Scope
Context
In April 2023, the Department for Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) published a white paper setting out the government’s plans for modernising regulation of the gambling sector. One of the key proposals in the white paper is the introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators.
Following a public consultation, which ran from 17 October to 14 December 2023, and an analysis of the responses to the consultation, the government will introduce a statutory levy charged to all licenced gambling activity, at varying levels depending on the sector and nature of the gambling activity to ensure impacts are proportionate.
The statutory levy was introduced via secondary legislation and commenced in April 2025 with funding flowing later that year. The levy will be collected and administered by the Gambling Commission under the strategic direction of the government, replacing the current system of voluntary industry contributions.
Levy funding will be directed in specific proportions for the purposes of research, prevention, and treatment. Each stream of the levy system will also have a central commissioner. The streams are:
- research: 20% of funding to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Gambling Commission for the establishment of a bespoke research programme
- prevention: 30% of funding to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) to create a co-ordinated GB-wide approach to prevention
- treatment: 50% of funding to the NHS in England, Scotland, and Wales to commission treatment and support services
Within the stream of funding allocated to UKRI for the new Research Programme on Gambling (RPG), UKRI are commissioning a multi-disciplinary hub, called the Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre (GHRCC).
This will coordinate a series of spokes, called the Gambling Harms Research and Innovation Partnerships (GHRIP), intended to fill gaps in the existing evidence base, and assist UKRI in developing a research agenda following the introduction of the levy.
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional Information section.
Gambling harms research and innovation partnership programme
The programme will fund a network of Gambling Harms Research and Innovation Partnerships (GHRIPs) to address critical gaps in the evidence base and support the development of innovative, stakeholder-informed responses to gambling-related harms.
These partnerships will act as thematic spokes within a wider research ecosystem, working collaboratively with a central coordination hub to generate actionable insights, build research capacity, and inform policy and practice across the UK.
GHRIPs will connect relevant stakeholders and research partners, providing research, evidence, data and expertise to tackle gambling harms in their various forms.
Applications should focus on creating a single GHRIP in a defined thematic area, from the list below:
- intersectionality
- structural drivers
- direct/lived experience
- digital gambling ecosystems
- preventive, protective and recovery factors
- co-occurring issues
UKRI will take a managed portfolio approach to ensure a balance of research topics and regions are represented across the programme.
Each GHRIP will develop and implement a programme of activity and devolved funding that will generate a rich portfolio of research and innovation that directly engages with the priorities of the UKRI Research Programme on Gambling (RPG).
Interactions between the GHRIP network, relevant stakeholders, and wider initiatives will be coordinated and led by a Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre (GHRCC) (to be awarded via a separate application process).
In support of the aims of the UKRI Research Programme on Gambling (RPG), GHRIPs will deliver the following programme objectives:
- connecting and catalysing: strengthening partnerships and collaborations between researchers, policymakers, third sector and other relevant stakeholders, attracting resource and capability for research and innovation, knowledge exchange, and skills to address gambling harms
- solutions focused: working with stakeholders to implement evidence-informed, actionable solutions that reflect the challenges faced in tackling gambling harms and associated issues
- devolved activity: managing a flexible funding pot to identify gaps, strengthen the research base and increase diversity within the field of gambling harms research
Phases
To support the delivery of these objectives and ensure the strongest applications are funded, the GHRIPs will be commissioned through a two-phased competitive process.
The phase one funding opportunity offers initial seed-corn funding so that applicants may dedicate time to developing partnerships. The funding is intended to resource the development of high-quality proposals to the phase two funding opportunity, by ensuring that partnership building is resourced, reflecting the essential role of partners in the public, third and private sectors.
During phase two, each successful GHRIP will deliver a co-designed programme of activity that reflects the funding opportunity aims and objectives. For a detailed overview, see ‘phase one activity’ and ‘phase two activity’ below.
Phase one activity
The purpose of phase one is to provide resource and support capacity across stakeholders to undertake partnership development and landscape evidence analysis required to design the phase two work programme.
You will be expected to deliver the following activities and outputs during phase one:
- building, strengthening or diversifying partnerships between research organisations or research teams and relevant stakeholders
- dialogue and co-creation with stakeholders and lived experience participants to further understand needs and surface opportunities for collaboration
- design and deliver workshops
- mapping of relevant data
- landscape and evidence analysis to build the evidence base for the phase two application
- embed co-creation practices and evaluation mechanisms into public and community engagement activities to ensure they are inclusive, impactful, and responsive to stakeholder needs.
- establish an appropriate model for phase two
Phase two activity
The purpose of phase two is to select the strongest partnerships with potential to deliver insights and solutions tailored to the most pressing issues caused by gambling harm.
Phase two GHRIP awards will be applying for up to £5 million (100% FEC) per project, with funding available for a duration of up to four years. Projects will be expected to commence in October 2026, following a separate competitive assessment process.
Successful phase two applicants will deliver an iterative programme of activity to maintain stakeholder relationships and partnerships, and commission new activity to inform actionable solutions.
Each partnership will apply for resource to staff the GHRIP, an initial work programme and a flexible fund through the second phase application process. Each GHRIP will manage its flexible fund independently to fund projects and programmes of activity.
Flexible funds are expected to constitute at least 40% of the overall phase two award and can be costed as ‘Exceptions’ at 100% FEC. The flexible fund must be devoted to planning, delivering, and managing a multidisciplinary programme of devolved awards and activities.
Note: The 40% flexible funding requirement for GHRIPs is distinct from the 20% flexible funding allocation required for the GHRCC. Each reflects the differing roles and responsibilities of the Spokes and the Coordination Centre.
There will be a wide variety of projects given the range of types and scale of challenges they could be supporting. Every project should be working to common and clearly identified goals aligned with the priority areas of focus set out as follows. Project development and delivery must be underpinned by stakeholder participation.
Examples of potential activities and outputs for delivery during phase two are:
- landscape and evidence analysis including secondary data analysis
- designing and evaluating evidence informed interventions
- developing relevant data resources
- reports, policy briefings and resources (for example, think-kits and toolkits)
- workshops and training programmes
- community engagement to develop and deliver projects, including establishing local ‘citizen science’ and other community-led initiatives
- building evidence bases to support research and policy development, and applications for focused funding, including commissioning new activity to address gaps in the evidence base
Applicants to phase two will be required to build in sufficient capacity to undertake and engage with future monitoring and evaluation.
Each GHRIP must also build-in the ability to scale its capacity to respond to future opportunities to manage additional funds, for example, ringfenced pots or fellowships.
Applicants to phase two will be expected to include a logic model that clearly articulates the intended outcomes of their programme and how these will be achieved.
The Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre (GHRCC) will provide support to GHRIP proposal development during phase one. Applicants to phase one should therefore demonstrate a willingness to engage with the GHRCC and build capacity into the grant application appropriately.
Phase timelines
Phase one will run for nine months, from February through to October 2026.
Phase one will start at the same time as the GHRCC and will work closely with the Centre for their phase two applications.
UKRI funded rapid evidence reviews will be made publicly available early 2026
On 31 July 2026, GHRIPs will submit their proposals to become phase two GHRIP awards.
Successful GHRIPs will start phase two in October 2026 and run for up to four years.
Phase two stage-gate review
A formal stage-gate will be built into phase two awards to align with the financial cycle of the statutory levy system. This review will assess progress against key milestones and strategic objectives. Continued funding beyond this point will be subject to satisfactory delivery, governance, and alignment with the evolving national strategy on gambling harms.
Thematic focus
Each GHRIP will bring together stakeholders from a range of sectors and disciplines to address a thematic area. Research themes explored by the RPG will look to address these initial areas of focus. While these areas have been identified by UKRI, we are open to applications across a broader range of topics.
Intersectionality
How overlapping identities, for example, race, gender and disability, shape gambling experiences and harms. This can also include experiences and drivers of gambling related harms and help-seeking in marginalised communities, for example, those who may face higher risks of gambling harm but are under-represented in research and support services.
We are committed to ensuring that our programming on gambling related harm actively considers intersectionality and the full range of protected characteristics, recognising that experiences of harm are shaped by overlapping social, economic, and cultural factors, and that effective responses must be inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the needs of diverse communities.
Structural drivers
The role of the systemic, environmental, and institutional factors that create conditions for harmful gambling behaviours including culture, demography, housing, urban or rural development, and digital inequality in gambling behaviour, risk, or experience of gambling harms or both.
Direct or lived experience
Individual risk factors, for example, mental health conditions, neurodivergence, trauma, financial precarity, housing insecurity, and community-led research into gambling.
Digital gambling ecosystems
The impact of personalisation and targeted advertising, new and changing marketing practices, access to multiple online gambling accounts, loot boxes, cryptocurrency-based esports, and algorithmic design on users, including vulnerable users such as children and adolescents.
Preventive, protective, and recovery factors
Most research focuses on harm, not resilience, recovery, or preventative practices by a range of actors, whether at the local community level, to healthcare and educational environments, to gambling firms and online platforms.
Co-occurring issues
These include mental health, substance use, and financial hardship, as well as potential integrated treatment models. You should also consider the impact of financial harms.
Outcomes
Together, the GHRIPs and the GHRCC will support the following outcomes.
Expected outcomes include:
- creating stronger and more diverse partnerships by investing in the capability and capacity required for multi-partner collaboration, bringing the right stakeholders together at the right time
- enhancing understanding of thematic priorities by surfacing evidence gaps, stakeholder needs and opportunities for innovation through collaborative scoping and analysis
- increasing readiness for delivery by developing credible, co-designed models for phase two activity that reflect the scale, ambition and complexity of the challenge
- strengthening capacity for collaborative research by embedding inclusive, interdisciplinary approaches and supporting the involvement of underrepresented voices and sectors
- supporting collaboration across the GHRIP network by fostering shared learning, alignment of approaches and opportunities for joint activity, coordinated through the GHRCC
- embedding meaningful public and community engagement by involving people with lived experience and wider publics in shaping research priorities and approaches
- enhancing the evidence base to inform a future national strategy on the reduction of gambling harms
GHRIPs will undertake an appropriate mix of evidence synthesis and translation, knowledge exchange, public and community engagement, skills and capabilities development, data analysis and, where appropriate, novel primary research.
Each GHRIP will design its own work programme and devise an appropriate approach and methods.
GHRIPs should include the capability for responding to urgent challenges including conducting ‘rapid response’ type work.
Engagement with the UK Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre
The UK Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre is being commissioned through a separate funding opportunity. It will act as an intermediary, learning about the context and challenges faced in each partnership’s area and:
- connecting to broader research and innovation initiatives that can support the GHRIPs in addressing those challenges
- supporting the dissemination and translation of learning and evidence across the network of GHRIPs
- communicating outcomes to policymakers and practitioners beyond the GHRIPs stakeholder communities, at local, regional and national levels
- assisting in coordinating devolved funding and related activities to ensure cross-spoke collaboration and avoid duplication
During phase one, the GHRCC will actively support GHRIP applicants in developing their proposals, facilitating shared learning, thematic alignment, and early-stage coordination across the network.
The GHRCC will play a crucial role in connecting GHRIPs to the research, learning, expertise and evidence needed to inform effective responses to tackling gambling harms.
With the support of the GHRCC, GHRIPs will be expected to engage with a range of organisations and investments to support their work programme to source the data, insights and expertise they require.
The GHRCC will be a large-scale investment that will also deliver its own research packages, flexible funding and studentships.
See the full strategic coordination hub opportunity.
Rapid evidence reviews
UKRI will be commissioning a suite of rapid evidence reviews to help identify evidence gaps within the research and innovation ecosystem.
These will be publicly available in early 2026, and the successful awards will be expected to incorporate the outputs of these reviews into their workplan.
Application requirements
At phase one, you are required to demonstrate a clear pathway to expanding and diversifying partnerships. Teams must also demonstrate potential to make a significant contribution to developing insight in the selected thematic areas.
You must set out an approach to each of the following.
Partnership building, stakeholder and community engagement
You must demonstrate how existing relationships and networks will be developed and expanded during the phase 1 award. You should specify the types of activity they plan to undertake and show how the proposed new activity will add value to the existing partnership. You should include an approach to involving partners and stakeholders in proposal development throughout phase one.
You are expected to build on existing partnerships by engaging beyond usual stakeholders, ensuring equitable partnerships and supporting interdisciplinary approaches to deliver policy and practice impact. This may require new groupings of researchers and stakeholders, drawing on strong, existing leadership across related areas.
Capacity for people exchange across the partnership should be built into the GHRIP model. Consideration should be given to embedding stakeholders that are often excluded from the research and innovation ecosystem.
The balance of stakeholder expertise in the partnership, including new and existing relationships, should be clearly aligned to a thematic area. GHRIPs are not required to have the full range of partners in place for the phase one application. There is flexibility to expand partnerships as challenges are further defined during the phase one award.
At phase two, you will be required to demonstrate a level of in-kind support appropriate to the nature and scale of the work.
Leadership and interdisciplinary expertise
Applications must identify a project lead who will act as director. Each proposal must also identify a co-director from an appropriate non-academic partner (government, public sector, or third sector). There can be more than one co-director.
Applications must identify a leadership team to lead on application development during phase one, with clearly defined roles.
A core team must be in place at the time of application with flexibility to expand this team as required during phase one.
The mix of disciplinary expertise within the team will reflect the expertise required to address the thematic area of focus identified in the proposal. It is expected that multi- and interdisciplinary expertise will be required. This may be drawn from academic, practitioner, or policy partners.
In addition to relevant domain expertise, the leadership team will demonstrate significant expertise in knowledge exchange and knowledge mobilisation. They will be able to demonstrate understanding of existing policy challenges and how the research relevant to these challenges can be utilised.
The project lead must contribute a significant proportion of their time to the overall leadership and coordination of the grant.
Responsible innovation
Responsible innovation is an integral part of our vision and we expect you to consider the benefits, but also the potential negative impacts from your activities.
Find out more about responsible innovation.
Duration
UKRI will fund up to 20 phase one awards for nine months.
Projects must start by 1 February 2026
Phase two GHRIP awards will be expected to start in October 2026
Funding available
The full economic cost of your phase one project can be up to £100,000. UKRI will fund 80% of the full economic cost. UKRI will fund up to 20 phase one awards for nine months.
All applicants successful at phase one will be invited to submit an application for phase two.
Phase two applications will be subject to a separate assessment process. We anticipate awarding a minimum of six grants of a value of £5 million at 100% full economic cost per award, with a duration of 48 months.
Awards at phase one and phase two will be made at 80% full economic cost, and the research organisation must agree to find the balance of full economic cost from other resources.
You will be expected to bid for a level of funding that is commensurate to the maturity of the existing partnership and degree to which shared priorities are established.
It is expected that partnerships at an earlier stage of development will require a higher level of resource to develop shared agendas and identify opportunities for wider collaboration and extending their reach to a diverse set of stakeholders.
Supporting skills and talent
UKRI supports over 25k FTE of R&I staff directly on grants, many more if indirect costs, facility charges and strategic funding streams are included. Those skilled people and teams design our studies, deliver the R&I work and disseminate the outputs. They are the R&I system; and mission critical to delivering the outcomes we invest in.
Our expectations for people and teams are collated on the supporting skills and talent section of the good research resource hub. In this funding opportunity we are piloting a new approach to embedding consideration of people and teams in our assessment. You can find the assessment criteria for integrating support for people and teams in your application in the people and teams assessment guidance.
You should evidence a strong commitment to supporting the development of researchers at all stages of their career. 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.
Further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.
