We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered.
Research England awards funding for organisation-led not individual-led applications.
For Research England and this funding opportunity, the project lead is the person responsible for managing the application process. They are to be chosen by the higher education provider submitting the application. They will be the main point of contact for Research England. They do not need to be the most senior person involved in the application. They do need to be someone who can speak confidently to the application’s content, so they are able to respond to queries from Research England.
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 higher education provider can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.
- 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.
- Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
- Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
- Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
- provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
- insert each new image on a new line
- use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:
- sentences or paragraphs of text
- tables
- excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
- references are easily identifiable by the assessors
- references are formatted as appropriate to your research
- persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.
Deadline
Research England must receive your application by 4 February 2027 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 deadlines for your organisation.
Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
Research England 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.
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email strategicprogrammes@re.ukri.org
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
- 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.
Institutional matched funding
There is no requirement or expectation for matched funding from the institutions involved in a proposal. Research England will fund projects at 100% FEC.
Publication of outcomes
Research England as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity on the Collaboration for a Sustainable Future programme webpage.
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 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
Core team
Research England provides higher education provider-led not applicant-led funding. Therefore, we do not require all team members involved in the project to be listed under core team. Under core team, you should list anyone who you wish to have visibility of the proposal through the application process.
We do expect more detailed information, including staff posts, to be provided in the Resources and cost justification section, under ‘exception – other’.
For Research England, the project lead is the person responsible for managing the application process. They are to be chosen by the higher education provider submitting the application. They will be the main point of contact for Research England. They do not need to be the most senior person involved in the application. They do need to be someone who can speak confidently to the application’s content, so they are able to respond to queries from Research England.
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
- project lead (PL)
- project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
Only list one individual as project lead.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Vision
Word limit: 2,250
Through this funding opportunity, you can request funding from £100,000 to £5 million. It is expected that the word limit reflects the scale and complexity of your project.
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
Provide a description of the project – the problem it is intended to solve, and overall aim and key objectives to deliver the aim. The activities described later in the Approach section should be designed to deliver these objectives.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how your proposed work:
- meets the scope of this opportunity within the programme, and the programme’s ambitions. Including spanning multiple higher education providers (at least two).
- derisks and tests new collaboration(s) with the potential to drive a sustainable cost-effective future of the research and innovation system
- demonstrates why the change the collaboration aims to bring about is needed. Include the context of this collaboration, why this project is needed and why now. This should include any reference to previous related activity, and clear explanation of why your proposed project is novel
- evidences the additionality of this project. Including clear articulation of how the activity within this project could not be undertaken without this funding opportunity, is not part of the higher education providers current plans for research and innovation, and for which no other appropriate funding source is available
- impacts direct and indirect beneficiaries including clear buy-in from wider stakeholders where appropriate
- considers the impact of new approaches on the culture and environment of our higher education research and innovation system for example the impact on equity, inclusion, diversity, trust and collective responsibility
If you are applying for the cross-UK innovation partnerships seed funding, in addition to the above, please also include how your proposed work enables:
- additional impact from the complementary strengths of the geographies and their innovation ecosystems, i.e. driving significant opportunities over and above what the individual innovation ecosystems could achieve
- enhanced partnership to deliver your approach and maximise the complementary strengths. We expect applications to bring together higher education providers and wider partners such as local government, businesses, investors, and cutting-edge innovation within these geographical areas
- the project to be driven by geographical strengths and responsiveness to meet local government priorities
- self-definition of the geographies involved, which may be regional, cities, and/or local economic areas. This should include rationale for why the particular geographies you have defined and chosen
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Approach
Word limit: 3,000
Through this funding opportunity, you can request funding from £100,000 to £5 million. It is expected that the word limit reflects the scale and complexity of your project.
How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Your proposed work:
- is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
- is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
- is cognisant of previous approaches in this context, and why this is novel and/or different. This should include how your project builds on best practice and/or learnings from different sectors, geographies, industries, charities, international and wider communities if appropriate
- is clear what the project will do from the set of work packages, and what it will achieve in terms of clear outputs linked to the overall aim. Clearly shows the plan of activities including milestones and timelines and will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
- identifies and explains who the direct and indirect beneficiaries might be
- describes the collaboration, how it will operate and what each partner will contribute to the programme of activities
- considers and understands the impact of new approaches on the culture and environment of our higher education research and innovation system for example the impact on equity, inclusion, diversity, trust and collective responsibility
All applications should complete the outputs, outcomes and impacts table, available to download in the supporting documents section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Governance
Word limit: 1,000
Through this funding opportunity, you can request funding from £100,000 to £5 million. It is expected that the word limit reflects the scale and complexity of your project.
How will you manage the award to successfully deliver its objectives?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how the proposed award will be managed, demonstrating that it:
- will be effectively governed, including details about advisory structures
- will be effectively and inclusively managed, demonstrated by a clear management plan
- has clear leadership team roles and responsibilities
- will manage and encourage partnerships with non-higher education providers organisations across government, industry and civil society if relevant to your project
- has plans for monitoring your progress as well as self-evaluation throughout the lifetime of your award
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word limit: 1,000
Through this funding opportunity, you can request funding from £100,000 to £5 million. It is expected that the word limit reflects the scale and complexity of your project.
Why are you the right team and higher education provider(s) to successfully deliver the proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response:
- capability and empowerment to deliver the objectives of your project
- relevant experience, expertise and skills to deliver the proposed project, including the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver as applicable
- clear buy-in from across the collaboration, evidence should be included under project partners
- commitment and support of your organisation(s), to ensure delivery of the objectives of your project
You are expected to describe the people involved in your project, and why that constitutes the right team and higher education providers to successfully deliver the proposed work.
This is not a collaborative research project. We do not expect to see Resume for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules.
Resources and cost justification
Word limit: 1,000
Through this opportunity, you can request funding from £100,000 to £5,000,000. It is expected that the word limit reflects the scale and complexity of your project.
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
- costings need to be detailed as ‘exception-other’ and RE will fund 100% of the FEC of England-only pilots and the cross-UK innovation partnership models
- detail on what the costs are and why they are required to deliver your project. We expect an appropriate level of detail regarding breakdown of staff and non-staff costs
Justify the applications more costly staff and non-staff costs.
You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project. For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders.
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:
- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
Place
Word limit: 1,000
Through this funding opportunity, you can request funding from £100,000 to £5 million. It is expected that the word limit reflects the scale and complexity of your project.
The cross-UK innovation partnership projects are expected to have clear place impacts for the geographical areas you define.
What are the place related challenges or opportunities for your application?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how your proposed work:
- will deliver local, regional or both impacts, both direct and indirect, and who the beneficiaries might be
- enhances the UK’s research and innovation capabilities through local, regional or both activity
- will engage local and or regional stakeholders in meaningful partnership
Your organisation’s support
Word limit: 750
Through this opportunity, you can request funding from £100,000 to £5 million. It is expected that the word limit reflects the scale and complexity of your project.
Provide details of support from all higher education providers who are part of this institutional collaboration.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Assessors will be looking for a strong statement of support from the higher education provider. This information should have been approved for submission by an appropriate institutional authority.
You must also include the following details:
- a significant person’s name, their position and office or department, or all
- office address or web link
Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application.
Project partners
Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.
A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed application. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff time allocated to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or facilities. Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.
Add the following project partner details:
- the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
- the project partner contact name and email address
- the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value
If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Project partners: letters (or emails) of support
Upload a single PDF containing letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the project partners section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’. Each letter or email you provide should:
- confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
- clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them
- describe any additional value that they bring to the project
- have a page limit of 2 sides A4 per partner
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the project partners section.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Data management and sharing
Word limit: 300
If you appropriate to your application, please fill in this question.
How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed project?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Facilities
Word limit: 300
If you appropriate to your application, please fill in this question.
Does your proposed application require the support and use of a facility?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.
For each requested facility you will need to provide the:
- name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 43KB)
- proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
- confirmation you have their agreement where required
Facilities should only be named if they are on the facility information list above. If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
Trusted Research and Innovation is the protection of the UK’s intellectual property, sensitive research, people, and infrastructure from potential theft, misuse, and exploitation.
Organisations receiving UKRI funding are obliged to act in line with UK government legislation. They are also expected to undertake appropriate due diligence assessment of organisations involved in research partnerships, collaboration agreements, and commercial contracts.
You will be asked about:
- which areas of the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act your project relates to
- who you intend to collaborate with and how
- if your project requires an export control licence
Your answers may affect the T&Cs of your funding agreement if you are successful. We may use your answers to determine that our current T&Cs are sufficient or if additional T&Cs are required.
