UK: Academy fixes the e-gap

The British Academy, the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, is joining the electronic age by launching a new grants system, e-GAP2. The first schemes to benefit from the new application process will be the International Partnerships Scheme (IPS) and the UK-Latin America and the Caribbean Link Programme (LACP).

Both schemes are flagship initiatives of the academy. IPS enables scholars to develop links between the UK and research centres and institutions in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia across the humanities and social sciences.

LACP encourages interaction between scholars from the UK and Latin America and the Caribbean in order to foster new, as well as strengthen existing academic links between regions.

The academy offers nine awards of up to £10,000 (US$16,000) a year for three years. Last year, areas of research ranged from archaeology and linguistics in the Andes to foreign policy making, security perceptions and conflict resolution in Syrian Turkish relations.

Academy President Sir Adam Roberts said: "It is important that research can be carried out while the issues and topics are still current, and the outputs beneficial. This new electronic system has huge advantages for applicants, streamlining and speeding up our assessment processes. It will make applying for financial support from the academy easier than ever."

The closing date for applications to these two schemes is 22 September 2009.

For further information: www.britac.ac.uk, or email partnerships@britac.ac.uk. To apply, log on to egap.britac.ac.uk.