Eligibility

• Your proposed idea (under both streams) must draw on research that aligns to an AHRC or EPSRC discipline. See the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding guide (pp 67-74), and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 'list of research areas'.
• We welcome proposals from individual researchers and/or teams but require the Project Lead to have a Lancaster employment contract for the duration of their proposed project.
• You do not need to have received funding from any UK Research Council to be eligible to apply.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

We encourage Early Career Researchers to apply, under whichever definition is appropriate to your circumstances.

Our data on previous LU IAA applicants has demonstrated that certain groups are less likely to apply for an IAA, and though we won’t ask specific questions about protected characteristics, we do encourage applications from individuals representing any of the following groups:

• Individuals who identify as female
• Individuals with a declared disability
• Individual representative of ethnic groups other than white.

1. Light Art installation or display

• ~£18,000 is available and we hope to fund 1-2 projects to feature as major light art installations at LUL24.
• For stage 1 of the application process, we are looking for outline proposals and ideas of potential displays that could be developed and which draw on your research, innovation and/or impact.
• We do not expect applicants to have worked through all the technical aspects of delivery, but rather (at this stage) to propose creative ideas of how research could be presented in a light art format, and subsequently brought to life by LUL’s creative team and network of light artists.
• The shortlisted proposal(s) will progress to stage 2 and be required to attend an on-campus collaborative session on Monday 20th May, 13:00-15:00 with the LUL24, IAA and Public Engagement teams to further develop ideas and identify practical and budgetary parameters. Note, not all shortlisted proposals will progress to receive funding.
• Proposals should align to the 'Art of Science' theme, though this is broadly interpreted.
• Proposals must have light at the core of their display/presentation.
• The deadline for applying is 3rd May, 17.00pm and we will invite proposals to stage 2 in the w/c 6th May.

2. Explore Week activity

• ~£2,000 is available and we hope to fund 4-6 mini projects to feature as an activity or event as part of the LUL24 Explore week.
• We are looking for well-developed ideas, including participatory workshops & activities, talks, walking tours and/or other means of engagement that draw on your research and include a 'light' element or component.
• Proposals should align to the 'Art of Science' theme, though this is broadly interpreted.
• The deadline for applying is 3rd May, 17.00pm and we will notify successful applicants w/c 6th May.

Projects must allow sufficient time for development for delivery at LUL24. We're particularly interested to hear about how installations/displays could have a life beyond LUL24 in some way, either at other events or as part of ongoing research, engagement, and impact.

We are also interested to hear about ideas/concepts, particularly ambitious or potentially large-scale, which cannot be realistically delivered in time for LUL24 or are likely to require significant funding and development time working with a light artist(s) to achieve. LUL are happy to invest time in developing such proposals for future light art festivals.

1. Light Art installation or display (£18,000 available)

At this stage, this strand is about generating and gathering innovative ideas, rather than submitting detailed project budgets, as final costs and activity will be confirmed after applications have been received and as part of project initiations in consultation with LUL24 (see how to apply and support).

In this context, the following should be considered:

• The administration of the award will be devolved to LUL24, and as such, all project costs must relate to expenditure that can be facilitated by LUL, including artists’ fees, technical and equipment costs related to direct delivery and installation.
• Other costs to facilitate your proposal that might ordinarily be arranged at LU (such as staff costs, travel etc.) will only be considered on an exceptional basis and after consultation with the IAA Manager (as this will incur additional costs to the IAA beyond the £18,000 allocated).
• If unsure about costs and the scale/deliverability of your idea, then email the IAA Manager (j.p.hodge@lancaster.ac.uk) and Public Engagement Manager (j.shaw10@lancaster.ac.uk) in advance to discuss.

2. Explore Week activity (£2,000 available)

• Expenditure related to this strand will be administered by the LU IAA Post-award team.
• We expect activities to be costed in advance and total between £250-£500. Eligible costs include travel, subsistence, consumables, materials, and small items of equipment.
• The IAA cannot support any costs relating to UG/PG training or development, but students can be employed as researchers on direct delivery of eligible IAA activities (noting the scale of funding provided for this)
• Normal IAA rules apply, including no full economic costs (i.e. estates and indirect costs, permanent/existing staff time etc.)
• Costs and approvals do not need to go through the Research Support Office, though you may find it helpful to seek assistance with staff costs, if applicable.
• If unsure about costs and the scale/deliverability of your idea, then email the IAA Manager (j.p.hodge@lancaster.ac.uk) and Public Engagement Manager (j.shaw10@lancaster.ac.uk) in advance to discuss.

This is a two-stage process, differing between the two strands. The deadline for applying is 3rd May, 17.00pm.

1. Light Art installation or display (£18,000 available)

1. A brief online form (Light Art installation) which captures background information, an outline of the idea, indication of scale, and ideas about space, venue, and setting.
2. Initial shortlisting by representatives from LUL, IAA and Public Engagement team (w/c 6^th May).
3. Shortlisted projects invited to a collaborative session with LUL24, IAA and Public Engagement teams on Monday 20th May, 13:00-15:00 to further develop ideas and identify practical and budgetary parameters.
4. Following from session above, projects will be selected to be delivered at LUL24 (note, depending on the volume and cost of projects, we cannot guarantee that all projects shortlisted at stage 3. above will progress to selection/funding)

2. Explore Week activity (£2,000 available)

1. A brief online form (Explore Week activity) which captures information about project activity and costs.
2. Projects scored and selected w/c 6th May, taking overall volume and cost of requests into account.
3. Selected projects allocated funding and applicants notified w/c 6th May.

Please note, that for both strands, Head of Department approval emails need to be uploaded via the online form. You will either have to save the email as a PDF or if you do not have an Adobe Acrobat licence, use the snipping tool or screen shot functionality to save the email as an image file (.msg files cannot be directly uploaded via MS forms).

• An online information session with representatives from LUL and the IAA/Public Engagement team was held on the 16th April. A recording is available here and the slide deck here.

• A reminder that proposals under strand 1 (Light Art installation or display) progressing to second stange will need to attend an in-person collaborative session with LUL24, IAA and Public Engagement teams on Monday 20th May, 13:00-15:00.

Please reach out to j.p.hodge@lancaster.ac.uk and j.shaw10@lancaster.ac.uk to discuss proposals in advance as there will be regular interactions between LU and LUL24 regarding emerging proposals and ideas, and this may inform development of your project.

We require successful applicants to update PURE with details of their activity/engagement and engage in the annual UKRI IAA reporting processes.