programme of activity to meet a clearly specified research objective. We encourage proposals which demonstrate support (financial and/or otherwise) from researchers’ host institutions or academic departments.
Submission process
Applications are submitted through an online process.
Assessment criteria
Proposals will be assessed primarily (though not solely) with reference to the research objectives set out in the 2022-2024 RTPI Research Strategy. You are strongly encouraged to demonstrate how your proposed research project meets the five objectives of the 2022-24 RTPI Research Strategy:
Relevance
How does your proposed research project address important issues faced by practitioners, policy makers and wider society?
Impact
- How does your proposed research project advance knowledge across sectors?
- How will it help to deliver information and expertise needed by policy makers and practitioners to help them deliver positive planning outcomes?
- How might you disseminate your research findings?
Promoting the value of planning
How does your proposed research project advocate the importance of planning and planners in addressing current challenges?
Improving Planning Practice
How will your proposed research project enhance skills within the profession and beyond?
Advancing Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI)
How does your proposed research project ensure that EDI is integrated at every stage of the research process?
For further information please email [email protected]