We are running the funding opportunity on the new UKRI Funding Service. You cannot apply for this opportunity on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
If you do not already have an account with the UKRI Funding Service, you will be able to create one by selecting the ‘Start application’ button at the start of this page. Creating an account is a 2-minute process requiring you to verify your email address and set a password.
If you are a member of an organisation with a research office that we do not have contact details for, we will contact them to enable administrator access. This provides:
- oversight of every UKRI Funding Service application opened on behalf of your organisation
- the ability to review and submit applications
Research offices that have not already received an invitation to open an account should email support@funding-service.ukri.org
To find out more about the role of research office professionals in the application process, watch a recording of a recent research office webinar on YouTube.
Submitting your application
Applications should be prepared and submitted by the lead research organisation but should be co-created with input from all investigators, and project partners, and should represent the proposed work of the entire consortia.
To apply:
- Select the ‘Start application’ button at the start of this page.
- This will open the ‘Sign in’ page of the UKRI Funding Service. If you do not already have an account, you’ll be able to create one. This is a 2-minute process requiring you to verify your email address and set a password.
- Start answering the questions detailed in this section of ‘How to apply’. You can save your work and come back to it later. You can also work ‘offline’, copying and pasting into the text boxes provided for your answers.
- Once complete, use the service to send your application to your research office for review; they’ll check it and return it to you if it needs editing.
- Once happy, your research office will submit it to UKRI for assessment. Only they can do this.
As citations can be integral to a case for support, you should balance their inclusion and the benefit they provide against the inclusion of other parts of your answer to each question. Bear in mind that citations, associated reference lists or bibliographies, or both, contribute to, and are included in, the word count of the relevant section.
EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your funding service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.
If your application is successful, some personal information will be published via the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Deadline
We must receive your application by 4:00pm UK time on 7 September 2023.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
You should ensure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place.
UKRI Funding Service: section guidance
Summary
In plain English, provide a summary that can be sent to potential reviewers to determine if your proposal is within their field of expertise.
This summary may be made publicly available on external facing websites, so please ensure it can be understood by a variety of readers, for example:
- opinion-formers
- policymakers
- the general public
- the wider research community.
Guidance for writing a summary
Succinctly describe your proposed work in terms of:
- its context
- the challenge the project addresses and how it will be applied to this
- its aims and objectives
- its potential applications and benefits.
Word count: 550
Applicants
List the key members of your team and assign them roles, for example:
- project lead
- project co-lead (UK)
- research and innovation associate
- project co-lead (international) (only if based in Norway)
- researcher co-lead (optional)
- visiting researcher (optional)
- technician (optional)
- specialist (optional)
- grant manager (optional)
- professional enabling staff (optional)
You should only list one individual as project lead.
The project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) role should only be used for applications making use of the UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation agreement or the UKRI-IIASA agreement. We do not otherwise accept project co-lead (international) applicants.
Find out about UKRI’s new grant roles and eligibility.
Postdoctoral research assistants
These should be included on the grant as research and innovation associates.
Non-academic staff
Non-academic staff such as programme managers and administrators, should be added under the ‘grant manager’ staff category.
Please do not add international or industry project partners in this category, as these should be added as a ‘project partner’ instead.
Section 1: Vision and approach
You should upload the Vision and approach document as a six-page PDF, plus an additional page for a diagrammatic workplan. The document must have single line spacing, margins of at least 2cm and be typed using Arial 11pt, or another ‘sans serif’ font with an equivalent size to Arial 11pt.
In the text box simply enter ‘attachment supplied’.
Question: What are you hoping to achieve and how will you deliver your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
For the Vision, explain how your proposed work:
- is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
- has the potential to advance current understanding, generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
- is timely given current trends, context and needs
- impacts world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment
Within the Vision section we also expect you to:
• identify the potential direct or indirect benefits, and who the beneficiaries might be
For the Approach, explain how you have designed your work so that it:
- is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
- is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
- if applicable, uses a clear and transparent methodology
- if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed
- will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
- describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place, its location, and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
Within the Approach section we also expect you to:
- demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposal
- provide a project plan including milestones and timelines
Section 2: Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word count: 1,500 (1,000 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions)
Question: Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
- the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
- the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
- the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
The word count for this section is 1,500 words – 1,000 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.
Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you, and if relevant your team (project lead and project co-leads, researchers, other (technical) staff for example research software engineers, data scientists and so on, and partners), have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.
Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. You should use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:
- contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
- the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
- contributions to the wider research and innovation community
- contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit
Additions: Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is not mandatory and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences or outputs, but any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).
You should complete this as a narrative and you should avoid CV type format.
Section 3: References
Question: List the references you’ve use to support your application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response:
Ensure your application is a self-contained description. You can provide hyperlinks to relevant publications or online resources. However, assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application. You must not include links to web resources in order to extend your application. If linking to web resources, to ensure the information’s integrity is maintained include, where possible, persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers.
Word count: 1,000
Section 4a: Project partners: contributions
Word count: 1,000
Question: Provide details about any project partners’ contributions using the template provided.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Download and complete the project partner contributions template (DOCX, 52KB) then copy and paste the table within it into the text box.
Ensure you have obtained prior agreement from project partners that, should you be offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the template.
A project partner is a collaborating organisation that is contributing to the application and will have an integral role in the proposed research. Project partners cannot normally receive funding directly from the grant. Two exceptions to this are:
- where a project partner is providing services or equipment that will go through a formal procurement process audited by the host research organisation
- the project partner can receive small amounts of funding from the grant, such as for travel and subsistence to attend project meetings. These will need to be requested and fully justified in the application
Section 4b Project Partners: letters (or emails) of support
Question: Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the table in the previous ‘contributions’ section.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you do not have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.
If you have named project partners in the previous ‘contributions’ section, enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box.
Each letter or email you provide should:
- confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
- clearly explain the value, relevance and possible benefits of the work to them
- describe any additional value that they bring to the project
- refer to EPSRC’s guidance on project partners letters of support for further information Project partners letter of support
Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment. Upload details are provided within the service on the actual application.
For audit purposes, we require formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Do not provide letters of support from host and co-project lead research organisations.
Section 5: Resources and cost justification
Using the costs table within the resources and cost summary, provide details of the total funding required under each fund heading. You should include high-level costs only, not a detailed breakdown of individual items. You should use the textbox for the justification of resources to provide further details on what is being requested and why it is needed to deliver your proposed work.
Question: What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Using the text box, demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
This resources and cost justification should not simply be a list of the resources requested, as this will already be given in the costs table. Costings should be justified on the basis of full economic costs (FEC) of the project, not just on the costs expected from UKRI. For some items we do not expect you to justify the monetary value, rather the type of resource, such as amount of time or type of staff requested.
Where you do not provide adequate justification for a resource, we may deduct it from any funding awarded.
You should identify:
- support for activities to either increase impact, for public engagement, knowledge exchange,or to support responsible innovation
- support for access to facilities, infrastructure or procurement of equipment
- support for preserving, long-term storage, or sharing of data
- support from partner organisations and how that enhances value for money
Reviewers and panels may acknowledge the impact of university support but will not consider the level of matched university funding as a factor on which to base funding recommendations.
Word count: 1,000
Section 6a: Data management and sharing
Question: How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a data management plan which should clearly detail how you will comply with EPSRC’s published data sharing policy. BBSRC also have detailed guidance notes, which are applicable for this opportunity.
Word count: 500
Section 6b: Intellectual property rights (IPR)
Question: Provide a brief description of the intellectual assets underpinning the proposed work.
If this section is not relevant, please enter ‘N/A’ in the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next question.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Include any IPR if appropriate. If your IPR is a patent, please include the patent number or numbers along with a summary scope of the claims. We recognise that not all applications to EPSRC will have a patent or other IPR.
Word count: 500
Section 7: Outsourcing
Question: Are you outsourcing any activities?
If you are not, enter ‘N/A’ in the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next question.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
We recognise that in some instances, it may be appropriate to outsource elements of the proposed work. If that is the case in this application, please provide the following information:
- the scope of the outsourced activity, that means what is being undertaken and what will be delivered
- the relevance of the outsourced activity to the application
- why the outsourced activity cannot be undertaken in house
- why this provider is the most appropriate
- the cost or costs of the outsourced activity and the tendering process that has been followed
Please provide any goods and services quotations.
Word count: 250
Section 8: EDI plan
Question: What are the approaches and activities planned to inspire, enable and facilitate greater EDI in your project?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
EDI plans that are project-specific and focus on activities beyond any institutional activities already in place.
While we do not expect project teams to have specific expertise in EDI, the plans should still demonstrate an understanding of any EDI challenges associated with the project. EDI outcomes and the methods required to reach them should also be identified.
You are encouraged to consider the following. Please note, not all questions need to be addressed, these are prompts for your consideration:
- What are the key EDI challenges in your project, also taking into account the international collaboration?
- You should provide evidence of ways in which EDI issues will be managed/addressed/tackled both within your group, institutions and in the wider community level.
- How will EDI outcomes be measured?
- What steps will you take to raise awareness of and mitigate against the impact of bias in your group and the wider community in terms of gender, ethnicity or any other protected characteristic through processes, behaviours and culture?
- How will good practice be sought-out to evolve the EDI plan or approach over the proposal’s lifetime? How will this good practice be captured and shared with the wider community?
These plans should be feasible and have appropriate resources allocated to address the challenges. Examples of what could be included in the EDI plan are:
- actions to promote inclusive participation in international collaboration activities
- EDI research
- EDI advocacy
- budgeting for activities and building a small team to deliver if necessary.
Word count: 500
Section 9: Sensitive information
Question: Is there sensitive information you need to share with UKRI that you do not want shared with assessors?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If not, enter ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move on to the next section.
If you, or a key team member, need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, please enter the words ‘email sent’ in the text box.
Then contact the Funding Service helpdesk at support@funding-service.ukri.org Include your application name and number in the subject line, after the pre-populated words ‘sensitive information’.
Typical examples of confidential information include:
- applicant is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
- declaration of interest
- additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘applicant and team capability’ section
- conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
- the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data please see UKRI’s privacy notice.
Word count: 5
Section 10a: Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Question: What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Using the text box, demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations, and how you will manage them.
Additional sub-questions (to be answered only if appropriate) will be included in the UKRI Funding Service. These will ask about numbers, species or strain, and justification about:
- genetic and biological risk
- research involving the use of animals
- conducting research with animal overseas
- research involving human participation
- research involving human tissues or biological samples
Word count: 500
Section 11: Facilities
Question: Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If not, enter N/A into the text box, mark this section as complete and move on to the next section.
If you will need to use a facility, you should follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Where prior agreement is required, ensure you obtain their agreement that, should you be offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.
In the text box, for each requested facility you should provide:
- the name of facility, copied and pasted from the combined facilities list (DOCX, 37KB)
- the proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicted on that list
- confirmation you have their agreement where required
Do not put the facility contact details in your response.
Word count: 250
