Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) provides funding for equipment through multiple routes, to enable researchers to access the equipment they require to deliver their research in the most efficient and effective way.
To help you choose the most appropriate type of equipment funding, we’ve described each option in terms of the scale of use, nature of the equipment and level of funding.
Scale of use ranges from single user to national facility.
The nature of equipment can be:
- enabling – equipment that maintains capability and competitiveness
- enhancing – equipment that boosts and strengthens capability and competitiveness
- state of the art – new capability that is transformative, cutting edge and accelerates competitiveness.
Funding can range from £10,000 through to millions of pounds.
Equipment on grants
This funding is appropriate for when the:
- equipment scale is for a single user or single project
- equipment nature ranges from enabling and core through to state of the art
- level of funding is £10,000 to £400,000.
Core equipment
This funding is appropriate for when the:
- equipment scale is departmental, interdepartmental or regional
- equipment nature is mainly enabling
- level of funding is £10,000 to £400,000.
Strategic equipment
This funding is appropriate for when the:
- equipment scale is departmental, interdepartmental, regional or national
- equipment nature is enhancing, unique or state of the art
- level of funding is £400,000 and over.
Resource-only strategic equipment
This funding is appropriate for when additional resource funding is required to enable improved access to, and sustainability of, existing equipment.
The existing equipment:
- scale should be departmental, interdepartmental, regional or national
- nature should range from enhancing to state of the art.
Equipment costs are not eligible for funding through this route. The level of funding should be agreed in consultation with the appropriate EPSRC theme contact.
Instrument development
This funding is appropriate for when the equipment requested is for the construction of a novel instrument. This funding is for:
- equipment scale that is for a single user or single project, departmental, interdepartmental, regional or national
- equipment nature that is state of the art
- £10,000 and over in funding level.
National research facilities
This funding is appropriate for when the:
- equipment scale is national to international facility
- equipment nature ranges from enabling through to state of the art
- level of funding varies from facility to facility.
Large scale infrastructure
This funding is appropriate for supporting large scale infrastructure to enable new, world-leading research and create novel capability for the UK.
Find out more about large scale infrastructure opportunities.
The equipment funding options are displayed in a diagram. In the diagram, the most appropriate scheme or schemes to apply for are expressed as a function of the scale (from project specific to international) and the nature of the equipment (from enabling equipment to state of the art).
Last updated: 16 June 2022