Since 2023, Dr. Lyle Skains and I have co-facilitated an annual interdisciplinary Bid-Generating Sandpit for early-career researchers, supported by the British Academy Early Career Researcher Network. The initiative brings together academics from a wide range of disciplines to develop collaborative research projects, funding applications, and interdisciplinary networks focused on major social and global challenges, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Sandpit is based on an intensive two-day ‘crucible’-style model inspired by the NESTA and Welsh Crucible programmes. Through structured workshops, networking activities, team-building exercises, and project development sessions, participants form interdisciplinary teams and generate innovative research proposals with pathways towards external funding. The programme also includes mentoring, feedback panels, and follow-up development sessions to support participants in refining funding applications beyond the event itself.
The initiative began with the 2023 Media Industries and Social Justice Sandpit at Bournemouth University, which focused on interdisciplinary research addressing media, social justice, and public engagement. In 2024 and 2025, the model expanded into larger annual Bid-Generating Sandpits centred on sustainability and global challenges, bringing together early-career academics from universities across the UK in fields including psychology, media, business, law, computing, anthropology, environmental sciences, engineering, tourism, architecture, social work, and performance.
In addition to the Bournemouth-based annual events, we facilitated a London Universities Bid-Generating Sandpit at the University of Greenwich in 2024, extending the model across institutional and regional networks. Across all editions, the Sandpit has fostered interdisciplinary collaboration, research leadership, mentorship, and the development of innovative funding proposals, while supporting the professional development of early-career researchers.
See more info about the sandpits: Bournemouth 2024, London 2024, Bournemouth 2025.
