DSA Research Project Grant 2026

We’re excited to announce that applications are now open for a new grant, awarded by the BELMAS DSA Advisory Board.

BELMAS’ vision is to be an innovative, globally recognised and respected Learned Society for the development of educational leadership, administration, management and policy (ELAMPS).

The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) Advisory Board supports these aims by investing in the field through funding of up to £20,000 for a project that advances state-of-the-art knowledge in and/or about the field of educational leadership, management and administration.

The project will begin in January 2026, and is to be completed by December 2027, a total of 24 months.

AIMS OF THE GRANT

The aim of the DSA Research Project Grant is to allow BELMAS members to undertake a project in an area of innovation for and about the ELAMPS field. This is an open call and a key opportunity for BELMAS members to undertake some ‘blue skies’ thinking regarding the focus of the project and the planned contribution to the interplay between research, theorising and practice.

The project must focus on educational leadership, management, administration and policy issues, and the project can be directly about the realities of practice through to new conceptualisations of and about that practice. In addition, the project should be located in the social sciences, and so it should demonstrate excellence regarding conceptualisation and methodology.

The project should be:

• High quality regarding design, process and outcomes.
• Innovative through the articulation of research questions and impacts.
• Timely through how the focus and research problem is identified and justified.
• Located in either a single national system or is multi-national, where the research contribution can support field member research outside of the system(s).

The project is identified as a pilot where we expect the proposal to demonstrate how the contribution and outcomes will be followed up in a larger project funded by a research body (e.g. in the UK the ESRC or AHRC, or a research charity e.g. British Academy).

ELIGIBILITY

Applications for this grant are strictly for people/teams of people who:

• are members of BELMAS and remain members for the duration of the grant;
• provide a CV of the applicant (and any team members) that demonstrates (a) BELMAS membership and activity (e.g. conference attendance, publication in BELMAS journals, participation in BELMAS committees and research groups; and (b) examples of high-quality research projects, reports and outputs that are located in the ELAMPs field.

Read the full grant guidance and criteria here.

All grant applications will be reviewed and awarded by sub-panels selected by and made up of members of the DSA Advisory Board. The decision of the DSA Advisory Board will be verified and approved by the BELMAS Board of Trustees, and all decisions will be final.

The deadline for applications is midnight (UK time) on Monday 6th October.  

APPLY NOW

KEY DATES

Applicants are required to meet the following dates:

Submission of the proposal on the BELMAS website by: 23.59 hours on Monday 6th October 2025

The successful applicant(s) will be notified by: Monday 17th November 2025

Details of the award will be publicised by: Monday 1st December 2025

Award holders are required to meet the following dates:

• Interim progress report by Monday 12th October 2026
• Final report by Wednesday 1st March 2028