Nuffield Foundation

Racial Diversity UK Fund

The Racial Diversity UK Fund (RDUK) supports research on racial diversity within the UK, focusing on understanding the barriers and pathways to a racially just and inclusive society. The fund was launched in 2024 to investigate why some of the UK's differential racial outcomes persist while other disparities have closed, and to explore what works to end racial disparities. The programme is funded by an endowment that supports work relating to the Commonwealth, with interest in the future of UK society as shaped by its colonial past, specifically by the migration of people from former British colonies to the UK. The priority theme for the autumn 2025 application round is migration, arrivals, and legacies. Areas of interest include how colonial legacies shape the UK's racially diverse future, patterns and experiences of migration and settlement, impacts of migration on communities, demographic projections, and rights and routes to residency and citizenship. The fund welcomes applications proposing any methodological approach, including applied methods and participatory research. The Foundation particularly encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds and racially minoritised communities, and strongly encourages partnership applications that bring together researchers and communities to explore challenges and develop solutions. Research funded is expected to contribute to understanding, public debate, policy and practice on tackling racial inequalities, discrimination and disadvantage, and to map pathways towards a UK that is comfortable with and reaping the benefits of its growing racial diversity.