This is an invite-only funding opportunity for the Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resource (CLOSER) from 2024 to 2028 to continue to deliver its current objectives which serve the biomedical and social science communities.
The full economic cost of your project can be up to £7,000,000. ESRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.
The funding will start on 1 October 2024 until 30 September 2028.
You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so.
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section.
UK Research and Innovation (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.
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:
Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.
University College London is invited to submit a proposal for a new grant to continue the Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resource (CLOSER), which will:
To provide and develop facilities which enhance data discovery, through an online platform, CLOSER Discovery, your application should:
To support programmes of knowledge exchange and collaboration your application should:
To build capacity your application should:
Delivery of Masters or PhD training programmes is not permitted, however ‘masterclasses’ or short training courses in the skills and methodological areas which the team has, or can bring together, distinctive expertise are in scope. This will complement and add value to the activities of the individual studies and the wider community of researchers with which the team engages.
To maximise impact, public affairs and policy engagement your application should:
Plan for the future: implementing ESRC’s strategies and ensuring legacy of CLOSER’s work. Your application should:
It is expected that CLOSER will continue to have a strategic leadership role in the LPS landscape. CLOSER is expected to engage with the ESRC’s Future Data Services review and follow-on activities and other strategic activities such as ESRC’s ongoing work to build social science capacity for data-driven research, the development and delivery of aspects of Population Research UK.
Your application should state how CLOSER will intend to work collaboratively with a range of key stakeholders, including the PRUK Hub and other PRUK delivery partners. Strategic partnership will be required with a range of organisations within the wider research data management environment that both fund the production of and provide access to data.
We are expecting strong institutional commitment and practical contributions to hosting the Service. A statement of institutional commitment will need to be included in your application and should be appropriate for the level of funding being requested.
The host institution is expected to demonstrate that suitable governance and advisory structures are in place to ensure appropriate oversight of CLOSER’s performance and delivery. This should include a formal risk governance framework, including active project and risk management with appropriate oversight and a system of delegated responsibility and accountability.
The proposal should include detail, with dates, the key forecast milestones and outputs in delivering on the overall objectives within the application, clearly noting where activities will be covered by the core budget vs discretional innovation funds. Following the provisional award of a grant, these milestones and procedures will be agreed with ESRC via the grant terms and conditions. In reference to the aims and objectives stated above, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be agreed. These will be precise and verifiable (activity-based and output-based) and reflect the proposed key deliverables as indicated in the full proposal that will be achieved during the funding period. This will help form the basis for assessing progress. ESRC also expect investments to present impact returns at agreed, regular reporting points, which show how activities carried out have led to change. How to identify, measure and monitor impacts will be agreed after the grant has been issued.
Following the provisional award of a grant, the reporting procedures including milestones, KPIs and impacts will be agreed with ESRC via the grant terms and conditions. Requirements regarding monitoring, reporting and governance will be set out in the terms and conditions of the grant between ESRC and the grant recipient; these will include a short annual report, timing, and structure to be agreed with ESRC.
CLOSER will also be required to regularly meet with ESRC and undertake monitoring and evaluation activities as set out by the ESRC Data Infrastructure Strategy. As a minimum, this includes providing ESRC with a quarterly highlight report that outlines progress towards meeting objectives, issues or risks and achievements.
ESRC will arrange an independent Mid-Term Review of CLOSER, anticipated in 2026.
During this time, the PRUK Programme Board will assist ESRC by reviewing the effectiveness of CLOSER’s contribution to the delivery of the PRUK Prospectus recommendations, and whether CLOSER should continue to deliver PRUK services beyond 2028.
The duration of this award is four years (48 months).
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £7,000,000.
ESRC will fund 80% of the FEC.
Do not apply to this funding opportunity unless you have been invited to do so.
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. 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.
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
ESRC must receive your application by 4 January 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.
ESRC, 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.
ESRC will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at What ESRC has funded.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Word limit: maximum 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
Only list one individual as project lead.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Word limit: 500
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
Explain how your proposed work:
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. If using visual elements, you must:
Word limit: 3,000
How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:
Within the Approach section we also expect you to:
A list of references used to support your application can be added in the ‘References’ question.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. If using visual elements, you must:
Word limit: 1,500
Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
The word count for this section is 1,500 words, 1,000 words to be used for R4RI modules 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 emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:
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.
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. If using visual elements, you must:
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.
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
All proposals have to comply with the ESRC Framework for Research Ethics which includes guidance for applicants and links to related web resources.
All necessary ethical approvals must be in place before the project commences, but do not need to have been secured at the time of application.
If you are not generating data and have not completed the ‘Data management’ question you should address any legal or ethical considerations relating to your use of data here.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. If using visual elements, you must:
Word limit: 1,000
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or 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:
For detailed guidance on eligible costs please see the ESRC Research Funding Guide.
Word limit: 10
Provide details of support from your research organisation.
Provide a Statement of Support from your research organisation detailing the practical contributions to hosting CLOSER. This should include details of any matched funding that will be provided to support the activity and any additional support that might add value to CLOSER.
The assessment panel will be looking for a strong statement of commitment from your research organisation.
ESRC recognises that in some instances, this information may be provided by the Research Office, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) or equivalent, or a combination of both.
You must also include the following details:
Upload details are provided within the service on the actual application.
Word limit: 1,000
List the references you have used to support your application.
Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions.
You should not include any other information in this section.
We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.
If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
We will assess your application using the following process.
We will convene an independent panel of experts to assess the quality of your application. If the application meets the minimum quality threshold, the expert panel will conduct an interview with applicants There will be an opportunity to respond to the panel’s assessments at the interview. The panel will then make a funding recommendation to ESRC.
We expect the panel meeting and interview to be held in early to mid-February 2024.
We will give feedback with the outcome of your application.
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.
We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.
Panel members will use the criteria for the following questions, set out in the ‘How to apply’ section:
Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.
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.
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 datainfrastructure@esrc.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:
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.
You can also find information on submitting an application.
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email datainfrastructure@esrc.ukri.org
Include in the subject line: the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number.
Typical examples of confidential information include:
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.
Equality impact assessment (PDF, 46KB)
CLOSER background (PDF, 158KB)
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:
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 work 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.
