The Sapling Fund

The Sapling Fund is designed to support academic staff from across the University of Leeds in developing a collaborative project rooted in research in the arts and humanities that has the potential to effect change outside the academy.

The academic lead works in collaboration with at least one non-HE partner in the cultural, arts or third sector. The scheme aims to bring about a step-change in partnership working.

The Sapling Fund is jointly delivered by the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute (LAHRI) and the Cultural Institute (CI) and is supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). In 2025-26, projects must involve research in arts, humanities and/or culture and the translation of research into social and/or economic impact. Funding is available up to a maximum of £5,000. Applications for the Sapling Fund 2025-26 have now closed.

Sapling Fund Projects 2025-26

• Legacies of Loss and Decolonial Care: Ethics, Enslavement, Identity
• Roots and Spores
• Sensing the Fort: Reimagining Housesteads Roman Fort
• Supporting Shorts: Changing How Films Are Made and Seen
• The Otley Run Complaints Choir
• Wish You Were Here.

For details of previous Sapling Fund projects, please see our Sapling archive pages.