The AHRC/BBC Knowledge Exchange Programme

AHRC and BBC Knowledge Exchange Programme: Pilot Funding Call

As part of the ongoing collaborative partnership between BBC Future Media and Technology and the Arts & Humanities Research Council we are delighted to announce a matched funding call for collaborative projects of mutual strategic interest. Applications are invited under the themes in the right hand column. Please visit our Wiki for more details of how the partnership has developed to date.

This funding call forms part of the AHRC’s umbrella Collaborative R&D Strategy. It is intended to support individuals or teams of arts and humanities researchers and enterprise partners – in this case, BBC Future Media staff - to work together on well defined collaborative R&D projects. For further details of the aims and objectives of the scheme please see here.

Funding of up to £90K can be sought and projects can be up to 12 months in duration. Funding will be awarded after successful assessment by two separate peer review panels – one from BBC FM&T and one from the AHRC. Start date for projects is from April 2007.

The first stage of the application process requires project partners to jointly submit a framework proposal. The application should include:

Summary of the proposed project
Strategic fit for both partners
Proposed methods of collaboration
Proposed project outcomes

It should also include the project duration and the total amount of funding sought. The proposal will be assessed by a specially designated BBC peer review panel according to the above criteria.

Submission of Framework Proposals has now closed. Projects short-listed as eligible to submit a full proposal via the AHRC's Je-S route will be informed shortly. These full proposals, to be submitted by 15 March 2007, will be subject to peer review panel by arts and humanities academics according to the scheme's criteria. Unsuccessful proposals at both framework and full proposal application stages will be given feedback.

Applications for the second stage full proposal will be accepted from Monday 19th February until the deadline of Thursday 15th March and can only be submitted by the academic partner due to the AHRC’s existing process. Full details of the Je-S application system and the application for the second stage full proposal can be found on the AHRC's site.

If you have any questions about the application process, please email rowena.goldman@bbc.co.uk or Brendan.crowther@bbc.co.uk using the header “Collaboration Partner” in the subject box. We will not accept or consider any application material sent outside the application process for this joint funding call.

Themes

The following themes and questions represent a selection of the current research interests and strategic business concerns of BBC Future Media and Technology.

The themes should be viewed as interrelated rather than discrete topics and they are intended to serve as an indication of examples of current areas of potential collaborative research rather than an exhaustive list. The questions under the theme headings are there to act as a catalyst. Joint applications that fall outside the listed topics are also encouraged.

User Generated Content

How can the BBC fully enable the potential of citizen media/user generated content?

What are the best ways to facilitate and manage the exploitation and re-interpretation of existing BBC content by members of the public? What are the barriers to participation? What are the key audience triggers/motivations for use of UGC sites? What ‘tone of voice’ needs to be adopted to maximise participation?

Mobile

What kinds of ‘made for mobile’ content should the BBC be designing?

In the future what will people use their mobile phones for? The BBC Stapler concept showed how, for example, by pressing a button on their mobile phone users could grab a virtual package of relevant BBC assets to complement the original media. This is one potential type of future activity. What are the other applications yet to be explored? What are the barriers to engagement with interactive and locative media and how might these be addressed? How can the use of portable devices develop a deeper relationship with the BBC? How can the BBC create public value through the aggregation or provision of location based information?

The Open Archive

How should the BBC prioritise archive content release?

The BBC plans to make its archive of audio-visual content available to the public for viewing and research purposes on a trial basis from March 2007, with the aim of providing a full service from Spring 2008. This exciting proposition presents significant challenges as well as new opportunities: digitisation and encoding of such large amounts of content; content processing, including checking and clearing rights; checking for editorial issues concerned with re-publication of archive material; search and navigation of large volumes of archive content; how to manage and moderate user contributions, including user-tagging, recommendations and user memories concerning a programme or event.

Future Formats and Future Audiences

How should the BBC provide for and engage with future generations?

What cultural shifts in thinking does the BBC as an organisation have to undergo to create an innovative climate where new formats and ideas are commissioned? What type of income generated projects could the BBC initiate in such a world? *one paragraph* What areas might the BBC concentrate on for solely a web presence? What would visual and audio projects look like that have no basis in traditional broadcasting?

Interactive Narrative and Digital Storytelling

How can the BBC develop a coherent strategy for interactive narrative/digital storytelling?

What deep level of understanding/thinking does the BBC need to engage with in order to deliver a strategy for this type of content? How can new technologies and platforms add depth to the storytelling process? What is the role of the user in driving the narrative?

Children’s Content and Participatory Environments

What should the BBC be concentrating on in its plans to deliver innovative content experiences for children? How far do collaborative participatory environments meet these needs? What kinds of things do children like to create/do when they inhabit digital immersive environments? What levels and types of facilitation/encouragement do children need to motivate them to view, rate, recommend, create or modify content? How can children work with the BBC to improve and develop dynamically generated services in ongoing collaborative ways?