For the next 12 months, Dr Jacob Ainscough will begin working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on their public participation strategy & sustainability policy areas. The Innovation Fellowships is putting researchers at the heart of Government.

Congratulations to the presenters who designed our 'Best Presenter' award winning poster: ‘Strengthening Networking and Partnerships for Sustainable Research Collaboration’. See all winning posters and poster submissions on our website: https://bit.ly/4ll3QSw

How does competition shape democracy and when might it threaten it? A new Proceedings volume reframes the role of competition in democratic theory, exploring the many forms competition can take, and how it operates across political life. 📖 Find out more: https://bit.ly/4sUrAQ9

How is AI reshaping art history? The new Proceedings volume Artificial Intelligence and Art History explores machine-vision methods, their challenges to humanistic inquiry, and the ethical questions shaping this evolving field. Find out more: https://bit.ly/472kuAA

A huge congratulations to British Academy Fellow Lyndal Roper on winning the @holbergprize.bsky.social. She is a leading scholar of early modern European history, her work has shaped the understanding of witch persecutions, the German Peasants’ War, and the life of Martin Luther. bit.ly/3P5pUEZ

We have responded to the green paper on the review of the BBC's charter. We believe decisions about the future of UK Public Service Media must be balanced, evidence-led and reflect the changing dynamics of the media landscape. Read our response: https://bit.ly/3PEyPNz

New recipients of our Early Career Researcher Network Seed Fund Programme have been announced. The scheme helps outstanding early-career researchers build their research portfolios and take a key step toward future funding opportunities. Learn more about the awarded projects: https://bit.ly/46StqZm

In case you missed it: our SHAPE Conference brought together some of the leading experts from across the humanities and social sciences for timely and thought-provoking conversations. Here are some of the highlights 🧵

We would like thank the presenters who designed our 'Most Original' award winning poster – ‘Enabling Equitable Research Partnerships in Transdisciplinary Research: The Value of Arts-based methodologies’. See all winning posters and poster submissions on our website: https://bit.ly/4ll3QSw

We would like to celebrate the poster and presenters who won our 'People's Choice' award at the Second Conference on Equitable Partnerships in Pretoria, South Africa. Thank you for sharing this important research. See all winning posters and poster submissions on our website: https://bit.ly/4rXCZyu

Does AI risk repeating colonial erasure on a digital scale? A new article in Times Higher Education draws on research by @jeater.bsky.social funded by the British Academy, exploring how AI’s training data and linguistic norms reflect the Global North’s historical dominance. https://bit.ly/4sE53qF

What happens when disability becomes a driving subject of intellectual and political inquiry? Professor Dan Goodley challenges the pathologising assumptions embedded in higher education and explores how depathologising the university could help reimagine society: https://bit.ly/4l84dzW

We are pleased to announce the latest cohort of SHAPE Involve and Engage awardees, who will be working with various partner organisations in the GLAM sector to help bring the humanities and social sciences closer to the public. Read more about the projects here: https://bit.ly/4suMO75

More highlights from #SHAPEConference26: The flagship Postdoctoral Fellowships (PDF) scheme celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. In a session chaired by Evelyn Welch, panellists shared their stores and reflected on precarity in research across the decades.

Leading figures from Higher Education (HE) came together in our 'Learning from our own history' session to discuss recent reviews of the sector, their success and failures, and their effects on policy between and since. #SHAPEConference26

Lord Vallance laid out his five overall priorities for the research and innovation system. 🧵 #SHAPEConference26

Lord Vallance, Minister for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear, was welcomed by our President Susan J. Smith. His keynote began with strong support the Academy's role in research. #SHAPEConference26

Fantastic to have Science Minister Lord Vallance open our @britishacademy.bsky.social sector conference this morning. He talks eloquently about protecting and growing curiosity driven research which does not provide a return during a single Parliamentary cycle

Big day ahead as we have our annual @britishacademy.bsky.social sector conference including a keynote from Science Minister Lord Vallance. I’ll be chairing a panel with Philip Augar, Shirley Pearce, Vivienne Stern & Adam Tickell on what we can learn from all those reviews of HE. Stay tuned!

The Arts and Humanities Alliance is proud to sponsor the 2026 @britishacademy.bsky.social SHAPE conference. Our session is Myth busting for the public with @ritagardner.bsky.social @jennyrichards.bsky.social & @sebgordon1.bsky.social Chair @emmacayley.bsky.social www.eventbrite.com/e/shape-conf...

We are continuing to call for the government to withdraw the International Student Levy. This levy will add more financial pressure to a system under strain, threatening the UK’s research excellence, global reputation, and economic competitiveness.

On Monday, we hosted a joint conference with @wellcometrust.bsky.social. The last panel of the day examined how communication, caregiving, and social structures shape wellbeing in later life across global contexts. Learn more about British Academy funding: https://bit.ly/4aVpJDr

What happens when everything can become a bet? Based on British Academy-funded research by @sarah-mills.bsky.social, this article explores the rapid rise of prediction markets – and what they mean for regulation, public trust and democracy. 👇

We are delighted to join RoRI as Core Partners. We share the view that responsive, impactful, and fair research is essential to tackling the unprecedented global challenges of our time. SHAPE research drives economic growth, improves wellbeing, and enhances understanding of people and societies.

Deadline for nominations for the 2026 Brian Barry Prize is the 28th of February 2026. Find out more - cup.org/4rl5mqj In partnership with @universitypress.cambridge.org and BJPolS, the @britishacademy.bsky.social awards an annual prize in honour of Brian Barry.

New research supported by the British Academy finds that global gains in girls’ schooling haven’t necessarily translated into broader gender equality. Read more on @lseblogs.bsky.social about what the findings reveal and how we can better understand persistent inequalities. 👇 bit.ly/46pR8f8

As part of the British Academy-funded project Problematic Humour, this research reveals how social media users navigate, negotiate and often reject accusations of being offended during heated online exchanges. Read more 👇

Yesterday, we hosted a joint symposium with @wellcometrust.bsky.social. The second panel highlighted Wellcome-funded projects focusing on identity and autonomy during major life transitions in young adulthood. Learn more about our funding: https://bit.ly/4kFaGC0

How did we get here and where are we going? International analysts and policymakers are likely to be pre-occupied by these deceptively simple questions as they attempt to understand and navigate the shifts in our current global order.

Today, we hosted a joint symposium with @wellcometrust.bsky.social. The opening panel explored Wellcome-funded research on how social, cultural, and economic context shapes children’s emotional wellbeing, family life, and neurodiversity. Learn more about our funding: https://bit.ly/4kFaGC0

Join Dr Lisa Forsberg at Somerville College to celebrate the book launch of 'Consenting Children: Autonomy, Responsibility, Well-being', newly published by the British Academy. Hosted by @uehiro.ox.ac.uk. Register for this free event on 27 February 2026, 3:30 pm. 👇 https://bit.ly/4rx2bMe

How do we make decisions about our health? A new Open Access book from the British Academy argues that real-life decisions are made not solely in reference to biomedical epistemes, but also systems of embodied rationality, systems of reasoning and negotiations with power and authority that can be…

Why and how are machine learning algorithms are driving polarisation? In our new 10-Minute Talk, Wendy Chun FBA unpacks the role of homophily – the idea that ‘birds of a feather flock together’ – in how social media networks are designed. Watch the full video now: https://bit.ly/402lT6t

There are only three weeks left to apply for the International Fellowships 2026 programme. The scheme allows early career, international researchers to collaborate on a project with a UK partner. Learn more and apply now: https://bit.ly/3LaMIBC

How do bilingual brains balance reason and emotion? 🧠 New research, funded by the British Academy, explores whether language can influence what we judge to be right or wrong. Find out more: https://bit.ly/462uqcP

This century’s legacy could be shaped by whether decision-makers cooperate on key transnational issues. The latest round of discussion papers from our Global (Dis)Order programme in partnership with @carnegieendowment.org tackles this subject.

Season Adviser for the Age of Self?, @tomshakespeare.bsky.social FBA, was interviewed on BBC Radio London yesterday, discussing the upcoming events and the ideas behind the season. 🎧 Listen from 3:12:45 → www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Don’t miss your chance to submit to the Brian Barry Prize, which closes on 28 February. This prize recognises excellence in political science and is open to scholars at all career stages. The winner receives £1,500 and will be published in @bjpols.bsky.social. Enter now: https://bit.ly/3XUKdG1

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