The British Council has successfully launched a new five-year programme to encourage international research collaboration between ambitious early career researchers from the UK and nineteen countries around the world, which have the potential to be important future partners for the UK research and higher education sectors.

This initiative will encourage outward and inward mobility to enable early career researchers to make contacts internationally, through funding international workshops and travel grants. The initiative will encourage the involvement of social sciences and humanities researchers, as well as the natural sciences, and provide space for interdisciplinary interaction, with opportunities to bring together researchers from different fields focused on a common goal.

Workshops: This element of Researcher Links provides financial support to bring together a UK/partner country bilateral cohort of early career researchers to take part in a workshop focusing on building links for future collaboration and enhancing the researchers’ career opportunities. Workshops are coordinated by two leading researchers, one from each country, and focus on either a specific research area or an interdisciplinary theme. The 2013 call received over 400 applications from over 100 universities. A total of 49 workshops will be taking place in early 2014, with over 1700 early career researchers participating.

Travel Grants: This element of Researcher Links provides financial support for early career researchers in the UK to spend up to three months in any partner country participating in the Researcher Links initiative, or for partner country researchers to come to the UK. The aim is to enhance and strengthen links for future collaboration, build research capacity in developing economies, and enhance the researchers’ career opportunities. The 2013 call closed in November and received 385 applications. Successful applicants will be notified in due course.

Partner Countries - 2013/14: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Morocco, Egypt, Qatar, South Africa, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the United States of America (travel grants only). Other countries may be brought in subsequently. 

British Council Researcher Links