We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the 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 network.
Please note, there is an optional notification of intent (NoI) stage for this UKRI funding opportunity.
We strongly encourage potential applicants to submit an NoI. This will help with demand management and will help AHRC to convene an assessment panel with relevant expertise.
To submit an NoI, please fill in the survey by 4:00pm UK time on 3 December 2024.
Acknowledgement of NoI receipt and potential feedback will be provided in early January 2025.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this funding opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
- Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
- Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
- Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
- Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You should:
- use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words
- insert each new image onto a new line
- provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)
- ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
References
Applications should be self-contained, and hyperlinks should only be used to provide links directly to reference information. To ensure the information’s integrity is maintained, where possible, persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers should be used. Assessors are not required to access links to carry out assessment or recommend a funding decision. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
References should be included in the appropriate question section of the application and be easily identifiable by the assessors for example (Smith, Research Paper, 2019)
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
Deadline
AHRC must receive your application by 10 April 2025 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place.
Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
AHRC, 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.
Publication of outcomes
AHRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at AHRC Board and panel outcomes.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Summary
Word limit: 500
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
- opinion-formers
- policymakers
- the public
- the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
- context
- the challenge the project addresses
- aims and objectives
- potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
- project lead (PL)
- project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
- project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff, such as a public engagement professional
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
Only list one individual as project lead.
All individual stakeholders in partnership with projects are advised to be assigned as specialists within the application form.
It is expected that each project will engage with their Research Organisation’s Public Engagement team throughout the application process, to ensure that Public Engagement is prioritised throughout activities planned.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Vision
Word limit: 550
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
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
- will embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion considerations into your aims, as well as other activities such as stakeholder engagement, events and networking
- will ensure public engagement activities are prioritised within project activities in order to ensure co-creation of research
- will meet the Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) programme objectives: to develop a collaborative research network which actively engages local communities in widening access to cultural expression; to understand local cultural complexities, barriers and enablers, with a view to improving wellbeing in communities throughout the UK, and addressing urban renewal and economic growth; and to converge data and learning from a range of local and regional models to inform the spread and adoption of collaborative cultural policy across the UK
Within the Vision section we also expect you to:
- describe the concept, context and coordination function of your project
- demonstrate the alignment of the application to the LUCIA programme objectives
- clearly state the research challenges that you will address
- explain how you will embed environmental sustainability within your activities
- use accessible and jargon-free language. This section will be assessed by expertise by experience panellists as well as academic panellists
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Approach
Word limit: 1,650
How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how you have designed your approach 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 clearly written 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 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 application
- evidence co-creation and user engagement that bring the voices of communities into the research process
- provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines
- explain how the partnership will be planned and managed
- explain how the partnership will enable stakeholders to work together, network and build capability in a strategic area
- outline plans for the sustainability and scalability of the network beyond this application, or for funding research which may develop from the network
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word limit: 1,650
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 1,650 words, 1,150 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 and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) 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 below. 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 optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences or outputs, but you can use it to describe 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 section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
References may be included within this section.
Project partners
Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.
A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.
Add the following project partner details:
- the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
- the project partner contact name and email address
- the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value
If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Project partners: letters (or emails) of support
Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the Project partners section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’. 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
- the page limit is two sides A4 per partner
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the project partners’ section.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word limit: 500
What are the ethical and 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
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
- the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
- how you will manage these considerations
If you are collecting or using data, you should identify:
- any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data)
- formal information standards to which your proposed work will comply
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Co-creation and community engagement
Word limit: 1,000
How is co-creation and community engagement embedded in your proposed work?
Explain how your proposed work:
- has clearly identified a relevant community and their needs
- has included equitable co-creation and co-production with community partners and people with expertise by experience, and identified any barriers to access for those participants
- will create long-term positive change for the identified communities
Within the co-creation and community engagement section we also expect you to use accessible and jargon-free language. Alongside academic peer assessment at panel, the LUCIA programme will invite experts by experience to assess applications.
References may be included within this section.
Governance
Word limit: 500
How will you manage the award to successfully deliver its objectives?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how the proposed award will be managed, demonstrating that it:
- will be effectively governed, including details about advisory structures
- will be effectively and inclusively managed, demonstrated by a clear management plan
- has clear leadership team roles and responsibilities
- will manage and encourage partnerships with non-HEI organisations across government, industry and civil society
- has plans for monitoring your progress as well as self-evaluation throughout the lifetime of your award
Within this section you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You should:
- use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words
- insert each new image onto a new line
- provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)
- ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
References may be included within this section.
Data management and sharing
Word limit: 500
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 that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Resources and cost justification
Word limit 1,000
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
- project staff
- significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
- any equipment that will cost more than £10,000
- any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
- all facilities and infrastructure costs
- all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
- international collaboration costs
Please note that this programme will permit expenses (costed at 100% FEC) to enable equitable partnership, for:
- public participants (for example travel and subsistence) where involvement in a project is significant or continuous, or both, over a long period of time
- carers or guardians of public participants if the project involves working with young people or individuals who may need the support of a carer or guardian to participate
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to 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
EDI action plan
Word limit: 750
How will you build Equity Diversity and Inclusion considerations into the formation, operation and governance of the network, and how will these be operationalised?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
- robust consideration of EDI priorities within the network
- proactive methods for promoting EDI values across the operational plans for the networks
References may be included within this section.
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
Your organisation’s support
Word limit: 500
Provide details of support from your research organisation.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a Statement of Support from your research organisation detailing why the proposed work is needed. This should include details of any matched funding that will be provided to support the activity and any additional support that might add value to the work.
The assessment panel will be looking for a strong statement of commitment from your research organisation.
AHRC recognises that in some instances, this information may be provided by the Research Office, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) or equivalent, or a combination of both.
You must also include the following details:
- a significant person’s name and their position, from the TTO or Research Office, or both
- office address or web link
Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application.
