Call for Projects | RISE: Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls

spriteplus
8 hours ago
4 min read

*We are pleased to share that RISE is offering grant funding for up to ten short projects running between April and August 2026.*

Background

SPRITE+, in collaboration with SALIENT and the Network for Security Excellence & Collaboration (NSEC), is offering grant funding for short projects under problem statement 2 of the Safer Streets initiative on Violence Against Women and Girls. We anticipate funding ten projects to run between April and August 2026, with final reports due no later than 30th September 2026.

All funded projects will address at least one of the R&I challenge statements contained within Safer Streets Problem Statement 2 (see the call document).

Given that this area is a government priority, further calls for funding are expected. Consequently, as well as conducting these rapid pilot projects – successful applicants will join a community of interest, which will meet in person on the 2^nd and 3^rd of June 2026 at an Innovation Forum in Manchester which will be designed to build the agenda and potential teams for future funding rounds.

Funding

Project teams can apply for a maximum of £50,000.

Projects will be funded at 80% FEC for UK research organisation costs (with the UK Research Organisations involved in projects contributing 20% FEC). The maximum amount SPRITE+ will fund is 80% FEC of the maximum budget advertised for each specific call. For example, the maximum budget permitted is £50,000, so SPRITE+ will fund up to 80% FEC of £50,000 (which in this case is: £40,000). The remaining 20% (in this case: £10,500) will need to be provided by the research organisation(s) involved in the project.

Project teams can also include in-kind support from companies/ charities/ research groups etc. both international and UK based.

Note: Inflation is not included in the costing model due to the short duration of the projects.

Eligibility

Who can Apply

Only UK academics and researchers from organisations eligible for UKRI funding can lead a project. Projects can have multiple UK based partners. However, please note we will have no flexibility about the timescale so all subcontracting processes must be compatible with projects completing by the end of August.

There is no limit on the number of applications from each institution, but an individual cannot be named on more than one grant.

Project teams can also include funded, or in-kind support from companies/ charities/ research groups etc. both international and UK based. Relationships with external partners will be managed by the project lead institution and appropriate due diligence needs to be undertaken.

Project Team – Leadership and Members

Project leads and Co-Leads can be:

Academics or researcher working at an organisation eligible for UKRI funding.
A researcher holding an employment contract that ends beyond the end of the project end date.

Early Career Researchers and Post Docs

The inclusion of Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and Postdoctoral Researchers including Research Assistants and Research Associates as members of the project team is encouraged. For this call, Early Career Researchers are defined as being employed in a non-permanent research position or holding a research fellowship or an academic post and having less than five years (full time equivalent and excluding periods of maternity, paternity and sick leave) of post-doctoral research experience.

Other Team members

Project teams can also include Project Managers, Project Officers, Administrators and technical staff.

Project teams can also include funded, or in-kind support from companies, charities, research groups etc. both international and UK based. Relationships with external partners will be managed by the project lead institution and due diligence needs to be undertaken.

Timeline

The application process will formally open on 13^th February. Please see here for further information.
Applications will close on Monday 16^th March at 16:00 UTC.
Outcomes and award letters will be provided on Friday 27^th March.
The expected earliest start date for projects will be 13^th April 2026.
Attendance at an in-person Innovation Forum 2^nd and 3^rd June in Manchester. (It is expected that one member of each project team will attend this.)
The latest end date will be 1^stSeptember 2026. There will be no extensions available to projects that are unable to complete by the 1^st September 2026.
Final project report submitted to SPRITE+ by 16:00 UTC on the 30^th September 2026.
Award holders (or their delegates) will be expected to present their findings at an online showcase event on Monday 14^th September 2026.

Our standard terms and conditions will form part of the application process. Projects will need to have an award letter in place and a contract signed by the lead institution and the University of Manchester before the agreed start date of the project.

Because of the timescale involved, contracts will be non-negotiable.

Due to the nature of the funding, projects can run for a maximum of 4.5 months.