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.
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. Applicants should use their 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
STFC must receive your application by 2 October 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.
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
STFC, 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.
STFC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with UKSA so that they can participate in the assessment process. Find out more information on how UKSA uses personal information.
Summary
Word limit: 550
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)
- grant manager
Only list one individual as project lead.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Vision
Word limit: 500
What is the training grant going to achieve and why is it important for UKSA to support it?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how your proposed training grant:
- has a clear vision and objectives with tracking measures
- is grounded in a model of a highly skilled, doctoral graduate employable across a range of sectors and careers
- outlines the organisation’s or partnership’s research and innovation expertise in designated disciplines to provide training and address skills and capacity challenges
- describes its anticipated outcomes and impact for society and/or the economy, outlines the strategies to achieve them
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.
Approach
Word limit: 2,000
How will your doctoral training programme support your vision, and align with UKSA’s ambitions for its doctoral investments?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how your training programme will:
- deliver the vision outlined for this doctoral training programme
- deliver the outcomes to:
- embed a holistic approach to doctoral training and development that delivers high quality doctoral research, integrating in-depth subject knowledge, research and methodological skills, and wider skills development opportunities
- prepare researchers to operate across interdisciplinary, collaborative and challenge-led environments
- develop globally competitive researchers, able to use their skills to thrive across a range of sectors and careers
- maintain links with doctoral graduates to track career pathways and to benefit current and future student cohorts
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.
Student experience and equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
Word limit: 2,000
How will you create and maintain an inclusive and supportive culture and environment for all those involved in the training grant?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
You should demonstrate how:
- you will create and maintain a positive, inclusive, and supportive environment for all students and staff, including those with diverse needs
- you will champion EDI across all aspects of the training grant, including recruitment, supervision and flexible student support
- you will provide evidence for proposed EDI activities, including baseline and subsequent updates across the lifetime of the award
- you will develop the quality of the research training environment, and cohort approach to training focused on the student experience. For example, how specific training on techniques and innovation will be delivered on a cohort basis
Capability to deliver
Word limit: 1,650
Who will lead and deliver the training grant?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide evidence that you and your team collectively have:
- relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to lead the training grant
- appropriate skills, including project management, leadership, stakeholder management, administrative skills, supervisory and research skills and pastoral capacity to support the number of studentships you are applying for
- a good track record of contributing to a positive research culture and wider community
- a good track record of supporting the training and development of others, particularly previous involvement in successfully delivering doctoral training
- a clear plan for the management and delivery of the training grant, including the suitability and commitment of the project lead and senior management team
- a clear plan for obtaining independent strategic oversight and the involvement of students in the management process
- clear plan for any impacts which arise as a result of the hub’s success, both in terms of academic or scientific benefit, and wider economic/societal benefit.
- a good track record of supporting and delivering responsible research and innovation
Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and your team 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.
Upload CV information for the lead applicant who would be the Director of the training grant and for every team member. Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
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
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.
References may be included within this section.
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
Partnerships and governance
Word limit: 1,500
How will the training grant be governed, including collaboration between higher education institutions (HEIs) and non-academic partners?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide evidence that HEIs and their non-academic partners collectively:
- are committed to working together and contributing to the delivery of the training grant award
- have a strategy for managing partnerships between and within organisations
- have established a clear governance structure for the training grant award, with responsibilities outlined, and processes in place to ensure the training grant is well governed and all relevant partners as well as the student community are engaged
- have established an approach to risk management, continuous improvement, monitoring and evaluation
- have established a clear commitment from non-academic and industry partners to cover 25% of the PhD funding (£27,458 per student) and 25% of the consumables cost (£22,500 per student) for cohort two of the R2T2 hub
- have a clear plan to match students to placements and monitor their progress
- have established existing engagement with the industry sector and industry interest to support PhD students develop practical experience and industry skills
The word count for this section is 1,500 words: 1,000 for the narrative about governance and 500 for a joint partnership letter.
Therefore, please upload a joint Project Partners Letter of Support signed by each of the non-HEI partners listed in the Project Partner section of your application. The letter should be max 500 words long.
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.
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.
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word limit: 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
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
Word limit: 100
Does the proposed work involve international collaboration in a sensitive research or technology area?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Demonstrate how your proposed international collaboration relates to Trusted Research and Innovation, including:
- list the countries your international project co-leads, project partners and visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in
- if international collaboration is involved, explain whether this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act
- if one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act are involved list the areas
If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration, answer ‘n/a’ here.
We may ask you to provide additional information about how your proposed project will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help manage these risks.
