Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: UKRI DRI: digital research infrastructure skills hubs for accelerated compute

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This funding opportunity through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) programme will support the development of two national hubs for digital Research Technology Professionals (RTP).

These hubs will enable skills development, education and training for the digital professionals within accelerated and large-scale compute who support science across the entire UKRI remit.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding.

The full economic cost (FEC) for a RTP hub can be up to £3.75 million. UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC, including indexation.

All awards will have a duration of three years.

Who can apply

This funding opportunity is being led by EPSRC on behalf of UKRI. Before applying for funding, check the following:

Business and international organisations are not eligible to apply.

UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service. For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.

Who is eligible to apply

For this funding opportunity we specifically welcome applications led or co-led by RTPs involved in the delivery of digital research infrastructure.

You may be involved in no more than two applications submitted to this funding opportunity, only one of these can be as project lead.

International applicants

The UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation Agreement does not apply to this funding opportunity. As such grants submitted to this funding opportunity cannot include a Norway-based project co-lead (international).

Resubmissions

We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI or any other funder.

Find out more about EPSRC’s resubmissions policy.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

  • career breaks
  • support for people with caring responsibilities
  • flexible working
  • alternative working patterns

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

What we're looking for

Aim

Through this funding opportunity, the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) programme aim to support the development of career pathways for digital RTPs, through bespoke training, development of strong professional skills and building capability in the UK, enabling world-leading computational science and development for accelerated compute.

The objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

  • enable, ensure and future-proof the skills development for digital RTPs in accelerated and large-scale compute, including development of a robust training curriculum and formalised recognition
  • enable, ensure and future-proof career pathways for digital RTPs in accelerated compute
  • ensure that current and future UK Compute investments are utilised fully and optimally
  • provide a talent pipeline that can bridge the gap between data, software and hardware development and optimisation
  • foster engagement with UK and international initiatives that deliver or use digital research infrastructure, or both, for the benefit of computational science

For the purposes of this funding opportunity, digital RTP is intended to be an inclusive umbrella term which includes several job titles such as research software engineers, infrastructure engineers, data stewards, DevOps, SysOps, computational researchers, systems administrators, and technical support for digital research infrastructures.

Scope

In response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Future of Compute and building upon the RSE landscape review, UKRI aims to establish two national hubs for digital RTPs through phase two of the UKRI DRI programme. These hubs will identify and address the growing need for advanced training and skills development for RTPs, essential for harnessing the potential of modern and future computational systems. The hubs will also define service models and ways of working for RTPs, which will enable them to contribute to research more widely and receive the appropriate recognition.

The strength of UK digital RTPs are well recognised internationally and by industry. It is important to continue to invest in these communities that enable UK scientists to explore and refine their research field by rebuilding software codes, increasing parallelisation or reengineering software for advanced heterogenous systems of the mid 2020s and beyond.

The reach of this funding opportunity should go beyond the reach of the existing investments (for example, ExCALIBUR), to include research communities across the entire UKRI portfolio.

The types of digital RTPs included should be thoroughly explained and justified in the vision and approach, with consideration on why a hub of this type would be required to train advanced computational science and accelerated compute skills across the UK, and how the hub will address the training gap for digital RTPs within the current ecosystem. It should also state how it will deliver translational skills across the different RTP roles.

What is a hub?

A typical hub will include the following:

  • a physical or virtual centre, comprising multiple institutions but based around a lead institution
  • a hub director (RTP or an academic) with a proven track record of leadership or excellence within their discipline or sector
  • a wider leadership team from across relevant disciplines and sectors with a track record of excellence within their fields
  • a management team including a hub manager and administrative team as required to ensure efficient running of the hub
  • appropriate advisory and governance structures including an independent advisory board
  • creation of a critical mass of capacity in a particular area, driving forward the national research agenda to actively build a wider research and innovation ecosystem
  • undertaking knowledge exchange activities to ensure that activities are widely disseminated to all potentially interested parties

It is expected that management of hubs will require more time, whether for the project lead or distributed across the team, than standard UKRI grants.

The hubs are expected to:

  • develop an understanding of the training and education requirements for digital RTPs across the UK
  • develop an understanding of the possible career pathways for digital RTPs across the UK
  • develop and deliver a training programme for upskilling and developing new RTPs
  • convene a community of good practice for RTP expertise and training
  • deliver a range of activities for the community. These activities could include but are not limited to secondments at universities, national laboratories, Public Sector Research Establishments or in industry, hackathons, bootcamps, cohort training or inviting experts to deliver training or provide professional development
  • advocate for digital RTP career pathways within research organisations nationally, internationally and within industry
  • co-ordinate with the other successfully funded RTP hub
  • work with other UKRI DRI investments and utilise lessons learnt from awards such as Universe-HPC, the Software Sustainability Institute, CoSeC, UKRI DRI Net Zero project to understand what would be beneficial for digital RTPs
  • attend and participate in national and international activities and conferences
  • monitor and inform UKRI of its risk management and governance structure, inviting a UKRI representative to attend meetings
  • develop a plan early on for the legacy and sustainability of the hub beyond the grant

The required outputs are:

  • case studies of good practice implementation
  • an annual report sharing the training catalogue, engagement with materials and events. A template will be provided for this
  • RTP Hub website, advocating for digital RTPs and promoting relevant opportunities
  • an annual workshop in co-ordination with the other funded RTP hub and the prospective knowledge exchange and communications NetworkPlus, which could be co-located at existing UK event
  • a white paper on digital RTP training requirements for short, medium and long term to drive use of advanced compute

Duration

The duration of the RTP hubs is three years.

Projects must start by 1 April 2025.

Funding available

The FEC of your hub can be up to £3.75 million.

UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC, including indexation.

What we will fund

We will fund:

  • two RTP hubs will be funded only, at £1 million per year
  • project lead and co-lead costs
  • estates and indirect cost

The RTP hubs can request the following ‘directly incurred’ costs in their award:

  • administrative support
  • knowledge exchange
  • organisation of activities and networking
  • other eligible costs

Administrative support

This should include a sufficient level of administrative support to support the hub throughout the duration. This cost should ensure the co-ordination, management, monitoring and operation of the hub is effective.

People mobility

These costs should be used to facilitate the virtual hubs, whether this is through secondments to support training development and delivery, expertise sharing or to enable a cohort approach.

Knowledge Exchange

These costs should enable engagement and dissemination with new and emerging communities on software development in advanced compute. This includes marketing materials. This should support attendance, exhibition space and participation at national and international conferences, included but not limited to CIUK, RSECon, HPC Asia, Supercomputing and International Supercomputing.

Organisation of activities and networking

Funding can be requested for:

  • training
  • workshops
  • networking and events
  • Birds of a Feather sessions
  • lectures
  • working groups
  • collaboration and stakeholder engagement
  • co-ordination with other UKRI DRI awards and relevant existing UKRI investments

Other eligible costs

Funding can be requested for:

  • support for technical posts
  • support for communications such as a science writer
  • research consumables
  • travel costs

What we will not fund

We will not fund:

  • research software for desktop or institutional compute
  • Equipment over £10,000 in value (including VAT). Smaller items of equipment (individually under £10,000) should be in the ‘Directly Incurred – Other Costs’ heading

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

Further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support, can be found on UKRI’s website.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the new 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.

  1. Confirm you are the project lead.
  2. 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 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
  5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
  6. 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

EPSRC must receive your application by 12 November 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. If an application is withdrawn prior to peer review or office rejected due to substantive errors in the application, it cannot be resubmitted to the opportunity.

Personal data

Processing personal data

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.

Publication of outcomes

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at EPSRC Funding Application Outcomes.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

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)
  • specialist
  • grant manager
  • professional enabling staff
  • research and innovation associate
  • technician
  • visiting researcher
  • researcher co-lead (RcL)

Only list one individual as project lead.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Outline Vision

Word limit: 1,000

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
  • meets the strategic aims of the funding opportunity

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.

Outline Approach

Word limit: 1,000

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

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.

Outline Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 500

How will the application team deliver the proposed research programme?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

  • relevant experience and skills to develop and deliver the proposed programme
  • planned to identify and embed additional expertise where gaps in the team exist

The core leadership team should consist of the project lead and the project co-leads (co-investigators) identified on the outline proposal. There will be scope to expand this team and include new collaborators on the full application and you will be able to add further detail.

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.

UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the Funding Service.

For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

Outline costs

Word limit: 500

What are the expected costs of the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response
  • provide the approximate total values in GBP (£) for the expected directly incurred, directly allocated, indirect costs and exceptions
  • view the guidance on the costs you can apply for

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

There will be a two-stage assessment process for this funding opportunity:

  • stage one: outline application
  • stage two: full application

Stage one: outline application

Applications submitted to this funding opportunity and which UKRI deems to be in scope will be considered by a panel in November 2024.

Any outline proposals we consider to be outside the scope of the funding opportunity will be rejected prior to assessment, without recourse to panel.

The outline panel will evaluate applications against the assessment criteria given below. UKRI will then decide which proposals to invite to submit a full application based on the panel recommendation.

Please note that the vision for each application must not change significantly between the outline and full application stages. The total cost must not change by more than 10% and must not exceed the maximum value allowed under this funding opportunity.

Upon completion of the outline stage, titles of applications that are invited to interview will be published online along with summary and details of the application team, including their names. We encourage the addition of further collaborators and project partners between outline and interview stage.

Assessment areas for the outline applications

The assessment areas we will assess your application against are:

  • Outline Vision
  • Outline Approach
  • Outline Applicant and team capability to deliver

The Outline cost section is indicative only and will not be subject to assessment at the outline stage.

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Stage two: full application

Only invited applicants will be eligible to submit a full application via a separate funding opportunity.

An expert panel will then conduct interviews with applicants, after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

Interview panel

The interview will be considered by an expert panel against the full opportunity assessment criteria listed below. We expect the interviews to be held in February 2025.

The project lead should attend along with up to two other members of the team (this could include project partners).

UKRI will make a final decision based on the recommendation of the panel.

Full details of the interview process will be sent to candidates before the interviews.

All applicants interviewed will be given feedback from the panel on their proposal.

A funding decision is expected in March 2025

In the event of this call being substantially oversubscribed as to be unmanageable, UKRI reserve the right to modify the assessment process.

Feedback

Feedback will be given on successful outline proposals. Feedback on unsuccessful outline proposals will be provided only if specifically requested by the panel.

All applicants interviewed will be given feedback from the panel on their proposal.

A funding decision is expected in March 2025

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI Principles of Assessment and Decision Making.

Assessment areas for the full applications

The assessment areas we will assess invited full application against are:

  • Vision and approach
  • Applicant and team capability to deliver
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Resources and cost justification
  • Governance, including leadership and considerations of equality, diversity and inclusion
  • Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

We reserve the right to amend these assessment criteria and further details will be provided to applicants invited to the full stage.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UKRI Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the Helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding Finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content/remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact researchinfrastructure@epsrc.ukri.org and include ‘Digital RTP hubs Call’ in the subject line.

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

  • Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
  • Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, please contact TFSchangeEPSRC@epsrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

  • individual 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, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Additional disability and accessibility adjustments

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process if required.

Webinar for potential applicants

We will hold a webinar on 30 September 2024. This will provide more information about the funding opportunity and a chance to ask questions.

Register for the webinar

Passcode: 862871

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

  • breaks and delays
  • disruptive working patterns and conditions
  • the loss of ongoing work
  • role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

Supporting documents

Equality impact assessment (PDF, 5MB)

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