Call details
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.
Launch of Sprint Fellowship Call | 10 November 2026 |
Total Fund | £19,500 |
Sprint Fellowship award | £3,250 |
Application deadline | 15 December 2026, 23:59 (GMT) |
Decision communicated | By 22 December 2026 |
3-month Sprint Fellowship starts | 1 January 2027 |
1 – What is the support that we offer?
Fellows do not have to navigate the DRI alone. The Sprint Fellowships will offer targeted support at multiple levels:
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Project support: supported access to Digital Research Infrastructure which fits your project by a digital Research Technical Professional (dRTP). Depending on your route, the support might include dataset curation for analysis, building and running a workflow, scaling up existing software, developing data pipelines for creative work or building training resources around real DRI services. The support also includes help with exploring access routes to platforms and data to scale up your existing research.
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Community: You will join the cohort of DISKAH Fellows and you will gain access to the broad DISKAH network, offering peer-learning, expertise and guidance on using DRI.
2 – What are we looking for?
For the 3-month Sprint Fellowships we are looking for 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.
If you need to discuss project ideas, please get in touch with DISKAH's lead, Prof Karina Rodriguez Echavarria K.Rodriguez@brighton.ac.uk
3 – What are the expected outputs of the fellowship?
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 your project:
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Routes 1, 2 and 3 will produce datasets, code/software and workflows;
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Route 4 will produce training resources.
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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.
4 – Who is eligible to apply?
DISKAH’s Sprint Fellowships are open to researchers and practitioners from A&H-related disciplines, such as PhD candidates, Early Career Researchers (ECRs), established researchers; Research Technical Professionals (RTPs), such as Data Scientists, Research Software Engineers, Systems Administrators, people involved in Technical Support for DRI; as well as Creative Technologists and Computationally Oriented Artists.
You can apply either:
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As an individual based in the UK, committing 0.2 FTE to the programme; or
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As a team of two, made up of one member based in the UK and one international member, each committing 0.1 FTE (0.2 FTE in total).
International applicants can only apply as part of a team with a UK-based partner. Two UK-based applicants cannot apply as a team, and two international applicants cannot apply together. In a team, the lead applicant must be the UK-based member.
All applicants (individuals and each team member) must:
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Be affiliated with an institution or organisation that agrees to their participation in the DISKAH sprint fellowship programme:
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UK-based applicants must be affiliated with a UK Higher Education Institution (HEI) or an Independent Research Organisation (IRO).
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International applicants must be affiliated with a Higher Education Institution, research or GLAM (Gallery, Library, Archive, Museum) organisation or charity with community work and relevance to the Arts and Humanities domain.
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Be eligible to receive payment into their bank account, as applicable to your location.
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Have experience relevant to your chosen route, such as working with large datasets, developing and running code, working in computational creative practice or producing training resources.
We are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and are especially keen to attract a diverse applicant pool, and strongly welcome applications from under-represented groups in research, computing, and digital skills, such as Black, Asian, ethnic, and/or national minorities, women, those with disabilities/disabled people, neurodivergent people, and/or those in the LGBTQIA+ community. Please contact us directly if you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements for your application or application process.
5 – 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.
6 – How to apply?
To submit an application, please use the following form: https://survey.chws.brighton.domains/index.php/379258
Deadline: 15 December 2026, 23:59 (GMT)
A FAQ is also available to help applicants with any questions they might have.
Your application includes three components:
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A form to complete with details about yourself, as well as your chosen route, your project and planned outputs. If you are applying as a team, the lead applicant completes and submits the form on behalf of both members and gives the name and institution of the second team member in the appropriate field.
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A letter of support from your home institution or independent research organisation to confirm their support for your involvement in the Sprint Fellowship. If you apply as a team each member must provide a letter from their institution.
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An updated CV (up to 2 pages long, including indicative publications and/or relevant outputs). If you apply as a team each member must provide their own CV.
7 – What will the application form include?
The form has four short parts (~1000 words in total). These are:
Part 1: Your project (1800 characters). A summary of what you want to accomplish, including the context, aims and approaches you are using. Teams should also briefly say how the work will be shared between the two members.
Part 2: Your route (1400 characters). Route-specific information about your data, existing code, creative concept or training audience, depending on the route you choose.
Part 3: Infrastructure, support and outputs (1400 characters). The DRI and compute you expect to use, the support you need from DISKAH and the outputs you plan to produce and make FAIR.
Part 4: Personal statement (1200 characters). Why you want to be a Sprint Fellow and which wider networks could benefit from your Fellowship. Teams should write one statement, covering both members’ motivation and networks.
After completing the form you will be asked to upload your letter(s) of support and your updated CV(s) (two of each if you are applying as a team).
8 – How will we assess your application?
The DISKAH team will assess applications according to the following criteria:
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Quality and feasibility of the project within the 3-month Sprint Fellowship. For teams, this includes a clear and realistic division of work between the two members.
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Fit to DRI, in terms of the project benefiting from access to DRI, such as large-scale compute.
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Potential for the project to become a use case, whose outputs and approach can be reused by others in the A&H community.
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Applicants’ track record for their career stage and the potential for wider benefit from the Fellowship to other networks. For teams, this includes how the two members’ expertise and networks complement each other.
We aim to complete the assessment process and contact successful applicants by 22 December 2026.
Please note that upon successful application to and selection for the DISKAH Sprint Fellowships 2027, you and your organisation will be required to sign an award letter setting out the details of your sub-study project. The signed award letter must be returned before any payment can be made to your organisation in respect of your time spent on the project.
9 - Contacts
If you would like further information about the Fellowships or the project, please contact:
Dr. Karina Rodriguez Echavarria,
Professor and DISKAH Project Lead,
email: K.Rodriguez@brighton.ac.uk
Dr. Myrsini Samaroudi,
DISKAH Research Fellow,
email: M.Samaroudi3@brighton.ac.uk