Press release
Issued 8 July 1998 for immediate release
Arts and Humanities Research Board established
Researchers in the arts and humanities in England and Northern Ireland are to have access to substantially increased funding through a research board which will allocate research grants and postgraduate awards.
The Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) has been established following agreement by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the British Academy and the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI). They have agreed to set up the Board pending a decision by Government on whether to establish an Arts and Humanities Research Council (see Note 1). Representative bodies, including the Council of University Deans of Arts and Humanities and the Conference for Higher Education in Art and Design, have been consulted about the establishment of the AHRB.
Funding for the AHRB will total £36 million in 1998 and £44 million in 1999-2000 with contributions from all three parties to the agreement. The HEFCE will provide £8 million in 1998-99 and £15.5 million in 1999-2000. In addition, the Board will assume responsibility for the £9 million currently provided by the HEFCE in special funding for museums and galleries, so that the total of HEFCE funding will be £17 million in 1998-99 and £24.5 million in 1999-2000. The British Academy will provide £19 million in 1998-99, and a similar amount in 1999-2000, specifically for postgraduate awards in the humanities and in certain professional and vocational subjects. DENI will provide £0.2 million in 1998-99 and £0.4 million in 1999-2000.
The AHRB will build on the work of the British Academy's Humanities Research Board (HRB). But it will be a new body, with broader subject responsibilities and much-increased funding.
Professor Paul Langford (See Note 3), the Chairman-designate of the HRB, has been appointed as Chief Executive of the AHRB for two years, and additionally as Chairman for the first year. Members will be appointed over the summer, drawing partly on current members of the HRB but also on members of representative bodies and institutions in both the arts and the humanities. The AHRB will hold its first meeting in October.
The AHRB will bring the arrangements for the support of research in the arts and humanities more closely into line with those in other subject areas. The new arrangements will also mean that the British Academy will be able to develop its complementary role in supporting and promoting research in the humanities, just as the Royal Society does in the sciences.
An invitation to apply for grants will be issued in mid-July, with deadlines at the end of September and December.
Professor Brian Fender, Chief Executive of the HEFCE, said, 'I am delighted that this project has received such widespread support. We see it as a significant step towards setting up a Research Council, and putting support for research in the arts and humanities on a similar footing to other disciplines.'
Sir Tony Wrigley, President of the British Academy, said, 'I am very pleased that the campaign for significant increases in the funding for research in the arts and humanities has now borne fruit through this joint initiative. The Academy looks forward to working with the AHRB to make a real difference in the levels of support available for scholars in the arts and humanities. We very much hope that these new arrangements will soon be extended to Scotland and Wales.'
Professor Langford said, 'I am both delighted and honoured to be taking on the role of Chief Executive and Chairman of the new AHRB. This new venture presents real opportunities for researchers in both the arts and the humanities, and I look forward to working together with them to provide enhanced levels of support for work of the highest quality.'
ENDSFor further information please contact David Pilsbury (Policy Division) on 0117 931 7123 or Roger Grinyer (Press Office) at HEFCE on 0117 931 7339; and Michael Jubb at the British Academy on 0171 969 5256.
Notes to editors
1. The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education in its report last year recommended the establishment of an Arts and Humanities Research Council. Although the Government has not made a decision on this, the Department for Education and Employment has asked the HEFCE to have particular regard to the needs of the arts and humanities in providing research funding.
2. The new arrangements will cover England and Northern Ireland. Arrangements for arts and humanities research funding in Scotland and Wales will be considered in the context of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review.
3. Professor Paul Langford is Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, and is well-known as a historian of eighteenth century Britain. He has been a member of the British Academy's Humanities Research Board for three years, during which time he has been particularly heavily involved in the administration of postgraduate awards. He was appointed Chairman-designate of the HRB after an open competition in 1997.
Last updated 8 July 1998