Nuffield Foundation offers grants up to £500k for racial diversity research
Howard Lake | 27 May 2026 | News
The Nuffield Foundation is inviting funding applications from researchers, academics, charities and other organisations working on racial diversity, inequality and inclusion.
Grants of up to £500,000 are available from the Nuffield Foundation’s Racial Diversity UK (RDUK) fund.
The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being. It funds and undertakes rigorous research, encourages innovation and supports the use of sound evidence to inform social and economic policy, and improve people’s lives.
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This year’s theme is inter-generational changes, continuities and challenges in a racially diverse UK. The Foundation is interested in the opportunities and challenges of the UK’s racially diverse future, how these change over generations, and how they are shaped by legacies of the UK’s colonial past.
Applications are open until 5 October 2026. A second funding round will follow in autumn 2027. Both are focusing on distinct themes addressing “opportunities and challenges in building a more equitable society”. Next year’s theme will be “the economics of racial diversity”, and its deadline is also expected to be in October.
Liz Gilfillan, RDUK Programme Head, said:
“At a time of significant social, economic and demographic change, the impact of, and relationship between, racial diversity and people’s experiences and outcomes across generations is central to understanding how the UK is evolving. Our new themes recognise that building an inclusive, prosperous and fair society requires deeper insight into these shifts. Through the RDUK fund, we’re looking to support ambitious research that explores both the potentials and the challenges, helping to create a more inclusive and equitable future.”
The Runnymede Trust, British Future, Migration Policy Scotland, and the University of Glasgow have so far received £1.4 million from RDUK.
- Nuffield Foundation commits £150 million (24 July 2025)
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.