Digital Project Grants

Digital Project Grants are specifically designed to help institutions, galleries or museums towards the costs of supporting a curator or research scholar undertaking a digital research project or research which will lead to a digital or online project. These projects could take the form of:

• An online exhibition or curation of a digital project relating to British art or architectural history, or related topic
• An online catalogue or database of a collection or archive, or an online catalogue or database of a specific part of a collection or archive
• A research project using digital technologies, for example 3-D scanning or modelling, or which might make use of large datasets

Digital Project Grants are offered for up to a maximum of £40,000 to cover the full length of the project. Applications for less than £40,000 are also eligible.

An institution may apply for a Digital Project Grant to provide replacement staff costs to provide temporary cover for a curatorial staff member to work on a digital project.

Up to 33% of the proposed project budget may be allotted to capital costs such as the digitisation of resources, or web development.

The award will be paid directly to the institution as a lump sum only.

The institution should give details of any financial support already in place or funding expected or being sought from other sources.

Our funding programme supports scholarship, academic research and the dissemination of knowledge in the fields of British art and architectural history, and of British visual culture understood more broadly, from the medieval period to the present day. All supported topics must have a clear art-historical perspective, including those that focus on recent or contemporary artistic practice. All applications must demonstrate that British art, architecture or visual culture provides a substantial focus for their project. Applications will be assessed according to their academic rigour, originality, and contribution to scholarship. We do not fund research projects focusing on archaeology, current architecture practice, or the performing arts.

Applications are open to international as well as national institutions.

Applicants must demonstrate that any project will include scholarly research within the scope of the work.

Only one Digital Project Grant application per institution will be considered each year.

For further questions on eligibility please contact the Fellowships & Grants Manager.

Digital Project Grants are offered in our Autumn round of funding.

The next round of Digital Project Grants will open in Autumn 2023.

To apply for a Digital Project Grant you must use our online system at grants.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk. Once registered you will be able to fill out the online application form (example of which can be downloaded below) and provide the details of two referees. The option to provide the referee details will be available once the application is submitted. We will then contact the nominated referee with details on how they submit their reference which must be completed through our online system and must be no more than 500 words.

Referees ideally should have specialist knowledge of the topic and subject matter and/or have first-hand knowledge of the nominated individual's academic career. Referees can also be about the institution or department's ability to undertake research or digital projects. Advisory Council would like to be informed of the originality of the subject matter and the applicant’s suitability to pursue such research. We do not accept references from individuals who are directly involved in the project or individuals who are affiliated with the institution (employee, trustee etc.) unless it is a large institution, such as a University, and the individual is not personally associated with the project. If you have any questions about your choice of referee, please email the Fellowships & Grants Manager at grants@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk.

Applications and nominated referee details must be received by 30 September, referees have until 10 October to submit their references.

Requirements:

• Due to the large amount of funding offered, institutions should provide a comprehensive and detailed timeline and budget in their application
• The institution must provide details of the expected outcomes of the project in the application. Digital project research might result in a virtual or online exhibition (physical or virtual), an online exhibition catalogue, or an online catalogue of part of a collection or archive.
• All content produced as a result of the grant award must be released under a Creative Commons licence (see https://creativecommons.org/)
• Applicants must demonstrate the long-term sustainability of the project as a digital resource, including a commitment from the host institution to maintain the supporting infrastructure in perpetuity
• The institution must provide annual reports on the projects progress until completion and a final report six months after the project has been completed