Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Access to high performance computing facilities – autumn 2024

Start application

This opportunity provides an open and flexible route to computational support for high quality projects across the entire UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) remit.

We particularly encourage applications that:

  • involve early career researchers
  • onboard and train new users
  • significantly push the boundaries in computational research using high performance computing (HPC) in your field

This application process is purely for compute resource for up to 12 months. No funding is available to successful applicants.

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

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to eligible researchers from across the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) remit.

Before applying for this opportunity, check the Eligibility of your organisation.

EPSRC standard eligibility rules apply. For full details, visit EPSRC’s eligibility page.

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

Research technical professionals, including research software engineers, are considered as academic employees and are eligible to be a project lead or co-lead under the same terms as traditional researchers.

If you are a student looking to access the HPC resources through this application route, you must seek an eligible project lead to apply on your behalf. The project lead:

  • must oversee the preparation of the application
  • will be responsible for how any time awarded is used

You can only be a project lead or co-lead on a maximum of one application to each service. Each proposal you are included for as a project lead or co-lead must be a unique and distinct project.

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

This opportunity provides researchers with an open and flexible route to computational support for high-quality projects across UKRI’s remit. The remit for applications to the Tier-2 service under this opportunity has been expanded across UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to recognise the funding received through the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure Programme.

We are trialling a new approach to peer review and assessment for this opportunity, aimed at streamlining the application process. Peer review will score the proposals and place them within bands. Resources from the requested services will then be allocated to the highest band projects, using an innovative randomised approach. Peer review remains the mainstay of the evaluation process and only projects that reach the ‘fundable’ threshold will receive resources.

Scope

We are looking to support a portfolio of projects across the HPC ecosystem, including but not limited to:

  • extended feasibility or proof of concept studies (at a larger scale than is possible in pump priming projects)
  • computational projects which may not warrant a full grant application
  • computational projects linking consecutive grant applications or aiding the preparation of a full grant or fellowship application
  • large amounts of compute for ambitious, computationally intensive simulations and calculations
  • collaborations with industrial and international partners
  • increase the development of computational science skills, such as allowing students to work jointly with project leads to achieve the aims of the proposed research, leading to improved software and coding skills, and career paths

Your proposal should align with at least one of the above aims.

A wide variety of activities can be supported. We particularly encourage applications that:

  • involve early career researchers
  • provide an opportunity to onboard and train new users
  • significantly push the boundaries in computational research using HPC in your field

Compute resources available

This application process is purely for compute resource. No funding is available to successful applicants.

You may apply for up to 50% of the resources available on any one system. The resources you apply for must be justified and deemed appropriate to the objectives of your project. Projects for ARCHER2 and Tier-2 service can be up to 12 months in duration.

The HPC services available are:

  • ARCHER2, Tier-1 national supercomputer service (EPSRC and NERC research only)
    • EPSRC-remit research only, projects up to 12 months duration
    • NERC-remit research should follow the separate established process
  • Isambard 3, Tier-2 HPC service (UKRI-remit)

You should refer to the service specification document to help you decide which service to apply to. This document also has indicative levels of the computational resource available at each service, as well as service-specific restrictions on projects. Precise levels are subject to variations in the current usage of the services. We recommend that you contact the service you are applying to as soon as possible to discuss whether the level of resource you intend to request is realistic and reasonable.

A Technical Assessment from the service you are applying to will only be required should your application be successful. However final allocation of resources will be dependent on the Technical Assessment being approved by the service. EPSRC reserves the right to adjust the overall level of computational resource available and delay project start dates where circumstances require it.

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.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

How to apply

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.

  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:

  • 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 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. You should use your 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 28 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.

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.

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
  • doctoral student
  • 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

HPC service requested

Word limit: 10

Please name which HPC service are you applying to.

You may also name a reserve choice of service, providing you are willing to take up the offer of this service, should your first choice be oversubscribed, and you are awarded time on your reserve choice.

The services available for this opportunity are:

  • ARCHER2 (EPSRC remit only)
  • Isambard 3 (UKRI remit)

HPC resources requested

Word limit: 20

Please enter the units, for example CU or NH, and the quantity of HPC resources that you are requesting.

High End Computing (HEC) consortia

Word limit: 100

If you are a member of a currently funded HEC consortium, and are applying for ARCHER2 compute, please enter the name of the consortium and briefly explain why you are not applying for time through this consortium.

Vision and Approach

Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The maximum page limit is dependent on the level of resources requested as shown in the table below. The document must be single spaced in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm. You may include images, graphs, tables. You can have an additional page for a diagrammatic work plan.

Please ensure you have provided the information requested in the bullet points listed in the criteria below. We will be unable to return proposals for amendment so it is essential you include all the information requested, otherwise your proposal may not be able to be fully assessed and it may result in your proposal being rejected. Failure to keep within the page limit may result in proposals being rejected.

The following are the page limits for the levels of resources requested:

  • proposals requesting <=300k CU, <=300k NH: two sides of A4
  • proposals requesting >300k and <=600k CU, >300k NH and <=600k NH: three sides of A4
  • proposals requesting >600k CU, >600k NH: four sides of A4

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, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.

If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

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, 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

Within the Vision section, we also expect you to identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be. In addition, include how it would contribute to computational science, for example through generating new codes, developing existing codes, increasing computational efficiency, or opening up HPC for new scientific areas and industrial sectors.

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, and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work

Within the Approach section we also expect you to:

  • include details of the codes and methods to be used and clarification of how they are appropriate for the work being proposed

References may be included within this section.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

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

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word count for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) 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 emphasis 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.

Computing resources and justification

Word limit: 1,000

What computing resources will you need to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Assessors are looking for:

  • full justification of the resources requested and why you are requesting the specific system
  • justification of why the computing time requested is essential for the successful completion of the project
  • assurance that the resources requested are appropriate and justified

Assessors are not looking for a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

  • are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
  • represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
  • maximise potential outcomes and impacts

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.

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

Additional sub-questions (to be answered only if appropriate) will be included in the Funding Service. These will ask about numbers, species or strain and justification about:

  • genetic and biological risk
  • research involving the use of animals
  • conducting research with animal overseas
  • research involving human participation
  • research involving human tissues or biological samples

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

In the event of this funding opportunity being substantially oversubscribed as to be unmanageable, EPSRC reserve the right to modify the assessment process.

We will assess your application using the following process.

Peer review

We will invite experts to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity.

You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers.

We are monitoring the requirement for applicant-nominated reviewers as we review policies and processes as part of the continued development of the new Funding Service.

Service assignment

Peer review will score the proposals and place them within bands. Resources from the requested services will then be allocated to the highest band projects, using an innovative randomised approach. Resources are allocated until the budget is exhausted.

If all projects within the highest band receive resources, any remaining resources will then be allocated randomly to projects in the next band. Peer review remains the mainstay of the evaluation process and only projects that reach the ‘fundable’ threshold will receive resources.

EPSRC will make the final decision.

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

The assessment areas we will assess your application against are:

  • vision and approach
  • applicant and team capability to deliver
  • computing resources and justification
  • ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

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

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 UK Research and Innovation (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

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.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email 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 7 November from 11:00am to 12:00 noon. This will provide more information about the funding opportunity and a chance to ask questions.

Register for the webinar

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

Service Specification document (PDF, 130KB)

Equality Impact Assessment (DOCX, 88KB)

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