How to propose a research idea

We welcome opportunities to work with other organisations and individuals on research projects and to develop joint funding applications.

We have a track record of successful bids with research funding bodies such as Wellcome and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Find out more about the benefits of working with us on research.

How and when to contact us about your idea

Email the Research team with your idea and we will respond to you as soon as we can. If you don’t already have a named contact at The National Archives, we can advise you which colleague would be best placed to send you a response.

Alternatively, you may prefer to contact a specific person if you already know their name and if they have relevant research interests. Browse our selection of staff profiles for information about our research expertise.

Please contact us at an early stage if you want to explore whether to work in partnership with us. Partnerships can take time to develop, and we appreciate having as much notice as possible before the deadline for a funding bid. Our internal approvals process for research grant applications takes a minimum of 3–4 weeks.

Letters of support for archive services

If you work in an archive service and are seeking support from us for a funding bid, please note that we do not supply archive services with formal letters of support for funding bids or other related purposes.

However, our Archives Sector Development team provides advice to archive services which can be used in funding bids. Find out more about using advisory letters.