British Academy announced last week that it is moving to an electronic grants system for all future proposals by the end of the summer. They intend to use eGAP2, which is the same web-based system used by the Royal Society. Below is the full press release from the Academy:

During June and July, the British Academy will complete the testing and implementation of its new electronic grant making system, eGAP2 (electronic Grant Administration Processing system). It is anticipated that, pending a successful outcome to the test phase, the system should go live in early August. The software was developed by our sister Academy, the Royal Society, which implemented this second version of the system in spring 2008. Over the past few months, we have made a number of changes to the system and have adapted eGAP2 to better fit the Academy’s needs. 

The introduction of electronic grant making will help the Academy to overcome the shortcomings of an almost completely paper based system, and to manage an ever increasing volume of applications and awards. Saving time used for keying in several thousand applications and monitoring reports every year will allow Academy staff to continue to respond promptly and knowledgeably to enquiries and requests for support from researchers in the UK and abroad. Applicants will benefit by being able to have direct access to the progress of their application and to share applications with others where relevant. Further announcements – in particular with regard to schedules of future funding competitions – will be made on the Academy’s website and through the Academy’s email bulletin. 

If you have any questions related to the introduction of electronic grant making please email us at projects@britac.ac.uk.

At the ARMA 09 conference, Ken Emond, Head of Research Awards at the British Academy asked for feedback on the move. Many of the comments focused on the level of institutional sign-off required for eGAP submission. It was felt that, like Je-S, all proposals should go through a layer of institutional approval to ensure that the university is aware of all bids submitted (currently British Academy grants need a physical sign-off).