The challenge: finding the right rule
Research funding websites contain information that applicants need to interpret in the context of their own plans. Eligibility, permitted expenditure, institutional approval and application procedures can sit across scheme pages, guidance documents and frequently asked questions.
The Academy’s Small Research Grants page illustrates this complexity: it distinguishes principal applicants from co-applicants, includes requirements for independent scholars and explains resubmission rules alongside the purpose of the funding. Finding the relevant passage is part of the application process.
A smart AI chatbot for applicant questions
Knowbot provides a conversational route into that information. Applicants can ask questions in their own words about eligibility and application requirements. The Academy describes an assistant that answers from its own website and guides people towards relevant information, while its funding team remains available for personalised support.
This is more capable than a scripted FAQ chatbot. Knowbot uses AI to understand a question and work with detailed source material, rather than requiring the visitor to choose a predetermined question. Source links let the reader check the original guidance and explore the detail.
Across four funding schemes
The Academy’s work with Knowbot spans Mid-Career Fellowships, Senior Research Fellowships, Small Research Grants and Postdoctoral Fellowships.
Different funding schemes have different applicant requirements. Extending Knowbot across them applies the same conversational approach to several areas of funding guidance. The Academy says it continues to review the service and invites feedback.
Detailed guidance, across documents
For Small Research Grants and Postdoctoral Fellowships, Knowbot works with a separate set of source material for each scheme. These include scheme guidance, application notes and frequently asked questions, including the Academy’s published PDF documents.
Applicants can ask detailed questions across that material through one conversational interface. The assistant works with the scheme’s guidance documents, giving it much more to draw on than a short FAQ or a scheme’s introductory webpage.
What other research funders can learn
A useful starting point for an AI funding assistant is a defined information need: helping applicants understand published guidance. The funding organisation remains responsible for that guidance and for individual decisions, while Knowbot gives visitors another way to find and understand it.
This deployment concerns access to funding information. It does not assess research proposals or make funding decisions. That clear purpose helps distinguish applicant support from the separate process of awarding grants.
Explore the deployment
- The British Academy: why we are using Knowbot
- Small Research Grants: Ask Knowbot
- Postdoctoral Fellowships: Ask Knowbot
Based on the Academy’s published explanation and scheme information, reviewed in October 2026.