The Urban Studies Foundation (USF) is pleased to launch a new research funding initiative to seed-fund collaborative primary research proposals that engage with the theme Urban Urgencies. Up to six innovative projects will be awarded up to GBP £35,000 each. Project activities should begin within nine months of the application deadline, and are expected to last up to eighteen months. All proposals should be clearly situated and relevant to the broader academic field of urban studies, and their contribution to scholarly debate and dialogue in this field should be compelling and timely.
The theme Urban Urgencies is intended to focus on addressing the most pressing urban challenges through innovative rapid-response research that is responsive to the urgency of emergent issues, while contributing to grounded, rigorous responses that proactively shape inclusive, equitable and sustainable urban futures. The contemporary urban moment is characterised by intersecting polycrises. For the world’s cities and urban regions, such crises may converge around the climate emergency, housing and food insecurity, pandemics and public health, threats to democracy, conflict or urbicide, artificial intelligence, technology, and/or many other urgent and existential uncertainties. This spectrum of ongoing and emerging crises are deepening dispossession and inequality, while reconfiguring economic and ecological systems. Within this context of rapid change, new forms of power are emerging to reshape the nature and dynamics within and between cities, with unanticipated effects. These shifts are affecting both the Global North and South, requiring responses that bridge across diverse contexts, scales, temporal frames and epistemic communities.
The call refrains from defining a fixed thematic focus, in order to acknowledge that urban urgencies are contingent on context. The USF invites proposals that link evidence to theory and practice at the convergences between continuity, discontinuity, disruption, and emergence in shaping urban dynamics and form. It welcomes projects that challenge and disrupt existing understandings of multiple and intersecting dimensions of urban urgencies, and that identify practices or methods for shifting current trajectories towards greater justice and sustainability.
As this call is an opportunity for reflexive research that seeks to generate new forms of empirical evidence to contribute to theory and practice, the relationship between what is interpreted as ‘urgent’ is as important as where the sites of enquiry are located. Equally critical is the how, which includes the innovative methodologies that will be employed through partnerships. Eligible research projects are therefore required to include a meaningful research partnership between a minimum of two organisations, one of whom must be from a non-academic constituency. It is expected that a high-quality collaboration between partners should make contributions in the areas of knowledge production, mobilisation, capacity building, and/or be of relevance to policy and/or practice, as related to the proposed theme.
This funding scheme aligns with the USF’s broader funding strategy that prioritizes initiatives that foster inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration, support early career researchers, and enhance urban scholarship globally. By targeting emergent and contingent urgent urban issues, this scheme exemplifies our commitment to advancing impactful and inclusive urban studies. This initiative not only supports high-quality research but also promotes the mobilisation of knowledge and practices that can lead to more just, sustainable, and resilient urban futures.
Project and research outputs and outcomes should result in key learnings towards issues of local, national and/or global concern. It is expected that each project should aim to produce high-quality outputs, including academic publications and feasible outputs for the public domain, such as public reports, policy briefs, or other innovative and accessible forms of knowledge mobilisation, as determined by the issues being investigated, and by the non-academic partners of the project. The USF particularly welcomes proposals whose dissemination plans include peer-reviewed publication in leading urban studies journals. Applicants with outputs suitable for the Urban Studies Journal are encouraged to review and engage with the Journal’s Call for Papers (see link) and/or Special Issues initiatives (see link) when considering how their project could contribute to emergent and ongoing scholarly conversations.
The USF welcomes proposals from researchers and organisations globally, and will support modest overheads for host institutions based in countries present on the most recent OECD list of ODA recipients (see Eligibility and Terms). Prospective applicants must consult all guidance documents before preparing an application.
Further guidance
Details for grant eligibility, terms, and application guidance are available below (see Downloads), and must be consulted and understood by all applicants, host organisations, and other relevant parties before applying to this grant.
It is recommended to use the application template provided (.docx) to assist offline preparation beforehand, and then to copy-paste the required fields into the web form.
How to apply
Candidates must complete the application web form linked below no later than XXXX 2025 (23:59 UTC+0). Extensions to this deadline are not permitted.
Applications to the grant must include:
- A completed application form with applicant, partner organisation, and proposal information, made via the online form available at the USF website.
- Applicant CVs (maximum two pages each).
- Letters of support from partner organisations.
- Budget evidence documentation.
- Any supplementary documents (optional file upload, maximum two pages).
All prospective candidates must first consult the further guidance documents for this grant scheme, available below. Applications which do not adhere to the terms of eligibility and guidance will not be accepted.
All primary and co-applicants will be requested to voluntarily complete an anonymous Equality & Diversity monitoring survey after submitting their application. The survey and any information volunteered with it is anonymous and entirely separate from individual applications (it is not used in the assessment process). It is used only for monitoring who applies to USF awards on aggregate, so that the USF may regularly assess and improve how it advertises and administers its grant funding.
The USF aims to make a decision on all applications within twelve weeks of the closing deadline for this award, and all applicants will be contacted regarding their application outcome. The USF regrets that it cannot offer any feedback on applications, and all decisions are final.
Contact
After consulting the further guidance, enquiries regarding this grant and application process may be addressed to the Urban Studies Foundation via email: grants@urbanstudiesfoundation.org
Downloads
The following documents must be consulted and understood by all applicants, host organisations, and other relevant parties before applying to this grant.
Apply now
Following preparation of applications, interested parties are invited to apply using the web form linked below.