Demand management
Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.
Aim
The overall aim of this sandpit is to commission novel research projects that use UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) administrative data to answer metascience research questions and provide actionable insights and evidence to decision makers in the R&D system.
More widely, the sandpit will also support thought leadership and community building for metascience in the UK. We want to build new evidence, and draw together existing evidence from across disciplines, to develop solutions that optimise research processes and practices.
Sandpit process
The sandpit will be an intensive, interactive workshop bringing together a diverse group of participants from a range of disciplines and backgrounds to work together over five days. The first three days will be in-person while the final two days of the sandpit will be held remotely.
The sandpit will be led by the UK Metascience Unit, who will be supported by an independent facilitator and a team of mentors. The mentors and a small number of stakeholders will attend the sandpit but will not be eligible to receive research funding. Instead, their role will be to assist you in defining and exploring challenges in this area. The mentors will act as independent reviewers, making a funding recommendation on the emergent projects.
The sandpit process can be broken down into several stages:
- defining the scope of the metascience challenges in the R&D system
- evolving common languages and terminologies amongst participants from a diverse range of backgrounds and disciplines
- drawing upon perspectives from relevant stakeholders and the expertise brought by the participants to share understandings of the challenges
- taking part in sessions focused on the challenges and using creative thinking techniques to identify approaches to help tackle these challenges
- capturing the outputs of the process in the form of highly innovative research project proposals
- reaching a funding decision on projects developed at the sandpit using ‘real-time’ peer review
We do not require you to develop specific plans for research activities prior to the sandpit. Ideas for activities will be developed collaboratively during the process.
Projects developed through the process will pitch for funding on the final sandpit day. Projects arising from the sandpit will be between 12 and 18 months.
Attendance at the sandpit does not guarantee UKRI funding. It is our intention that this sandpit will be a valuable experience for all attendees irrespective of whether funding is secured.
Data access
Applicants who are invited to participate in the sandpit will have the opportunity to complete Safe Researcher Accreditation training on Thursday 14 January 2027.
Participants with Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service or UK Data Service Safe Researcher accreditation will be able to access UKRI data through UKRI DataLab during the sandpit.
Participants without accreditation will be provided with a data dictionary explaining variables and data available but will not have access to record-level data.
You do not need to hold data-access accreditation to apply for or participate in the sandpit.
UKRI is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK. UKRI provides a funding service which manages and processes the end-to-end journey of research and innovation funding across the seven research councils, Innovate UK and Research England.
UKRI collects information in relation to funding applications, the review and decision process, and the outcomes of funded research. With appropriate safeguards in place, participants at the sandpit will have the opportunity to access and explore many aspects of the information which UKRI collects.
