About

The RSC Interdisciplinary Fellowship (RSC IF) fosters inclusive, resonant, and inspired culture through thought stewardship, knowledge exchange, and creative community.

RSC IF is part of a feasibility study initiated by the RSC, funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, and developed in collaboration with international cultural and research organisations. A thought stewardship programme, the study includes an annual, year-long fellowship centred on historically underrepresented voices, bringing together an intentional community of artists, researchers and cultural workers responding to the cultural and societal change needs of the performing arts sector and beyond.

A photo of a group discussion


Each Fellow will focus on an area of inquiry based in their own practice, responding to the biggest challenges faced by the creative industries and wider society, and the change needed for the development and survival of the sector and future economic growth. The Fellowship forms part of AHRC’s PORTIA (participatory and open research through technology in action) programme which seeks to create the spaces, places and platforms that enable creativity-led R&D to thrive.


In addition to a community of Fellows and organisations, residence time at collaborating institutions, and bespoke practice/research support, the Fellows will have access to state-of-the-art equipment through a further AHRC grant to upgrade facilities for creative and cultural research (CResCa). The funding will support the RSC to develop its creative research capability, including scope to use the new, immersive technologies to explore virtual embodiment motion capture, photogrammetry, volumetric capture and Lidar scanning to create 3D models, harnessing interactivity and innovation for storytelling.

Applications for the 2025-2026 Fellows’ cohort are open! For more information on the Fellowship year specifics, and application process and timeline, see How to Apply.

Festival of Ideas


Each year in July, the outgoing RSC IF Fellows reconvene to cap their Fellowship year by sharing their learnings and welcoming the incoming Fellows.  Joining them for the 3 days of the Festival in the RSC’s The Other Place are artists, researchers, and collaborators who researched and developed projects and started provocative conversations with the RSC throughout the year. Learnings include creative innovation prototypes, outcomes from R&D partnerships and creative residencies, and social impact findings. In addition, highlights of the artistic process from the creative program showcase the practice-based development happening behind the scenes at the RSC everyday.  

Topics of priority for 2024-2025

Hosted in collaboration with 8 research and cultural organisations, each Fellow will focus on a research theme that responds to the biggest challenges faced by the creative industries and wider society today. From a lens of individual creative, academic, and cultural practice, areas of inquiry explore the changes needed for the creative and cultural sectors’ development, sustainability, and survival. Research themes for 2024-2025 include:

  • Sustainable planet and climate futures 
  • Sustainable creative sector work, for example:   
    • creative industries and economy and monetisation
    • legal and rights frameworks in collaboration
    • radical practice in institutions 
    • design of spaces for immersive work 
    • new ideas in connecting with audiences and distribution
  • Innovation in creative practice, for example 
    • artist and archive as an agent of change 
    • technical innovation (e.g., photogrammetry, volumetric capture, and 3D scanning tools for performance, design, and archive)  
    • innovation in creative process (e.g., R&D processes, rehearsal, etc) 
    • innovation in performance, and performance studies  
    • embodiment and technology 
    • creative AI 
    • new approaches to classics 
    • innovative composition and musical performance 
  • Intersectional possibilities including:  
    • othering and belonging 
    • social/cultural/political change through creative practice 
    • disability and access, including in performance and emerging media 
    • queer/trans possibilities 
    • race and resistance  
  • Art and health including:  
    • social/creative prescribing 
    • medical humanities 
    • arts and wellbeing 

Collaborators 2024-2025

Geared towards sustainable field-building, and historically underrepresented voices, the fellowship forges a consortium of cultural and research leaders committed to the community in order to support one another, develop common questions, and share best practices and new data. Current founding collaborators include:

Questions?

For more information, please email us at: if@rsc.org.uk .