The Global School of Sustainability is bringing together experts, creating networks to deliver change, and training the next generation of leaders. 

As part of its goal to accelerate innovative research projects across LSE we are launching a Global Sustainability Research Fund harnessing LSE’s inclusive and collaborative interdisciplinary approach that draws from our faculty’s expertise across the social sciences.   

The Global Sustainability Research Fund is LSE’s flagship research fund for ambitious, creative, and impactful sustainability research activities that increases the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humankind, culture and society, devises new applications of available knowledge or early-stage engagement and/or supports impact, knowledge exchange, and communications activities delivered through dissemination and outreach to key stakeholders including the general public.

The Global Sustainability Research Fund is focussed on the five Global School of Sustainability themes:

• Generating sustainable growth 

• Creating sustainable finance and business

• Mobilising political, legal, and governance systems

• Protecting and enhancing nature and biodiversity

• Building sustainable societies

Funding available 

The total available funding for the scheme is up to £1,000,000 per year.

Projects can request between £20,000 to £100,000 for up to 24 months and must be ready to start within a month of awarding. 

Timetable 

Deadlines occur twice a year, and the first round is as follows:

Dates for the 2025/26 rounds will be announced in July 2025.

Eligibility to apply 

Principal investigators

• You must be a member of Faculty, Research and Policy Staff, Teaching Staff* and LSE Fellows as listed in LSE HR Role Profiles, including in practice roles. 

*Teaching Staff must demonstrate the proposed project is in line with their teaching field. 

• You must have a contract of employment with their Academic Unit at LSE in place for the entire project duration, and be able to demonstrate continued links with LSE into the future. Projects cannot be used to extend LSE contracts of employment.

• Current Students, Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), Emeritus, and Guest Teacher role holders may not apply. 

• You may only apply once per round.

Academic units

• Applicants must confirm that they have the full support of their host academic unit as part of their application. An award letter co-signed by the hosting unit lead will be required at award stage.

Current project holders

• Previous awardees of internal funding must confirm the submission of the final report of closed projects.

• You may not hold more than one Global Sustainability Research project at any one time (either as PI or Co-I). 

Application process

If you are considering making an application, we strongly encourage you to contact your department’s Research Development support contact  as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks before the application deadline.

All applications are submitted through the Global Sustainability Application Form.

You can find the guidance for the application form here. (LINK)

Costing your application

Staff must submit costs using the budget template. 

If you are including any LSE staff costs in the budget it is mandatory to contact your Research Development support contact as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks before the assessment deadline.

The following costs are eligible for this scheme:

• Directly Incurred Salaried research and policy staff costs within the project and contract periods.

• Directly incurred non-staff costs such as travel, fieldwork, consumables, goods, equipment, services, and consultants (including associated fees and taxes).

• Hourly Paid Staff costs for occasional research assistance and clerical support.

Specialist costs to make project activities more accessible are also eligible, such as:

• Costs for care of dependents where it is unavoidable.

• Costs to make adjustments within travel and accommodation bookings for staff who need them.

• Cost to make sure outputs are accessible (both for researchers and stakeholders, such as braille printed books or pamphlets). 

• Costs of specialist contractors that are working on EDI supporting activities, such as audio transcription for events, etc. 

• Costs to make events more accessible including specialist venues and supporting staff.

The following costs are not eligible under this scheme:

• Directly Allocated (LSE NAC Staff) salaried staff costs.

• Collaborator or partner staff costs. 

• Indirect (overheads) and estates (space) charges of LSE or any Partner or Collaborator.

• Open Access fees and article processing charges covered by the Open Access fees and article processing charges covered by the Open Access Fund

• DI teaching contract or hourly paid teaching costs are not eligible.

If you are unsure of the kinds of non-staff costs you can include in your project, please explore the list below:

• Data collection and fieldwork in the UK and overseas, including travel, expenses, and outsourced service provision.

• Travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs for project-related activities.

• Participant payments and incentives for formal surveys, community groups, and research beneficiaries.

• Consultancy services in the UK and overseas, including applicable taxes and fees.

• Goods and services from suppliers, including surveys, transcription, and translation, with applicable taxes and fees.

• Attendance at conferences, symposia, and other networking and dissemination events.

• Costs associated with hosting project-related events and dissemination activities.

• Software and licences required for research, development, or collaboration.

• Small project-related consumables.

• Equipment costs where directly linked to delivering project objectives.

• Proofreading and copy-editing of research manuscripts.

• Publishing costs for monographs or experimental publishing outputs

Review and selection

Submitted applications will be checked against eligibility criteria prior to peer-review.

Applications will be sent for peer review and selection by the Global Sustainability Research Panel. The Panel comprises the Pro-Vice Chancellor Research, Dean of the Global School of Sustainability,  and GSoS theme leads.

Assessment criteria

The information below will be used to assess the proposal against these criteria - i.e., proposals will be funded based on (a) originality, (b) significance, (c) methodology/rigour, and (d) potential for delivering impact. 

Peer review process

• Every application will be reviewed by two Peer-Reviewers from the Global Sustainability Research Panel.
  

• Peer-Reviewers must score and add a comment for each of the criteria in above.

• Peer-Reviewers are asked to score 1-4, using half marks as needed.

The scores for criteria 1 to 4 will be used to rank applications and the Panel will discuss applications to reach consensus on the final decisions to award projects.

Outcomes 

All applications will receive feedback from the selection process within the timelines stated above. Projects are awarded based on the information received during the application process and subject to any Panel conditions.

Unsuccessful applicants may apply again provided the project is new or is developed in line with feedback.

Successful awardees may be contacted with requests to peer review similar applications.

Managing your award

Principal Investigators must comply with the following rules:

• Confirm that they have the full support of their host academic unit. An award letter co-signed by the hosting unit will be required.

• Manage the project funds in line with LSE financial regulations.

• Contact the R&I Funds Manager to request virements and extensions to awards.

• Comply with LSE polices for research governance, ethics, data management, intellectual policy and other policies relevant to their research.

• Engage with in-flight monitoring meetings including information requests for research communications and publicity.

• Ensure that processes and projects are compliant with good research practices, ensuring transparency and accountability. 

Project changes in duration, team, costs and objectives will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances and always subject to further review by the R&I Funds Manager.

Project closure and reporting

Principal Investigators must complete a final financial report within 3 months of project end date.

Principal Investigators will be required to report on the activities, outputs, and outcomes of their research project in a final report, not more than 12 months after the end date of the project.

Full details of the reporting templates will be provided at the point of award.

Support

Please contact your Research Development support contact for guidance on your application.

General queries, feedback and comments on this scheme can be sent to ri.internalschemes@lse.ac.uk