Public Policy Challenge Fund

Previous Challenge Fund awards have involved policy partners in and outside the UK, in local and central government, parliament, and civil society, and have addressed a range of public policy challenges, including those related to climate change, the economy, health, international development, migration, and peace and security. They have involved research partners from diverse disciplines.

The Challenge Fund may be used to support new partnerships and activities, or for development of ongoing collaboration. The latter must clearly demonstrate the added value of further funding and the potential for timely impact.

The following kinds of activity are some of those that may be supported:

• New research, produced in partnership with policymakers, enabling better understanding of local, regional, national or international challenges, enabling the policymaking community to inform the research agenda, and both partners to apply research to policy challenges;
• Seminars or workshops that enable researchers and policymakers to share evidence and expertise, and which support the uptake of research evidence in policymaking;
• Activities aimed at enabling researchers to deepen their understanding of how research can inform policymaking, and develop the skills to catalyse it;
• Activities aimed at improving dialogue between researchers and policymakers;
• Academic placements in the policymaking community, and placements of members of the policymaking community at the University;
• Co-design of tools and resources that emerge from research that can maximise the use of research outputs in the policymaking community

• Research consultancy
• Studentships or internships for UKRI-funded DPhil students, where these are funded through UKRI Doctoral Training Grants
• Academic conferences lacking clear prospects of enabling policy engagement

• A Research Partner – an academic or researcher employed at any department or faculty at the University of Oxford, applying via such a department or faculty, either a permanent member of staff or a fixed-term researcher (FTR) with a contract of employment that lasts at least six months beyond the planned end date of the award. FTRs with a contract of employment that lasts less than this cannot serve as a Research Partner but may serve as a Co-applicant.  

• A Policy Partner – someone employed by an organisation in the policymaking community, e.g., in devolved or national assemblies; a policy professional in the civil service, or in a statutory body with responsibilities that are sectoral (e.g., a regulators), regional (e.g., a local council), or subject-matter-related; in an international or intergovernmental organisation; or in a non-academic civil society organisation with a policy-relevant mission. 

• Co-applicants – other researchers at the University; DPhil students; teaching staff; museum staff; or research facilitators and other professional services staff; and 

• Other external partners in academia, the public, private or voluntary sector. 

• Salary costs of fixed-term researchers and project staff, e.g., research assistants 

• Travel and subsistence costs for researchers, external partners or delegates 

• Project costs including publishing, venue hire, transcription and IT 

• Consultancy/professional fees for external partners 

• Equipment 

• Mid-project report –This should outline progress, highlight any interim lessons learned, and any challenges, which might delay or impede successful completion. This is not required for projects lasting less than 6 months.  

• End-of-project report – The end-of-project report should evaluate the project, demonstrate the impact and benefits for both the researcher and the partner organisation, and detail any plans for ongoing engagement with the partner organisation. This report should be submitted within one month of the end of the project. 

• Impact report – The impact report should briefly outline further impacts achieved in the six months following the project’s completion. The aim is to capture any impact that has developed since the project’s completion date. 

1. Summarise the nature of the public policy challenge that the project aims to tackle;
2. Demonstrate that they understand and are committed to the project’s goal;  
3. Indicate their role in proposed activities and in achieving proposed outcomes; and 
4. Indicate how they expect to benefit from the engagement (e.g., in terms of learning, or deepening networks)  

• In cases where obtaining a statement of support from the Policy Partner is considered problematic at the proposal stage, applications may be submitted without one, though any award would be conditional on provision of one. 

• Statements of support from other partners may be provided. 

• Applicants should provide as much detail as possible in IRAMS about Contributions from Other Sources, including cash, as well as time invested by partners and other in-kind contributions.  

• The online application form in IRAMS requires a financial breakdown of the project. For each budget line please describe the costs being requested in the corresponding ‘Description’ field, and if appropriate, provide a justification. Once the ‘Purpose’ is entered for three budget lines, more budget lines will become available on the online form. 

• Please provide an FEC costing. This should be presented in the form of an admin output from the University’s costing and pricing software, X5. Applicants should ask their research administrator or finance officer to produce the X5 costing.  

• The total requested in IRAMS should match the PRICE on the X5 costing output. 

• Projects must be completed and all funds spent by 31 July 2025. Costs may be attributed to Year 1 (to 31 July 2024) or Year 2 (to 31 July 2025) only. Those proposing projects lasting more than 12 months should not expect to be able to carry over unspent funds requested for Year 1 to Year 2. No extensions can be given beyond 31 July 2025. 

• Applications are automatically submitted to your department for approval via IRAMS. 

• Where proposals include staff time for researchers based in a different department to the Research Partner, a statement (e.g., e-mail) indicating departmental approval of this should be provided by the Head of Administration and Finance in each department involved. 

• Applicants should check with their department for internal approval procedures and deadlines. Some departments require significant notice to check and submit proposals, so applicants are advised to seek guidance from their departmental administrator as soon as they consider making an application.