Gateway criteria
The following gateway criteria will apply and, if not satisfied, will prevent you from being considered for funding.
The museum, gallery or collection on which the submission is based must:
- be a ‘university museum or gallery’ and have a substantial and long-term financial commitment to maintaining a collection
- incur significant reach beyond the higher education provider’s (HEP) own researchers and students and as far as possible demonstrate the additional costs associated with this
- make, or have the potential to make, a unique and significant contribution to research and scholarship in the higher education sector
- be operated in an efficient manner and demonstrate financial sustainability
- hold Arts Council accreditation status, ‘working towards accreditation’ status or provide reasons for ineligibility for this status
Quality and funding criteria
The review will consider to what extent the HEMG meets core Research England policy aims and promotes excellence in research and scholarship that warrants additional Research England research funding.
The review will consider submissions in the context of the individual HEMG and HEP, drawing on evidence of past performance, potential for future performance and plans to deliver outcomes in relation to the following quality criteria:
- how far the HEMG is providing a service to the wider research community at significant cost beyond that required to meet the needs of its own researchers and students (beyond the normal degree of reciprocity in sharing research resources), highlighting the value added by the collection
- evidence that use of the HEMG has led to unique and significant contributions to research, scholarship and research impact in the UK or internationally, or both
- the extent to which the HEMG offers innovative, unique and significant value to undergraduate and postgraduate students
- the extent to which the HEMG provides additional external benefit both digitally and in person, including engaging the public, schools and wider community with research
- appropriate plans in place or actions taken to support and promote accessibility and use of collections both in person and digitally
- appropriate plans in place and actions taken to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across the HEMG
- appropriate plans in place and actions taken to promote sustainable access to collections
- whether Research England HEMG funding is an appropriate proportion of the total cost of sustaining the museum or gallery, demonstrating additionality, and not core funding
The review process
The review panel will be led by Dr Nick Merriman, Chief Executive and Director of Content for the Horniman Museum and Gardens.
The other members will be:
- Dr Valerie Johnson
- Emeritus Professor Dinah Birch
- Dr Catherine Eagleton
- Professor Jane Henderson
- Dr Alice Stevenson
- Professor Anthony Musson
See ‘Guidance for submissions’ document in the ‘Additional info’ section for more information.
Having established whether a submission satisfies the gateway criteria, the review panel will consider the written submission, with regard to the criteria for the review. The panel will advise whether it is appropriate to provide funding to each HEMG and the level of funding allocated to each successful HEMG.
The panel’s recommendations will be considered by the Research England executive chair who will make final decisions on allocations of grants.
The review will inform allocations from academic year 2024 to 2025 onwards. We expect this funding to remain fixed for a five-year period, dependent on funding allocations confirmed annually by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
