We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. 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.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
Watch our recording on how to apply for an opportunity in the Funding Service.
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
- 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 us.
Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.
Deadline
We must receive your application by 23 January 2024 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. We will not be returning applications for amendment. If an application is withdrawn prior to peer review or office rejected due to substantive errors in the application, it cannot be re-submitted to the same round.
Personal data
NERC, 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
NERC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity on What NERC has funded.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Summary
Word count: 550
In plain English, provide a summary that we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so 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))
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
Only list one individual as project lead. The project lead is responsible for setting up and completing the application process on the Funding Service.
The 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 more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Vision and approach
Word count: 10
Upload guidance
Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than six sides of A4, single line spacing in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm. You may include images, graphs, tables.
For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Vision and Approach’.
Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment.
If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.
Once you have uploaded, enter the text ‘attachment provided’ into the textbox, mark this section as complete and move to the next one.
What are you hoping to achieve with 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, or generate 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 proposed work
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word count: 1,500
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 and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help 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. 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
All aspects above must be addressed for the top score. An overall combined lower score may be awarded when the ‘Applicant and Team Capability to Deliver’ section is missing one (or more) of these four key aspects entirely, or where there is very superficial information on one or more aspects.
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).
Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
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 that files are smaller than 8MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word count: 500
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
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
- the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
- how you will manage these considerations
- potential impacts of the proposed research on the environment or society in general
If you are collecting or using data, identify:
- any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or 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 with which your study will comply
State the names of any bodies you will require approval from and whether you already have it. If it is not yet in place, then give an indicative timeframe for when it will be.
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 that files are smaller than 8MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Project partners
Provide details about any project partners’ contributions.
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:
- organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
- project partner contact name and email address
- 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.
Facilities
Word count: 250
Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.
For each requested facility you will need to provide the:
- name of facility, copied and pasted from the
- proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
- confirmation you have their agreement where required
If you have to attach a facility form, for example NERC ship-time and marine equipment, then upload it as a PDF. If you need to upload multiple forms, then combine them into a single PDF.
If you do not need to use a facility, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.
Upload guidance
Upload a single PDF containing facility forms ensuring it is no larger than 8MB, if applicable.
For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives to your proposal when you create an application, immediately followed by the words ‘facility forms’. Then use the ‘upload’ button.
Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment.
Once you have uploaded, mark this section as complete and move to the next one.
NERC international partnership joint funding
Word count: 10
Are you submitting your application under a NERC international partnership joint funding agreement?
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 your application is in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the US, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil or Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR) in Luxembourg, please provide the name of which agreement you are submitting under in the textbox.
You should include further detail of the team, the collaboration and the added value to the project in the appropriate sections of the application, not here.
Add any further documentation required for the international funder as a single PDF attachment in this section.
Any involvement of international project co-leads from IIASA or Norway should be included in core team, applicant and team capability to deliver and any other relevant sections and are not applicable to this question.
Upload guidance
Upload a single PDF containing the international funder documentation ensuring it is no larger than 8MB, if applicable.
For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives to your proposal when you create an application, immediately followed by the words ‘international partnerships’. Then use the ‘upload’ button.
Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment.
Once you have uploaded, mark this section as complete and move to the next one.
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 an outline data management plan which should clearly detail how you will comply with our published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Indicate:
- which NERC data centre is required to archive the data
- whether the total volume of data is likely to be larger than 1TB
- any other detail on how you will comply with NERC data policy
Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.
References
Word count: 1,000
List the references you have used to support your application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions.
You should not include any other information in this section.
We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.
If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
Resources and cost justification
What is the estimated cost range of your project?
In your application you must include an indication of the likely cost of the project by selecting one cost range:
- up to £800,000
- £800,000 to £1 million
- £1 million to £2 million
Copy and paste the relevant cost range into the text box.
This information is for NERC and not for consideration by the assessors.
Once the decision has been made on applications that are likely to be in the funding frame, we will request further details about the funding required under each fund heading and justification for those costs.
