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From Research to Impact: Six Stories from HERA
Posted: 14 September, 2026
How does European humanities research continue to make a difference long after a project has ended? To explore this question, two interns from the 10,000 Black Interns Programme worked with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) during the summer of 2026 to gather stories on the long-term impact of UK involvement in HERA-funded research.
HERA is a collaborative partnership of 26 national research funding agencies from 25 European countries. Since 2004, it has supported European arts and humanities research through funding, collaboration and advocacy. Across six humanities-led funding opportunities, 67 of 85 transnational projects involved UK teams funded by AHRC.
The project focused on the first five funding calls, launched between 2009 and 2022. Princess Kunadu and Sammy Morgan contacted the UK leads of 60 projects and invited them to share what their research had achieved since the projects were completed.
Six responses were received and developed into stories that highlight how AHRC-supported research has advanced knowledge, improved lives, driven economic growth, and delivered wider social and cultural benefits.
Explore the stories below:
- Sharing Ancient Wisdoms: Exploring the Tradition of Greek and Arabic Wisdom Literatures: How research into the movement of wisdom literature across cultures has strengthened understanding of shared intellectual heritage.
- Marrying Cultures: Queens Consort and European Identities 1500–1800: How the study of royal marriages has revealed the cultural interconnectedness of European societies.
- CitiGen: Identity, Citizenship and Nationhood in the Post-Genome Era: How interdisciplinary research is helping people understand ancestry, identity and genetic evidence more critically.
- Beyond Stereotypes: Cultural Exchanges and the Romani Contribution to European Public Spaces: How research has brought overlooked Romani histories and contributions into public view.
- Public Renaissance: Urban Cultures of Public Space between Early Modern Europe and the Present: How historical research and digital technology are helping people experience the history of their cities.
- En/counter/points: (re)negotiating belonging through culture and contact in public space and place: How research into belonging has informed more inclusive practices in museums, communities and public spaces.
