This page has been created to complement the call for DISKAH’s Sprint Fellowships 2027. Please read the call carefully, before reading the FAQs and submitting your application
If you have any questions that are not answered below, please contact: M.Samaroudi3@brighton.ac.uk
▶ What is DISKAH?
The DISKAH (DIgital SKills for Arts and Humanities) is a network initiated through a collaboration between the University of Brighton, Durham University, the University of the Arts London, and the University of Exeter, N8 Centre of Excellence in Computationally Intensive Research (N8 CIR), King’s Digital Lab, UCL’s Centre for Advanced Research and the European Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH). The DISKAH Network has, since its launch, expanded to include fellows from the University of Edinburgh, Northeastern University London, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, De Montfort University, University of Oxford, University of Warwick, University of Cambridge, and University of Glasgow.
▶ What is the DISKAH Sprint Fellowships 2027 Programme?
The Digital Skills for Arts and Humanities (DISKAH) Sprint Fellowships 2027 offer supported access to Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) through Research Technical Professional (dRTP) expertise and structured guidance to make effective use of large-scale data, digital methods, tools and compute in Arts and Humanities (A&H) research and practice. With DISKAH’s support, Sprint Fellows will build a use case that shows how DRI can support A&H research and practice, so that others can learn from it. Sprint Fellowship projects follow one of four routes: answering a research question with large-scale data, scaling up existing software, exploring AI workflows, or building training resources.
DISKAH’s Sprint Fellowships are expected to last for 3 months between January and March 2027.
▶ What does the Sprint Fellowships Programme involve?
For the 3-month Sprint Fellowships will be built around projects which require infrastructure that is not available to the individual researcher, e.g. access to a computer which can process a large amount of data, software and AI workflows development support. While previous experience with DRI is not required, your project should fit one of the following routes:
Route 1: Answer a research question with large-scale data. You have/can readily access a large dataset and a specific research question that needs computational methods at scale. You should already have an idea of the methods or tools you would use, and you will be able to develop and run a workflow on DRI to address your question.
Route 2: Scale up existing software or code to shed new light on research questions. You have code/software or a workflow that works at small scale or small dataset; and you want to adapt it to run on DRI with larger datasets to shed new light on research questions.
Route 3: Explore AI workflows for existing large-scale data. You explore the use of AI methods for analysing, enriching or interpreting existing data at scale and assessing their potential and reproducibility.
Route 4: Build training resources for DRI. You develop resources that enable wider adoption of DRI by the A&H community, such as lessons, tutorials or workflow guides. These should be built around real DRI services and, ideally, tested with users.
▶ Can I select more than one Sprint Fellowships Route?
You must choose one Route as your primary focus. Your project may draw on elements from other Routes, but given the 3-month duration of the Sprint Fellowships, your plan, outputs and application should be organised around a single Route.
▶ What are the expectations from the Fellows?
Fellows are expected to develop a use case for A&H DRI to build capacity in the community via outputs. These outputs include:
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A use case report. This will include filling in a report template with information around your use case and may also include collaborating with DISKAH to produce short media to promote your use case (e.g. a video to showcase your project).
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A contribution to a network event in spring 2027 with a short talk, showcase or poster presenting your project.
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Outputs developed through the fellowship project: Routes 1, 2 and 3 will produce datasets, code/software and workflows; and Route 4 will produce training resources.
Outputs will become findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) by depositing them in suitable DRI services (e.g. A&H DRI data services, Zenodo, SSH Open Marketplace, DARIAH Campus) and implementing CARE principles. Please note that the DISKAH team will provide guidance on suitable DRI services to use.
▶ What funding is available?
Each Sprint Fellowship receives a flat-rate award of £3,250 to support the Fellows’ time and work.
The award buys out a total of 20% of Fellow time (0.2 FTE), which can be delivered in one of two ways:
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Individual Fellow (UK-based): the full £3,250 is paid to your institution and buys out 20% of your time (0.2 FTE).
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Team of two (one UK-based Fellow and one international Fellow): the award is shared equally, with £1,625 for each Fellow, buying out 10% of each Fellow’s time (0.1 FTE each). The UK-based Fellow’s share is paid to their institution; the international Fellow’s share can be paid to their institution or, where needed, directly to them.
The flat-rate award will be paid in two instalments. 50% will be paid mid-Fellowship, subject to satisfactory progress against the agreed project plan and 50% at the end, upon delivery of the expected outputs.
Additional funding is available through DISKAH to attend the network event in spring 2027 and other network activities.
▶ What is the duration of the Fellowship?
The duration of the Fellowship is three (3) months from January 2027 to March 2027.
▶ What is digital research infrastructure (DRI)?
UKRI states that the digital research infrastructure (DRI) system includes: large-scale compute facilities, including high-throughput, high-performance, and cloud computing; data storage facilities, repositories, stewardship and security; software and shared code libraries; mechanisms for access, such as networks and user authentication systems; and the users and experts who develop and maintain these powerful resources.