New Network Scheme Trinity Term 2026
What is the TORCH New Network Scheme?
TORCH (The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities) supports research activity that transcends disciplinary and institutional boundaries. The TORCH Network Scheme is designed to enable researchers from different disciplines to collaborate in creating multi- or interdisciplinary research networks around a topic or theme of their choice. TORCH facilitates the successful networks through administrative support, venues and room bookings, a web presence and publicity including social media.
TORCH does not seek to set agendas in terms of the choice of research theme or prospective range of activities, nor does it set an initial threshold for the size of a new network. Indeed, we welcome innovative applications that will enable small groups of scholars to create new networks which fill a gap that is not currently covered elsewhere and introduce research agendas that will develop during the course of the funding. Networks must plan a range of ongoing activity over the two years of funding and not a single large event. Priority will be given to cross-disciplinary projects that have clear research outcomes, consider impact and aim to cultivate a lasting research legacy in the form of generating self-sustaining networks, publications, knowledge exchange programmes, and/or grant applications.
Please click here to see examples of current and past networks supported by TORCH.
Deadline
There are three deadlines per year (one each term). The Trinity Term deadline is 12 Noon, Wednesday 29 April 2026 (Week 1).
Note this is one week earlier than the advertised John Fell Fund deadline, to allow time for Divisional approval.
Please make sure you allow enough time for this approval process, because applications received after the TORCH deadline will not be considered.
We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their ideas with us while preparing their application. Please contact Sarah Clay, TORCH Centre Manager at least two weeks before the deadline and preferably earlier, if you would like to receive feedback on your application.
Eligibility:
- Applications must be multi- / inter-disciplinary and should focus on a Humanities related theme.
- Doctoral students may be part of networks, but cannot be lead applicants.
- Lead applicants should be from at least 3 faculties/departments (and must include Humanities). The PI should be from a Humanities faculty/department, and at least one of the other co-applicants should also be based in Humanities. TORCH will not sponsor research groups whose activities are supported by only a single faculty or college.
- Lead applicants should normally be current salaried employees of the university holding an academic post, or research fellowship awarded competitively and intended to enable the holder to establish an independent research career. They should have contracts in place with Oxford University to cover the full funding period applied for (by we encourage you to contact us to discuss your individual circumstances if you are an early career research on a fixed term contract).
Amount available: up to £7,500 over 2 academic years. Your start date for activities should be the term after application.
The funding for this TORCH scheme is through the John Fell Research Fund Small Award Scheme and therefore the conditions of the John Fell Fund also apply. It is an internal funding scheme that fosters creativity and a proactive approach to research opportunities in all subject areas, and particularly interdisciplinary fields.
Areas of Activity Funded:
Network funding can be used for purposes relating to the network only.
This includes:
- Visiting speaker travel/accommodation (but not speaker fees),
- Room hire where needed,
- Refreshments for events (see note below),
- Printing for posters or publicity,
- Casual payroll for conference support (we have strict rules on this so please ensure the reasons why this is needed are clear in your application budget).
- Filming/photography/audio recordings
We would advise applicants to consider the environmental impact and cost effectiveness of their plans as well as how funding might best be spent to maximise engagement. See further notes on conferences, workshops and symposia in the FAQ below.
What we will not fund:
Please note that funding cannot be used for:
- Network members going to other conferences (conference fees, travel etc.) nor personal research expenses.
- Membership of societies or individual conference attendance fees.
- The costs of an evening dinner or reception as part of a conference are not permitted. The John Fell Fund will not fund receptions or similar costs.
- Conferences or other similar events held outside of Oxford, unless justified as part of the Network core aims.
- Zoom licences or other online platforms – TORCH has a zoom licence, which can be used by networks free of charge and available rooms are Teams enabled.
- External websites – as a web page is given through the TORCH website.
- Speaker fees or honoraria (although reasonable reimbursement for self-employed performers, artists or similar is a valid cost).
- Salaries or teaching buy-out costs for applicants or other academic posts.
For further guidance on costs when planning your budget, please refer to the Humanities Division John Fell Fund Guidance or contact Sarah Clay, TORCH Operations Manager.
Assessment Criteria
- Applications will be reviewed in line with the John Fell Fund criteria:
- Excellence and intrinsic merit of research
- Potential for long term sustainability and academic impact of the project
- Relevance to department and divisional research strategy
- Necessity for John Fell Fund versus other sources of funding
- Value for money, noting in particular the potential for shared use of equipment and other facilities
In addition, TORCH will be looking for networks that:
- Are clearly interdisciplinary and fill a gap in the Oxford research environment that cannot be covered elsewhere
- Are innovative or in new research areas
- Plan a regular ongoing programme of activity, and don’t just focus on one or two large events
- Have clearly planned outcomes and the potential for as lasting legacy (eg future funding, publications etc)
- Are potentially sustainable beyond the two year funding period
- Have appropriate and clearly costed budget plans
How to apply:
Application is via the John Fell Fund applications on the internal IRAMS system (Single Sign On required). Please click here to apply via IRAMS. You will need to fill in a detailed budget on IRAMS and upload the JFF Case for Support Form (2 sides of A4).
It is essential that you include TORCH NETWORK in the title of the project, so that your application can be assessed correctly.
Within your IRAMS application please select 'Humanities Divisional Office' as your Approving Unit and select 'Networks, collaborations and partnerships' for project category.
When you have submitted your application, please also email torch@humanities.ox.ac.uk to alert us and confirm the name of your project. You are at risk of not being considered for funding if you do not do this.
Applications will be initially assessed by TORCH's management committee. Recommended proposals will go on to be reviewed by the Humanities John Fell Fund committee (small awards) and central University John Fell Fund committee. We will aim to respond to all applications within 8-9 weeks.
Further guidance:
Please refer to the Humanities Division John Fell Fund Guidance and the University John Fell Fund Guidelines.
FAQs
Doctoral students can be part of networks, but cannot be lead or co-applicants. Please see the guidance above for eligibility information.
DPhil students may consider applying for TORCH's Critical Thinking Communities Funding as an alternative. There is usually an annual call in Michaelmas term.
Non-members of the University can be participants in networks, but cannot be lead applicants or apply independently.
You are certainly welcome to approach us at the early stages of thinking about a potential network. If we know of other researchers who might be interested, we can put you in touch. However, we recommend that primarily you reach out to researchers yourself, speak to colleagues and use the faculty websites to find appropriate collaborators.
Activities directly related to your project. Please see the details above for more information. As this funding is for research networks, activities primarily related to public engagement or only benefitting students, generally would not be covered unless there is clear reasoning on why they should be, and demonstrable research benefits.
Please refer to further notes above and the John Fell guidelines which also provide detailed guidance about eligible costs.
The Fell Fund recognises that in some disciplines these provide a major contribution to pump-priming research. It will therefore consider such applications provided that they make clear:
(a) to what future opportunities the event is expected to lead, including external funding bids and future research collaborations, highlighting the benefits that these will bring to Oxford, and
(b) why the full cost cannot be met from other sources, which would normally be expected to cover the cost.
- The application requires clear information about income and expenditure, showing which items the Fell Fund is being asked to support.
- The committee will expect to see evidence of attempts to raise external and internal funds, in particular external funding applications submitted through the relevant faculty, matching private funding or sponsorship (eg from individuals or publishers) and faculty or college support (which may be 'in kind' such as the free use of rooms and/or reduced accommodation rates).
- Conferences, workshops or symposia for which the Fell Fund is requested to provide support should normally charge a registration fee to non-university members that is sufficient to cover venue, publicity and support costs.
- Fees are not applicable to closed workshops with a small number of participants which meet the funding criteria.
- Normally only essential travel and subsistence cost for speakers are permitted, where this would unreasonably raise the conference fee or where they can’t be met by the speaker’s own institution.
- Any conference catering (excluding conference dinners and receptions) eg sandwich lunch/tea and coffee during breaks, needs to be fully justified and should not exceed £12 per person. The normal expectation is that these costs would be covered by a registration fee. Catering costs for closed events can be included, provided they do not exceed approximately £12 per person.
Researchers should itemise costs as much as possible for clarity. Applications with inaccurate or insufficiently detailed budgets are likely to be returned for revision. Applicants will have to enter the budget through drop-down boxes in IRAMS, and sometimes this can make it difficult to see. A good idea is to create the budget in excel then copy it across, then to download the IRAMS application as a pdf so that you can see the details in the same format that will be given to the review committee.
Applications are submitted via IRAMS to the Humanities Division directly, rather than your faculty, as funds will be administered by TORCH. Humanities approval will take place internally through IRAMS. We do ask all applicants to inform their faculty Research Director of their intention to apply to the TORCH International Engagement Scheme.
The TORCH Management Committee meets in week 3 and if you application is not recommended to the John Fell Fund, applicants will be notified as soon as possible, usually within 2 weeks. If an application is passed to the relevant John Fell Fund committees for ratification, this notification will be released in week 9 or 10.
Unsuccessful applicants will be provided with brief feedback from the TORCH Management Committee. Unsuccessful applications may be offered the opportunity to revise and resubmit to a later deadline, but this is does not guarantee funding.
Contact name for queries:
Colleagues are welcome to contact Sarah Clay, TORCH Centre Manager, to discuss prospective applications.
