The Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grants Programme is requesting applications to support curators and museum professionals to undertake research, travel, and professional development activities that enhance curatorial expertise and collections-based knowledge.
The deadline for applications is Friday 25th September 2026.
The programme focuses on UK and international travel and accommodation for research trips and conferences, training courses and programmes of study including online learning, subscriptions such as archive access, and other professional activities that strengthen curatorial skills and support collections-based research.
This programme provides financial support of up to £2,000 for small grants and over £2,000 for larger grants, depending on the scale of the proposed activity. The support is intended for travel, accommodation, training, subscriptions, and other development-related costs, but it cannot be used to pay fees for applicants or other participants involved in the research.
Eligibility is limited to curators, museum professionals, researchers, and academics who are employed by or working in partnership with a UK-based museum, gallery, archive, or arts organisation that is not-for-profit, publicly accessible for most of the year, and at least provisionally accredited, including charities, CICs, and CIOs.
Applicants who are not directly based in a museum or gallery must provide a letter of support from a fully or provisionally accredited public collection. Individuals not employed by or working with a UK museum, gallery, or arts organisation are not eligible to apply.
For further information, please visit the Art Fund website.
