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.
If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation check it is available in the Funding Service, you are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.
To apply
You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so. The start application link will be provided via email.
- 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. 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 funding 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.
- 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.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You must:
- use 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, so must not be included in the image)
- 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 new 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. Applicants should use their 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
MRC must receive your application by 26 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
MRC, 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.
We will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with DARE UK so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how DARE UK uses personal information, visit DARE UK Privacy Notice.
Publication of outcomes
MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at the DARE UK website.
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
Your summary should include:
- the theme of your application and the challenge it addresses
- the aims and objectives of your project
- details of public involvement and engagement
- the potential benefits to stakeholders such as the public, data controllers, custodians and research communities
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
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
- fellow
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead. If you include more than one project lead your application will fail at the checking stage.
Public contributors should be added to your application under the ‘specialist’ role within the core team (if applicable).
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Vision
Word limit: 1,000
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
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, or generate 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:
- clearly articulate how this work will contribute to the DARE UK vision and integrate with the Phase 2 roadmap
- demonstrate how this work will meet a range of user need(s) and enable real-world impacts
- clearly articulate how this work will benefit the public directly, indirectly or both
- clearly articulate how this work will deliver against one of the three specific themes and the cross-cutting theme described in the funding opportunity scope
- clearly articulate how this work will support research programmes across the wider sensitive data research ecosystem
- clearly articulate how this work will support and work with the broader UK TRE ecosystem (including DEA-accredited TREs)
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Approach
Word limit: 7,000
How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
Explain how you have designed your approach 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
- uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
- summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
- 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:
- provide a project plan including milestones and timelines, in the form of an embedded Gantt chart or similar. This project plan must include public involvement and engagement (PIE) plans, engagement with UK TREs (supporting testing and adoption), and engagement with real-world research projects
- provide a comprehensive risk register including any mitigation measures to manage those risks
- articulate how, building on previous work, you will transition your core component towards production-readiness for deployment in production environments and ready for validation in real-world sensitive data research settings (including DEA-accredited TREs)
- explain how you will ensure your core component can be used across different types or domains of sensitive data
- explain how you will appropriately embed public involvement and engagement (PIE) within your work
- explain how you will work with relevant information governance authorities, organisations and any other groups
- clearly articulate how you your work will align with and support the other work programmes of DARE UK Phase 2
- provide a plan for how you will support and work with the sensitive data research communities to test and validate your work
- explain how you will engage and support relevant stakeholders (including the TRE community, researchers and information governance authorities) to ensure your core component has a clear pathway to adoption by UK TREs
- demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the project
- explain how you will manage the outputs of the project, including any software assets and intellectual property
- identify whether you will use public data within your project and, if so, explain how it will be used
- acknowledge the commitment to work with DARE UK and the other successful applicants to co-define how to ensure the integration of core components as a technically interoperable set of capabilities
You are encouraged to use 500 words to provide information about reproducibility and how you will ensure reliability and robustness of your work, such as further details of statistical analyses, methodology and experimental design. If this information is not applicable, then you should not use this space to expand on other areas of your approach and your response to this section should be below the word limit.
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Public involvement and engagement
Word limit: 1,000
Explain how public involvement and engagement (PIE) will support successful delivery of your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
An explanation of how your proposed work will:
- deliver or contribute to the delivery of public benefit
- adopt a clear and robust PIE strategy guiding the delivery of your PIE work stream
- ensure that PIE is embedded throughout project planning, decision-making, delivery, reporting and evaluation
- ensure a diverse representation of members of the public in your project
- effectively implement and communicate your PIE activities and outcomes
- capture, evaluate and demonstrate the impact of PIE at all stages of delivery
Refer to the DARE UK PIE guidelines document (PDF, 694KB) as a guide.
Engagement with external bodies representing the public(s) is strongly encouraged.
Governance
Word limit: 650
Explain how you will establish a project governance process that will assist you to successfully deliver your proposed work?
What are the assessors looking for in your response
Explain how the proposed work 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 suitable for a multi-institutional, collaborative initiative
- has clear leadership team roles and responsibilities
- will manage and encourage partnerships with non-HEI organisations across government, industry and civil society
- has plans for monitoring your progress as well as self-evaluation throughout the lifetime of your project
- is committed to dock into DARE UK governance structures where appropriate – this will be defined collaboratively between the DARE UK Delivery Team and project leads (see information pack for more details)
Collaboration with the DARE UK programme and wider ecosystem
Word limit: 650
How will you collaborate on key aspects of federation and interoperability?
Explain how you will collaborate on key aspects of federation and interoperability as part of DARE UK Phase 2 and the wider ecosystem, including but not limited to:
- inter-TRE data exchange formats based on the RO-Crates standard
- a common approach to inter-TRE user, data and project registration
- a common technical architecture or framework for cross-domain inter-TRE federation in the UK
- a common picture for intra-TRE capabilities required to support cross-domain inter-TRE federation in the UK, including emerging needs and gaps
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word limit: 3,000
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 3,000 words: 2,500 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 emphasise 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.
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 third party organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.
Important note: If your application includes industry project partners, you will also need to complete the Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF) section. Find out more about ICF.
You must ensure that any third-party individual or organisation you include within the Funding Service as a project partner, also provides you with a supporting email or letter of support (see next section ‘Project partners: letters or emails of support’).
The individual named as the project partner contact, cannot be included in your application as a member of the core team, in any core team role.
The project partner organisation cannot be an applicant organisation, where any member of the core team is based. For example, you cannot include a different department based within the applicant organisation as a project partner.
If an individual or organisation outside the core team is responsible for recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue for this project, list them as a project partner.
Add the following project partner details:
- the organisation name (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 in-direct) 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.
If there are specific circumstances where project partners do require funding for minor costs such as travel and subsistence, these project partner costs should be claimed and justified within the resources and costs section of your application.
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
Word limit: 10
Upload a single PDF containing the 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’.
What supporting statements we are looking for
Important note: We are only looking for you to provide project partner letters or emails of support from the following:
- a third-party individual
- a third-party organisation
Third party means the individual and organisation must not be involved in the application core team. You must ensure that any project partners providing a supporting document, are also added to the ‘project partners’ section within 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.
What supporting statements we are not looking for
We are not looking for you to provide any letters or emails of support from individuals or organisations included in your application core team (this includes other departments within the same organisation). Any individual or organisation included in your application with a core team role cannot also be a project partner.
Do not include any other statements or any other type of information we have not requested, including letter or emails of support from colleagues simply expressing supportive opinions. We only expect letters or emails of support from your third-party project partners uploaded to this section.
If you include any information not requested by MRC, your application will be rejected.
Supporting document guidance for third party project partners
Each project partner supporting letter or email you provide, should:
- be no more than two A4 pages
- 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
- include the name of the project partner organisation and contact information (this should match the partner contact and organisation name details you must add to the ‘Project partners’ section)
Project partners letters and emails of support are not required to be on headed paper or include handwritten signatures (electronic signatures are acceptable from the nominated partner contact).
Project partner responsibility for the recruitment of people
If the project partner is responsible for the recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue their letter or email of support should include:
- agreement that the project partner will recruit the participants or provide tissue
- confirmation that what is being supplied is suitable for the proposed work
- confirmation that the quantity of tissue being supplied is suitable, but not excessive for achieving meaningful results (if applicable)
Multiple project partners
If you have multiple project partners, you should:
- ensure each separate letter or email of support, does not exceed two pages of A4
- consolidate all the supporting documents provided by each project partner into a single PDF file before uploading
- ensure the PDF does not exceed the maximum file size of 8MB
For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Project partner’.
Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)
Word limit: 1,500
Does your application include industry project partners?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If industry collaboration does not apply to any of your project partners, or you do not have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box.
If your research project involves collaboration between an academic organisation and an industry or company, you are likely to need to follow the industry collaboration framework and answer this question, check using the ICF decision tree.
The assessors are looking for information relating to the nature, goals and conditions of the collaboration and any restrictions or rights to the project results that could be claimed by the project partner.
By ‘industry or company’ we mean an enterprise that puts goods or services on a market and whose commercial activities are greater than 20% of their overall annual capacity.
Find out more about ICF, including:
- collaboration agreements
- definitions of basic or applied research
- internationally based companies
- subsidy control
- Intellectual property (IP) arrangements
- fully flexible and gated contributions
- the ICF assessment criteria
In addition to the project partner information completed in the previous section, confirm your answers to the ICF questions in the text box, repeat this process for each ICF project partner:
- Name the industry or company project partner considered under ICF.
- Indicate whether your application is either basic research or applied research.
- Explain why, in the absence of the requested UKRI funding, the collaboration and the planned research could not be undertaken.
- State whether your application is under the category of either fully flexible contribution or gated contribution (based on the IP sharing arrangements with the ICF partner).
- Outline the pre-existing IP (‘background IP’) that each project partner, including the academic partner, will bring to the collaborative research project and the terms under which project partners may access these assets.
- Outline the IP that is expected to be developed during the collaborative research project (‘foreground IP’) and briefly outline how it will be managed, including:
- which project partners will own this IP
- what rights project partners will have to use academically-generated foreground IP during and after the research project, for internal research and development or for commercial purposes
- any rights of the academic partner to commercialise the foreground IP, including foreground IP generated by project partners
- Outline any restrictions to dissemination of the project results, including the rights of the project partner to:
- review, approve or delay publications (including the time period associated with such rights)
- request or require the removal of any information
- Declare any conflicts of interest held by the applicants in relation to the project partners and describe how they will be managed.
- If applicable, justify collaborating with an overseas industry or company under ICF.
Failure to provide the information requested for industry partners under ICF could result in your application being rejected.
You are recommended to discuss the goals and conditions of any collaboration with an industry or company project partner with your university technology transfer or contracts office before applying.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
Word limit: 100
Does the proposed work involve international collaboration in a sensitive research or technology area?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Demonstrate how your proposed international collaboration relates to TR&I, including:
- list the countries your international project co-leads, project partners and visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in
- if international collaboration is involved, explain whether this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act
- if one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act are involved list the areas
If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
We may ask you to provide additional information about how your proposed project will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help manage these risks
Facilities
Word limit: 250
Does your proposed research 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, 35KB)
- 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.
Data management and sharing
Word limit: 1,000
How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a data management plan which should clearly detail how you will comply with MRC’s published data management and sharing policies, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Provide your response in the text box following the headings in the MRC data management plan template. You are not required to upload the document to your application.
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
Consider the MRC guidance on ethics and approvals.
The following can be included to support your response. How will you:
- safeguard sensitive data assets hosted within the services you work with
- work with relevant information governance authorities to ensure transparency, accountability and effective risk management during the project
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Research involving human participation
Word limit: 700
Will the project involve the use of human subjects or their personal information?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing research that requires the involvement of human subjects, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.
Justify the number and the diversity of the participants involved, as well as any procedures.
Provide details of any areas of substantial or moderate severity of impact.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Resources and cost justification
Word limit: 2,000
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
- project staff
- significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
- any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
- all facilities and infrastructure costs
- all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
- support for public involvement and engagement work
- support for international co-leads, demonstrating this is within the 30% costs cap for co-leads from developed countries, India and China. There is no cap on costs requested for international applicants from DAC list countries
- any work to be outsourced, including the reason for outsourcing, scope, provider and cost
- any costs supporting researcher-generated open-source software necessary for project delivery
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
