Proposals are invited via the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system attracting the standard 80% FEC funding model.
This guidance is specific to this scheme and should be used in conjunction with the following information:
Je-S help text is available in every page of your Je-S form, simply select the question mark against any section (or on the word ‘Help’ in the top right-hand corner of each page).
Important: where information and guidance issued on this web page differs from the general guidance offered in these sources, you should adhere to the guidance on this web page.
Je-S
All proposals under this funding opportunity must be completed and submitted through the Je-S system. To be able to do this the organisation must be registered for Je-S, and the applicants must hold Je-S accounts.
UK higher education institutions and some other independent UK research organisations (including public sector research establishments) are already recognised institutions on Je-S. A list of these organisations is available on: check if you are eligible for research and innovation funding.
Je-S accounts for applicants
All fellows must have created a ‘fellowship’ Je-S account.
If you already have a Je-S account, you can contact the Je-S Helpdesk to ask them to upgrade it to a fellowship account.
If you do not already have a Je-S account, please create a ‘fellowship’ account.
Please refer to the Je-S help text if setting up a new account.
Please note that the deadline for research organisation submission of proposals is 20 April 2023 at 4:00pm UK time. You should allow sufficient time for completion of the research organisation submission process checks and authorisation.
Organisation internal submission structure
It is recommended that applicants forward their proposal to the organisation submitter pool in good time before the funding deadline to allow a sufficient period for the approval and final submission process.
The proposal must be ‘submitted’ through the Je-S system to UKRI by the institution’s nominated contacts. Once the applicant completes and submits the proposal, notification is then sent to their organisation’s ‘submitter’ to action. The ‘submitter’ is the person in that organisation authorised to approve the proposal and do the final stage of submission.
The applicant will receive an email confirming that the proposal has been submitted to the submitter pool. This means the proposal is still with the organisation but is not yet submitted to the research council.
The final submission process is the responsibility of the host institution, and we cannot accept responsibility for any delay which may occur at this stage. We strongly advise applicants to check that they receive an email confirmation from the Je-S system confirming that the proposal has been submitted to UKRI.
Use of your personal information
UKRI capture and process personal information in line with current data protection legislation; General Data Protection Regulation and any amendments by the UK Data Protection Bill or relevant acts of parliament.
Creating your proposal
To create your proposal:
- log in to Je-S
- from the home screen, select ‘Documents’, then select ‘New Document’
- on the ‘Add new document’ screen, select ‘Call search’ (highlighted at top of screen)
- when prompted type in the funding opportunity title: UKRI Policy Fellowships 2023 and select from the list created
- the remaining 3 selection fields will be automatically populated
- select the ‘Create Document’ button
When applying select:
- council: ESRC (please select ESRC regardless of the council leading on the funding opportunity applied for)
- document type: Fellowship
- scheme: Research Fellowship
- call/type/mode: UKRI Policy Fellowships 2023
Please note that it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the proposal document is created and submitted against the correct funding opportunity (and consequently correct scheme).
We will not accept proposals for processing that are not submitted using the correct funding opportunity route.
How to apply: UKRI policy fellowships, government host
Project details
Select organisation and department from drop-down lists (for example, the research organisation where the fellowship will be held).
‘Your Reference’ should be supplied by your research organisation (consult your research office). If your administration office does not have a system for referencing grant proposals, a suitable reference of your own choice will be acceptable.
Use ‘Your reference’ to help distinguish easily between proposals in users’ current documents lists.
The reference is intended to be a unique identifier for the proposal and is unrelated to the reference that the organisation would be asked to provide if a grant were awarded.
Enter project title (maximum limit of 150 characters). Your project title must be ‘[Opportunity Title] UKRI Policy Fellowship’. For example, MoJ Data and Evaluation UKRI Policy Fellowship. Please note that each funding opportunity has a fellowship title indicated at the top of the funding opportunity description. Please use this at the beginning of your project title.
For ‘Proposal Call’, select UKRI Policy Fellowships 2023. Please note that the option will only be available once the funding opportunity is live (this may have already been pre-populated into the form).
Your start date should not be before 1 October 2023. Your grant should be a proposed duration of no more than 18 months. Please make sure the start date and duration is in line with the required start of the inception phase and duration of the core placement for the opportunity you are applying for, as detailed in the funding opportunity description.
Submission route: it is recommended that once this initial section is completed and saved, check the submission path (via ‘Document Actions’ tab), the proposal has to be signed off by submitters and approvers. Please make sure they will be available to process the document on the day you intend to submit it to council and before the funding opportunity closes on 20 April 2023.
Applicant
There should be a single fellowship applicant for each proposal, to whom correspondence will be addressed. Enter the name of the fellow and details of the fellow’s research organisation and department.
On submission of the proposal the fellow does not necessarily have to be located at the organisation that will administer the grant. However the administering organisation will be required to submit the fellowship proposal.
The fellow will take intellectual leadership of the project and manage the fellowship; this individual will be the contact person for UKRI correspondence.
The named fellow is responsible for ensuring that successful proposals are undertaken and completed in the manner specified.
Eligibility
This opportunity will be open to applicants with a PhD or equivalent research experience.
Policy fellowship funding opportunities with a UK or devolved government host are aimed at early to mid-career academics.
Please check ‘who can apply’ section and the fellowship funding opportunity descriptions for more details on eligibility requirements.
Summary
Please copy the following standard text into the summary section of your proposal. Do not enter any additional text.
Each fellowship will last up to 18 months to cover:
- a 3-month inception phase for set up activity
- a 12-month placement with the host organisation
- an impact phase lasting up to 3 months
Fellows will co-design projects and activities with their host and produce analysis to inform government decision-making across a range of policy priorities. Fellows will also engage across the host organisation, building effective working relationships and supporting wider knowledge exchange with researchers.
This will be supported through their embedded role within the host organisation, including line management support.
Staff duties
Summarise the duties of the fellow (2,000-character limit).
Applicants should clearly stipulate their time commitment for each phase throughout the fellowship, which will last up to a total of 18 months. Applicants are invited to outline their time commitment and expectations of the role in response to requirements set out in the funding opportunity.
The role of any additional staff members involved in the project should also be summarised in this section.
Inception phase for project set up (first 3 months)
Up to 0.4 full-time equivalent (FTE) maximum.
Main placement with hosts
Please refer to fellowship funding opportunity descriptions for more details.
Knowledge exchange and impact
Up to 0.4 FTE maximum.
Additional staff members
The role of any additional staff members involved in the project should also be summarised in this section. Due to the format of this fellowship, additional research staff (for example, research assistants) should not be included, however the following may be included:
- mentorship support is required for applicants who are early career researchers (ECR). If applicable, the mentor should be identified here
- any administrative support requirements should also be summarised in this section
Staff
Please ask your research office to assist you with completing this section.
In addition to the applicant themselves, only the following justified staff costs are eligible:
- a small amount of justified administrative support for the fellow
- mentorship support is required for ECR applying to the funding opportunity. Justified costs can be requested to support the mentor’s contribution to the fellowship and should be detailed in your justification of resources attachment
If including any such additional support, staff details should be entered here under the appropriate fund heading:
- ‘Other Directly Allocated’ are those who will be working directly on the project, but whose involvement on the grant can only be based on an estimate of the time the work will take (for example, mentorship for early career applicants)
- ‘Directly Incurred staff’ are those whose time on the project is actual, auditable and verifiable (for example, the fellowship applicant, administrative support)
Please note that associated project studentships are not permitted for this funding opportunity.
Resources
Your research office will be able to support with this section.
All resources requested must be justified in the justification of resources attachment.
The UKRI policy fellowships with government hosts will provide up to 18 months of justified funding with an overall limit of £170,000 (100% FEC) per grant. If successful, UKRI will meet 80% FEC on proposals submitted and the host institution is expected to support the remaining 20%.
Travel and subsistence
Add each item of justified travel and subsistence required, including:
Inception phase for project set up (first 3 months)
During the inception phase, please budget for at least 1 visit to your host department and 1 UKRI cohort event (likely to be held in Swindon or London).
Placement with hosts (12 months)
If the funding opportunity you apply for does not state explicit requirements of travel to an office, please budget for at least 1 visit per month to the office of your host or to attend cohort engagement activities with UKRI.
Knowledge exchange and impact phase (final stage, up to 3 months)
Please budget for attendance at 1 cohort event.
You should indicate the calculations upon which these figures are based in the ‘Destination and Purpose’ box.
Other directly incurred costs
Eligible costs under this heading include any additional costs associated with the requirements of the inception, placement and impact phases of the fellowship. This may include but is not limited to costs associated with caring responsibilities. Further costs associated with accessibility may also be permissible.
Please budget £15,000 other directly incurred costs for additional flexible fellowship-related placement and impact funds. Please use the following justification wording in justification of resources:
- research-related costs, including but not limited to participant recruitment, transcription, software
- training and development requirements including but not limited to specialist software, methodological and data skills, professional development, policy awareness
- impact enhancement funds including but not limited to networking, organising and attending events such as conferences and workshops
- additional travel and subsistence
Other directly allocated costs: including support staff salaries, a share of the costs of departmental support staff and the costs of access to major research facilities.
Early career applicants should enter relevant mentorship costs under this heading.
Estates and indirect costs
Estate and indirect costs are specific to each research organisation, and do not require justification in your case for support.
Research organisations that have implemented the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) methodology and have passed the quality assurance process should apply their own estate and indirect costs.
Non-research organisations that are not required to implement TRAC must have a robust costing methodology in place that has been validated in order to apply their own estates and indirect cost rates. The standard default rates should be used where research organisations have not yet developed their own rates.
Your research office will be able to assist with this section.
Data collection
It is not expected that new data is collected for the UKRI policy fellowships 2023 funding opportunity. This section should be completed by answering ‘No’ to the mandatory question.
Attachments
It is important that applicants only submit the supporting attachments specified on this web page. We reserve the right to reject applications that do not include the required attachments or include attachments not specified in this guidance.
Attachments must be uploaded in PDF (rather than Word) format, to reduce document corruption issues and must be in font size 11 with 2 cm margins and in a permitted font (for example, Arial or Calibri).
The following are mandatory Je-S attachments for this funding opportunity and must be included:
- case for support
- justification of resources
- CV, including 1-page publication summary list, including mentors CV (for ECR)
- head of department statement
List of publications are optional and must only be included to provide a list of publications that are cited in the proposal.
No other attachments should be included, therefore please do not add proposal cover letters, data management plans or any other attachments.
Mandatory attachments
Case for support (maximum of 4 sides of A4, plus 1 additional side of A4 for those seeking ECR or equivalent research status only)
This is the body of the fellowship application in which applicants must outline how they meet the fellowship criteria. It must not exceed 4 sides A4 in 11-point font. The only exception is for ECR applicants or those making a case for equivalent research experience, who can include up to a total of 1 additional page A4 in 11-point font to cover this information only.
All applicants must use the following headings in their main case for support:
- opportunity applied for: in this section please state clearly the name of the fellowship you are applying for. If you would be willing for your application to be considered for alternative fellowship opportunities in this funding opportunity if the panel considers this appropriate, please copy the following statement after the title of the fellowship you are applying for: “I consent to the assessment panel allocating my application to a different fellowship opportunity of this funding opportunity based on their assessment of my skills and experience as outlined in my application.” Please specify the relevant fellowship funding opportunities of interest to you
- motivation in applying for this funding opportunity: in this section please outline why you are interested in becoming a UKRI policy fellow, what you would hope to gain from the opportunity and how you see it fitting into your long-term research career
- expertise relevant to the specific funding opportunity: in this section please outline your particular expertise in and experience relevant to what is listed as required for the specific funding opportunity you are applying for
- communicating complex information and analysis: in this section please outline your experience or insights on translating complex information and analysis into meaningful narrative for a non-academic audience, verbally and in writing. For example, public policy engagement within or outside government and politics; provision of expertise to non-academic users; writing reports or giving presentations for the third sector. The examples given are purely for illustrative purposes and are non-exhaustive
- using expertise in a non-academic context: in this section please outline your experience or insights on using your expertise in a non-academic setting, including the challenges and opportunities of co-production and collaboration between research and non-academic partners. For example, public policy, third sector and business. Applicants are additionally invited to share their understanding of the analytical needs of the specific funding opportunity host and how research expertise may be relevant to these
- designing and leading knowledge exchange activity: in this section please briefly outline:
- your experience or insights into the challenges of effective knowledge exchange between research, policy and funder communities
- your initial ideas for how to address the fellowship’s objectives through knowledge exchange activity during the placement and impact phases
- your initial thinking on how you would approach refining and prioritising knowledge exchange opportunities during the first half of your placement
ECR applicants or those making a case for equivalent research experiences may include 1 additional page A4 in 11-point font to cover this information only. Relevant applicants must use the following headings on this page:
- ECR status and mentorship (if applicable): you should articulate in your case for support why you believe ECR status to apply to you. Please find more detail on ECR guidelines in the ‘who can apply’ section. It is a requirement that early career applicants are provided with appropriate mentorship by a more senior academic with relevant experience from within their institutions. If applicable, in this section the mentor should be identified and mentorship arrangements summarised, including support towards generic fellowship development, engagement and dissemination activity. A CV should also be attached for any mentor included on the proposal. Applicants are asked to note that mentors are not subject to government security clearance and will not be able to access all resources and documents available to the fellow.
- equivalent experience (if applicable): please note that applicants are required to demonstrate that they hold a PhD or equivalent experience. They should demonstrate this through their CV and must explicitly address this in this section of their case for support
Any bibliography for references cited in the proposal should be attached under the ‘list of publications’ attachment; this should not include publications not cited in the proposal. A list of the applicant’s most relevant and recent publications should be included in the applicant CV.
Please pay close attention to the assessment criteria set out in the funding opportunity. Use the case for support to ensure that all elements are addressed in full taking account of information provided elsewhere in the application.
The case for support should be a self-contained description with relevant background and references and should not depend on additional information such as the inclusion of external links. Assessors are advised to base their assessment on the information contained within the application and are under no obligation to access such links (so they should not be used to provide critical information).
Justification of resources (maximum of 2 sides of A4)
A 2-side A4 statement justifying the resources required to undertake the fellowship.
Please refer to the Je-S help text for further guidance.
CV, including 1-page summary publications list (maximum of 3 sides of A4 per applicant)
A 2-page CV for the applicant must be included. This should include:
- contact details
- qualifications (including class and subject)
- academic and professional posts held since graduation
- a record of research funded by UKRI and other bodies
A 1-page summary list of publications should also be included in this attachment. The total number of pages for this attachment, including both the CV and publication list, should not exceed 3 A4 sides.
Head of department statement (maximum of 1 side of A4)
The head of department at the host research organisation must complete a statement in support of the proposal. This statement must be on headed paper, signed and dated within the period that the funding opportunity is open. The statement should:
- if the applicant is not currently hosted at the research organisation, confirm that the applicant would be accepted into the department for the purpose of undertaking the fellowship
- explain how the proposed fellowship would fit in with the department’s wider research programme and confirm their commitment to support the applicant to effectively manage workload to successfully undertake the fellowship
- confirm commitment to provide (if applicable) appropriate mentorship support for ECR applicants, including but not limited to generic project development, engagement and dissemination support
Please upload this as an ’Other Attachment’ type.
Mentor CV, if applicable (maximum of 3 sides of A4)
If the applicant is an ECR, mentorship support is required.
A CV should be attached for any mentor included on the proposal.
A 1-page summary list of publications should also be included in this attachment. The total number of pages for this attachment, including both the CV and publication list, should not exceed 3 A4 sides.
Optional attachment: list of publications
You must include a list of publications if you have cited publications in your case for support.
Please upload as ‘Other Attachment’ type. Please note publications not cited in the proposal should not be added here.
A list of the most relevant and recent publications should be included in the applicant CV.
Proposal classifications
Please populate the research area, qualifiers, and keyword sections to provide a comprehensive description of your area of expertise.
The proposal classification area replaces the ESRC-specific discipline section and is a harmonised (and expanded) structure agreed across UKRI. Therefore, if your area of expertise crosses the remits of more than 1 council you will now only need to provide the information once.
How to apply: What Works innovation fellowships
Project details
Select organisation and department from drop-down lists (for example, the research organisation where the fellowship will be held).
‘Your Reference’ should be supplied by your research organisation (consult your research office). If your administration office does not have a system for referencing grant proposals, a suitable reference of your own choice will be acceptable.
Use ‘Your reference’ to help distinguish easily between proposals in users’ current documents lists. The reference is intended to be a unique identifier for the proposal and is unrelated to the reference that the organisation would be asked to provide if a grant were awarded.
Enter project title (maximum limit of 150 characters). Your project title must be ‘[Opportunity Title] UKRI Policy Fellowship’. For example, Wales Centre Public Policy Lived Experience UKRI Policy Fellowship. Please note that each funding opportunity has a fellowship title indicated at the top of the funding opportunity description. Please use this at the beginning of your project title.
For ‘Proposal Call’, select UKRI Policy Fellowships 2023. Please note that the option will only be available once the funding opportunity is live (this may have already been pre-populated into the form).
Your start date should not be before 1 October 2023. Your grant should be a proposed duration of no more than 18 months. Please make sure the start date and duration is in line with the required start of the inception phase and duration of the core placement for the funding opportunity you are applying for, as detailed in the funding opportunity description.
Submission route: it is recommended that once this initial section is completed and saved, check the submission path (via ‘Document Actions’ tab), the proposal has to be signed off by submitters and approvers. Please make sure they will be available to process the document on the day you intend to submit it to council and before the funding opportunity closes on 20 April 2023.
Applicant
There should be a single fellowship applicant for each proposal, to whom correspondence will be addressed. Enter the name of the fellow and details of the fellow’s research organisation and department.
On submission of the proposal the fellow does not necessarily have to be located at the organisation that will administer the grant, however the administering organisation will be required to submit the fellowship proposal.
The fellow will take intellectual leadership of the project and manage the fellowship; this individual will be the contact person for UKRI correspondence. The named fellow is responsible for ensuring that successful proposals are undertaken and completed in the manner specified.
Eligibility
This funding opportunity will be open to applicants with a PhD or equivalent research experience.
Policy fellowships with a What Works innovation host are open to all career stages. Please check the ‘who can apply’ section and the fellowship funding opportunity descriptions for eligibility requirements.
Summary
Please copy the following standard text into the summary section of your proposal. Do not enter any additional text.
Each fellowship will last up to 18 months to cover:
- a 3-month inception phase for set up activity
- a 12-month placement with the host organisation
- an impact phase lasting up to 3 months
Fellows will co-design projects and activities with their host and produce analysis to inform government decision-making across a range of policy priorities. Fellows will also engage across the host organisation, building effective working relationships and supporting wider knowledge exchange with researchers.
This will be supported through their embedded role within the host organisation, including line management support.
Staff duties
Summarise the duties of the fellow (2,000-character limit).
Applicants should clearly stipulate their time commitment for each phase throughout the fellowship, which will last up to a total of 18 months. Applicants are invited to outline their time commitment and expectations of the role in response to requirements set out in the funding opportunity.
The role of any additional staff members involved in the project should also be summarised in this section.
Inception phase for project set up (first 3 months)
Up to 0.4 FTE maximum.
Placement with hosts
Please refer to fellowship funding opportunity descriptions for more details.
Knowledge exchange and impact
Up to 0.4 FTE maximum.
Additional staff members
The role of any additional staff members involved in the project should also be summarised in this section.
Mentorship support is required for applicants who are ECR. If applicable, the mentor should be identified here.
Any administrative support requirements should also be summarised in this section.
Staff
Please ask your research office to assist you with completing this section.
In addition to the applicant themselves, only the following justified staff costs are eligible:
- a small amount of justified administrative support for the fellow
- research assistance
- mentorship support is required for ECR applying to the funding opportunity. Justified costs can be requested to support the mentor’s contribution to the fellowship and should be detailed in your justification of resources attachment
If including any such additional support, staff details should be entered here under the appropriate fund heading. ‘Other Directly Allocated’ are those who will be working directly on the project, but whose involvement on the grant can only be based on an estimate of the time the work will take (for example, mentorship for early career applicants).
‘Directly Incurred staff’ are those whose time on the project is actual, auditable and verifiable (for example the fellowship applicant, administrative support, research assistance).
Please note that associated project studentships are not permitted for this funding opportunity.
Resources
Your research office will be able to support with this section. All resources requested must be justified in the justification of resources attachment.
The UKRI policy fellowships with What Works innovation hosts will provide up to 18 months of justified funding with an overall limit of £210,000 (100% FEC) per grant. If successful, UKRI will meet 80% FEC on proposals submitted and the host institution is expected to support the remaining 20%.
Travel and subsistence
Add each item of justified travel and subsistence required, including:
Inception phase for project set up (first 3 months)
During the inception phase, please budget for at least 1 visit to your host department and 1 UKRI cohort event (likely to be held in Swindon or London).
Placement with hosts (12 months)
If the funding opportunity you apply for does not state explicit requirements of travel to an office, please budget for at least 1 visit per month to the office of your host or to attend cohort engagement activities with UKRI.
Knowledge exchange and impact phase (final stage, up to 3 months)
Please budget for attendance at 1 cohort event.
You should indicate the calculations upon which these figures are based in the ‘Destination and Purpose’ box.
Other directly incurred costs
Eligible costs under this heading include any additional costs associated with the requirements of the inception, placement and impact phases of the fellowship. This may include but is not limited to costs associated with caring responsibilities. Further costs associated with accessibility may also be permissible.
In addition to the research and collaboration budget mentioned on this page, please budget £15,000 other directly incurred costs for additional flexible fellowship placement and impact funds. Please use the following justification wording in justification of resources:
- research-related costs, including but not limited to participant recruitment, transcription, software
- training and development requirements including but not limited to specialist software, methodological and data skills, professional development, policy awareness
- impact enhancement funds including but not limited to networking, organising and attending events such as conferences and workshops
- additional travel and subsistence
What Works innovation fellowships research and collaboration budget
In addition to the £15,000 mentioned on this page, please budget up to £40,000 directly incurred costs for flexible research and collaboration costs.
What Works innovation fellowships have been allocated a maximum budget of £40,000 per fellowship. ESRC will fund 80% FEC to cover additional research and collaboration costs in acknowledgement of additional co-production, collaboration and research needs within the fellowship.
Costings under this funding will be identified by the fellow in consultation with their host institution during the inception phase. The fellow will request the use of this fund, to be agreed with ESRC, by the end of the inception phase in December 2023.
Please note this funding is separate to the fellowship placement and impact budget available to all UKRI policy fellows and it will be available to What Works innovation fellows only.
This funding will be subject to ESRC grants policy and be administered by the fellow’s research organisation (employer).
Full details on how these additional costs will be requested and approved will be shared with successful applicants. Only indicative estimates on the main eligible costs are required at the time of application.
Please budget up to £25,000 for directly incurred staff costs.
Description: research assistant salary for time committed.
Please budget up to £15,000 for other directly incurred costs.
Description: flexible research and collaboration budget, including but not limited to collaborator participation in steering boards and participation in research activity.
Please do add individual activity detail and costs if known, such as:
- travel and subsistence costs for steering board members attendance at steering board meetings
- travel and subsistence costs for research participants to engage in research
- participation fee for participants recruited for research activity
Other directly allocated costs
Including support staff salaries, a share of the costs of departmental support staff and the costs of access to major research facilities.
Early career applicants should enter relevant mentorship costs under this heading.
Estates and indirect costs
Estate and indirect costs are specific to each research organisation, and do not require justification in your case for support.
Research organisations that have implemented the TRAC costing methodology and have passed the quality assurance process should apply their own estate and indirect costs.
Non-research organisations that are not required to implement TRAC must have a robust costing methodology in place that has been validated in order to apply their own estates and indirect cost rates.
The standard default rates should be used where research organisations have not yet developed their own rates.
Your research office will be able to assist with this section.
Data collection
It is not expected that new data is collected for the UKRI policy fellowships 2023 funding opportunity. This section should be completed by answering ‘No’ to the mandatory question.
Attachments
It is important that applicants only submit the supporting attachments specified on this web page. We reserve the right to reject applications that do not include the required attachments or include attachments not specified in this guidance.
Attachments must be uploaded in PDF (rather than Word) format, to reduce document corruption issues and must be in font size 11 with 2 cm margins and in a permitted font (for example, Arial or Calibri).
The following are mandatory Je-S attachments for this funding opportunity and must be included:
- case for support
- justification of resources
- CV, including 1-page publication summary list, including mentors CV (for ECR)
- head of department statement
List of publications are optional and must only be included to provide a list of publications that are cited in the proposal.
No other attachments should be included, therefore please do not add proposal cover letters, data management plans or any other attachments.
Mandatory attachments
Case for support (maximum of 4 sides of A4, plus 1 additional side of A4 for those seeking ECR or equivalent research status only)
This is the body of the fellowship application in which applicants must outline how they meet the fellowship criteria. It must not exceed 4 sides A4 in 11-point font. The only exception is for ECR applicants or those making a case for equivalent research experience, who can include up to a total of 1 additional page A4 in 11-point font to cover this information only.
All applicants must use the following headings in their main case for support:
- opportunity applied for: in this section please state clearly the name of the fellowship you are applying for. If you would be willing for your application to be considered for alternative fellowship opportunities of this funding opportunity if the panel considers this appropriate, please copy the following statement after the title of the fellowship you are applying for: “I consent to the assessment panel allocating my application to a different fellowship opportunity of this funding opportunity based on their assessment of my skills and experience as outlined in my application.” Please specify the relevant fellowship opportunities of interest to you
- motivation in applying for this funding opportunity: in this section please outline why you are interested in becoming a UKRI policy fellow, what you would hope to gain from the opportunity and how you see it fitting into your long-term research career
- expertise relevant to the specific funding opportunity: in this section please outline your particular expertise in and experience relevant to what is listed as required for the specific funding opportunity you are applying for
- communicating complex information and analysis: in this section please outline your experience or insights on translating complex information and analysis into meaningful narrative for a non-academic audience, verbally and in writing. For example, public policy engagement within or outside government and politics; provision of expertise to non-academic users; writing reports or giving presentations for the third sector. The examples given are purely for illustrative purposes and are non-exhaustive
- using expertise in a non-academic context: in this section please outline your experience or insights on using your expertise in a non-academic setting, including the challenges and opportunities of co-production and collaboration between research and non-academic partners. For example, public policy, third sector and business. Applicants are additionally invited to share their understanding of the analytical needs of the specific opportunity host and how research expertise may be relevant to these
- designing and leading knowledge exchange activity: in this section please briefly outline:
- your experience or insights into the challenges of effective knowledge exchange between research, policy and funder communities
- your initial ideas for how to address the fellowship’s objectives through knowledge exchange activity during the placement and impact phases
- your initial thinking on how you would approach refining and prioritising knowledge exchange opportunities during the first half of your placement
ECR applicants or those making a case for equivalent research experiences may include 1 additional page A4 in 11-point font to cover this information only. Relevant applicants must use the following headings on this page:
- ECR status and mentorship (if applicable): you should articulate in your case for support why you believe ECR status to apply to you. Please find more detail on ECR guidelines in the ‘who can apply’ section. It is a requirement that early career applicants are provided with appropriate mentorship by a more senior academic with relevant experience from within their institutions. If applicable, in this section the mentor should be identified and mentorship arrangements summarised, including support towards generic fellowship development, engagement and dissemination activity. A CV should also be attached for any mentor included on the proposal. Applicants are asked to note that mentors are not subject to government security clearance and will not be able to access all resources and documents available to the fellow
- equivalent experience (if applicable): please note that applicants are required to demonstrate that they hold a PhD or equivalent experience. They should demonstrate this through their CV and must explicitly address this in this section of their case for support
Any bibliography for references cited in the proposal should be attached under the ‘list of publications’ attachment; this should not include publications not cited in the proposal. A list of the applicant’s most relevant and recent publications should be included in the applicant CV.
Please pay close attention to the assessment criteria set out in the funding opportunity. Use the case for support to ensure that all elements are addressed in full taking account of information provided elsewhere in the application.
The case for support should be a self-contained description with relevant background and references and should not depend on additional information such as the inclusion of external links. Assessors are advised to base their assessment on the information contained within the application and are under no obligation to access such links (so they should not be used to provide critical information).
Justification of resources (maximum of 2 sides of A4)
A 2-side A4 statement justifying the resources required to undertake the fellowship.
Please refer to the Je-S help text for further guidance.
CV, including 1-page summary publications list (maximum of 3 sides of A4 per applicant)
A 2-page CV for the applicant must be included. This should include:
- contact details
- qualifications (including class and subject)
- academic and professional posts held since graduation
- a record of research funded by UKRI and other bodies
A 1-page summary list of publications should also be included in this attachment. The total number of pages for this attachment, including both the CV and publication list, should not exceed 3 A4 sides.
Head of department statement (maximum of 1 side of A4)
The head of department at the host research organisation must complete a statement in support of the proposal. This statement must be on headed paper, signed and dated within the period that the funding opportunity is open. The statement should:
- if the applicant is not currently hosted at the research organisation, confirm that the applicant would be accepted into the department for the purpose of undertaking the fellowship
- explain how the proposed fellowship would fit in with the department’s wider research programme and confirm their commitment to support the applicant to effectively manage workload to successfully undertake the fellowship
- confirm commitment to provide (if applicable) appropriate mentorship support for ECR applicants, including but not limited to generic project development, engagement and dissemination support
Please upload this as ’Other Attachment’ type.
Mentor CV, if applicable (maximum of 3 sides of A4)
If the applicant is an ECR, mentorship support is required.
A CV should be attached for any mentor included on the proposal.
A 1-page summary list of publications should also be included in this attachment. The total number of pages for this attachment, including both the CV and publication list, should not exceed 3 A4 sides.
Optional attachment: list of publications
You must include a list of publications if you have cited publications in your case for support.
Please upload this as ’Other Attachment’ type. Please note publications not cited in the proposal should not be added here.
A list of the most relevant and recent publications should be included in the applicant CV.
Proposal classifications
Please populate the research area, qualifiers, and keyword sections to provide a comprehensive description of your area of expertise.
The proposal classification area replaces the ESRC-specific discipline section and is a harmonised (and expanded) structure agreed across UKRI. Therefore, if your area of expertise crosses the remits of more than 1 council you will now only need to provide the information once.
