Could not knowing how to dance ruin your reputation in Regency Britain? 💃 British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow @hillaryburlock.bsky.social explores how dance shaped status and identity in the Regency era behind Bridgerton. Read the full article in The Conversation → bit.ly/4ahgyNi

That concludes our live updates from the Second Equitable Partnerships Conference, delivered in partnership with the @royalsociety.org and the National Research Foundation (South Africa). We will be sharing the outputs from the conference on our website in the coming weeks: https://bit.ly/46kcs5C

Prof Ricardo Oliveira, Professor of the International Politics of Africa, outlines pathways to navigate different funding and governance mechanisms in a Brazil-UK partnership. #EquitblePartnerships

In the '(Re)centering indigenous knowledge for equitable partnerships' workshop, Prof Justine Mukhwana Sikuku shares how engaging with indigenous material culture and their custodians offers a powerful movement away from ‘research on’ to ‘research with’ indigenous peoples. #EquitablePartnerships

"Equitable partnerships are a systems-design challenge, not a relationship problem. We need to design across agenda equity, governance equity, and benefit equity." - Prof Emmanual Ojo, Deputy Head of the School of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand. #EquitablePartnerships

What would happen if global south universities were the agenda setters? We discussed how getting to this point would mean a system redesign in Prof Emmanual Ojo's workshop. (University of the Witwatersrand) #EquitablePartnerships

Prof Mercury Shitindo, Executive Director of the Africa Bioethics Network (ABN), advocates for a model of ethics as shared ownership, with African institutions leading ethical governance rather than just implementing external protocols.

Professor Leon Tickly (FBA) shares a case study of a research-intensive Northern University in one of our morning workshops. "Research collaborations must actively redress the multiple underlying layers of power imbalances in the production of scientific knowledge."

'Projects end but networks persist' "When you are working together as part of a network there is a shared sense of accountability, and in time you will be able to set agendas between countries."- Prof Mercury Shitindo, University of Zaragoza #EquitablePartnerships

As we are building equitable partnerships, you need to optimise strengths of each partner. "The objectives of partnerships should be to create a product that is the total summation of all the good things that come out of a research exercise.” - Professor Tshilidzi Marwala #EquitablePartnerships

"Equitability in partnerships starts before the research begins!" - Prof Vilma Irazola, Director of the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS) and the South American Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Health., Argentina. #EquitablePartnerships

The International Fellowships 2026 scheme, run with the @royalsociety.org, supports international early career researchers to undertake a two-year research career with UK partner organisations. Find out more and apply ahead of 11 March deadline: https://bit.ly/3LaMIBC

“It was a place where people felt valued, where their contributions felt praised and recognised.” @gmthomas.bsky.social spoke to BBC Radio Wales this morning about his British Academy-funded research, drawing on time spent at a community café partly run by adults with learning disabilities.

That concludes our live updates from the Second Equitable Partnerships Conference (for today) in Pretoria, South Africa. https://bit.ly/4toyL4f Thank you to all speakers and participants for sharing insights and reflections on building better international partnerships. #EquitablePartnerships

'Travel as research practice' Prof Jude Robinson shares how unless we invest in hard software and good connectivity for all participants, research partnerships cannot be equitable. #EquitablePartnerships

"The question we should be asking ourselves is not whether partnerships are equitable, but whether the system they operate in make equity possible." - Prof Similo Ngwenya #EquitablePartnerships

Professor Safiatou Doumbo explains how researchers are helping to improve community health and nutrition for thousands of children and mothers through collaboration and capacity building in rural Mali. #EquitablePartnerships

Science is often funded based on the novelty of an idea, but doing this in isolation can miss out on the importance of the context in which the research will be conducted...leading to limited local ownership, leadership and often reduced impact; we need an integrated approach. #EquitablePartnerships

“We cannot assume, that when researchers from the global north and global south are working together, that there is equity. No - we must be purposeful.” - Professor Shadreck Chirikure (FBA) #EquitablePartnerships

In the 'Sustaining Collaborations through Strategic Networks and Equitable Partnerships' session, Professor Shadreck Chirikure (FBA) shared how every research team must be designed with equity in mind. #EquitablePartnerships

"It's important to know how we strengthen science diplomacy, how we protect academic freedom, how we engage all regions in knowledge pursuit.... For humanity to progress, science must be truly global and benefit everyone." - Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim FRS #EquitablePartnerships @royalsociety.org#EquitablePartnerships

In the Plenary Keynote talk 'Equitable Partnerships in Global Research: From Principles to Practice', Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim FRS speaks on the five global challenges of our time and that we must tackle these as a global community. #EquitablePartnerships

We’re live from Pretoria for the Second Equitable Partnerships Conference: https://bit.ly/4rmYoAk Over the next two mornings, we’ll be sharing insights from across workshops exploring what equitable international research collaboration looks like in practice. #EquitablePartnerships #ISPF

As we look towards the Munich Security Conference #MSC2026 next week, we find ourselves at a turning point in our international order. According to Peace Research Institute Oslo, state-based conflicts in 2024 reached a historic peak since the end of the Second World War.

Amid ongoing debate about the role and future of public service media in the UK, British Academy Fellows Georgina Born and Justin Lewis recently shared insights from their research on Prospect’s Media Confidential podcast. To learn more, click the link: https://bit.ly/3McSQcK

In case you missed it – we’ve published the first two discussion papers in our Global (Dis)Order programme. These papers examine the phenomenon of countries de-risking from the US dollar and the importance of developing a strategic response to shifts in the global financial system.

There’s still time to submit to the Brian Barry Prize! The prize is awarded annually for excellence in political science. The winner receives £1,500 and will be published in @bjpols.bsky.social. Find out how to apply here: https://bit.ly/3LVhXjR Enquiries: [email protected]

Big new study from @britishacademy.bsky.social Fellow Barbara Sahakian says menopause is linked to changes in the brain similar to those seen in Alzheimer's www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New Proceedings volume from the British Academy, Representing Violence Against Women, amplifies women’s voices in asylum processes, while exploring how the arts and humanities can create safe spaces for expressions of resistance and resilience. Discover more ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4r6Pw1T

If you’ve been following developments at the World Economic Forum, you’ll know that the international system is in flux. A key challenge for policymakers is to navigate competing power aspirations and nodes of order. 🧵

New in our Proceedings series, 'Mieczysław Weinberg: Between East and West' explores the life of the 21st century Polish-born Soviet composer and his music through new research, documents, and analyses, revealing his unique voice, distinctive from the Shostakovich circle. ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4r1nMf1

Confessions of an Early Career Researcher is a podcast by ECRs, for ECRs. Produced by the British Academy, in collaboration with @leverhulme.ac.uk. You can watch the full episode on our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3NkMVTs

Together with the @royalsociety.org, we invite applications for the International Fellowships 2026. The scheme supports international early career researchers in advancing their expertise through collaborations with UK partners. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3LaMIBC

British Academy Publishing is pleased to be the newest signatory of the Accessible Publishing Charter of the Publishing Accessibility Action Group (PAAG). Find out more about how we're working to make our digital publications accessible: bit.ly/49mWPfV

There’s still time to submit to the Brian Barry Prize! The prize is awarded annually for excellence in political science. The winner receives £1,500 and will be published in @bjpols.bsky.social. Find out how to apply here: https://bit.ly/3XUKdG1

New in the Early English Church Music series, English Saints' Office I, the first in a three-volume set of transcriptions from over forty cycles of liturgical chants composed in England from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. Now available @stainerandbell.bsky.social https://bit.ly/49d1YqL

New open access monograph, 'Articulate Sounds', explores how music, literature, and religious dissent intersected in Romantic-era Britain, revealing Dissenters’ ambivalence toward music and tracing debates on its power across authors like Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge: https://bit.ly/4st2YP3

Fellows of the British Academy have been recognised in the King's New Year Honours for their outstanding contribution to the humanities and social sciences. Read more: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/2026-kings-new-years-honours/

'We need to nurture those subjects which enable us to build a resource - "human ingenuity" - to interact with the technologies, politics and institutions that will shape the future' Our President @sjs1869.bsky.social looks to the future for BBC R4 Today (from 45mins) https://bbc.in/49pus0h

The new Journal of the British Academy is out, with pieces on Giotto the mosaicist; Caribbean painter Francisco Oller y Cestero; an interview with Sir Anton Muscatelli on higher education and social justice; and reflections from Ukrainian Researchers at Risk in the UK. https://bit.ly/3L3BeQ6

What can histories of Empire teach us about today’s environmental efforts? Professor Sadiah Qureshi explores how modern conservation has been shaped by empire and indigenous dispossession - and how we can build a more sustainable future without repeating mistakes of the past. https://bit.ly/4oZ5glQ

New in the Journal of the British Academy: a Thematic Collection exploring the experiences and insights of Ukrainian Researchers at Risk in the UK. This collection offers vital perspectives on resilience and innovation in Ukraine and beyond. Read more: https://bit.ly/4pFe7u9

Annelies Kusters explores how International Sign emerges through flexible, negotiated communication among deaf signers, yet is increasingly shaped by teaching, interpreting, and institutional norms, producing six paradoxes at the heart of its global use. Read more: https://bit.ly/4oY6GNq

There are only three weeks left to apply for the Stein-Arnold Exploration Fund 2026. The scheme helps postdoctoral researchers to conduct exploratory work on the antiquities, historical geography, early history or arts of parts of Asia. Apply now: https://bit.ly/488Axh7

There are only three weeks left to apply for the Neil Ker Memorial Fund 2026. The object of this fund is to promote the study of Western medieval manuscripts, particularly those of British interest. Apply now: https://bit.ly/4hO0Oo1

We have responded to the OfS consultation on quality regulation. We welcome some proposals, including the expansion of TEF to all providers. Yet we are concerned about proposals to transform the TEF’s core aims and raise the stakes of TEF performance. Here are our key takeaways:

Very welcome news today that the UK will join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027. This will enable greater opportunities for study abroad and contributions in UK universities, and is something we called for in our most recent Manifesto.

Prof Angela McRobbie FBA speaks with Sir Prof Anton Muscatelli about leading the University of Glasgow, challenges in higher education, the importance of access and social justice, and the university’s role in worldwide learning, research, collaboration, and impact. https://bit.ly/4shqzlR

A reminder that the Brian Barry Prize is open for submissions. This prize recognises excellence in political science and is open to scholars at all career stages. Find out how to apply here: https://bit.ly/3XUKdG1

New in the Journal of the British Academy, Prof Liz James FBA explores why Giotto’s work in mosaic has been sidelined in art-historical literature, despite the significance of the much-celebrated 'Navicella'. Read more: https://bit.ly/44nIn4h