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 UKRI 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.
Watch our recording on how to apply for an opportunity in the UKRI Funding Service.
To apply:
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- Sign in or create a UKRI 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
- 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 UKRI 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.
Watch our research office webinars about the new UKRI Funding Service.
Deadline
We must receive your application by 5 December 2023 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.
Personal data
NERC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your UKRI 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.
Publication of outcomes
NERC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity on What NERC has funded.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Summary
Word count: 550
In plain English, provide a summary that 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:
- opinion-formers
- policymakers
- the public
- the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
- what the proposed asset is and why is it novel
- the science questions or challenge the asset addresses
- potential benefits and beneficiaries
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
- project lead (PL)
- project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
Only list one individual as project lead.
Find out more about UKRI’s new grant roles.
Application questions
Purpose, Vision and Approach
Word count: 10
Why is the proposed infrastructure needed? What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed infrastructure? What are your plans to manage the proposed infrastructure?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Upload guidance
Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than six sides of A4, single line spacing in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm.
You may include images, graphs, tables.
For the file name, use the unique UKRI funding service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Purpose and Vision and Approach’.
Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment.
If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.
Once you have uploaded, enter the text ‘attachment provided’ into the textbox, mark this section as complete and move to the next one.
For the Purpose, explain how the proposed infrastructure:
- creates a new, or builds upon, an existing capability
- meets the evidenced needs of clearly identified user groups
- will have a measurable impact beyond the immediate team
Within the Purpose section we also expect you to:
- give the title, manufacturer and model (where applicable) and the proposed location of the equipment
- state if the proposed asset already exists elsewhere, outlining details of the other asset(s) and explaining what the new asset provides that current assets do not
- highlight the main science questions that the proposed asset will address or enable, and indicate how the asset will address them
For the Vision, explain how the proposed infrastructure will:
- enable high quality and important research questions to be addressed
- meet the strategic aims of the funder or government
- enhance and complement the existing landscape
- be of international importance (if applicable)
Within the Vision section we also expect you to:
- identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and beneficiaries
- highlight why this asset should be funded now and what the impact is if it is not funded
- explain how the asset will advance current understanding or capability and generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
- explain how the asset will generate wider impact (for example, make data produced from equipment open source, create employment or training opportunities, stimulate the economy)
- identify if, and how, the asset has the potential to stimulate innovation, both nationally, and in the local or regional area (if appropriate)
Within the Approach section explain:
- how the asset complements existing assets in the host institute
- the community demand and reach for the proposed asset and how this will be met
- the estimated balance of users from the host institution, academics from external institutions and industrial users
- how the asset will be made available for use by others, and if there are charges incurred for internal or external use (if so, provide estimated costs), outlining application and assessment processes
Sustainability
Word count: 1,000
What steps have you taken to ensure the sustainability (economic, environmental and social) of your proposed asset?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
For the Sustainability, explain how the proposed infrastructure:
- is as economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable as possible
- delivers large scale societal, environmental and economic benefits
- will have its lifetime maximised, including stating what the expected lifetime is, and where relevant, how will the asset be sustainably decommissioned?
Within the Sustainability section we also expect you to explain:
- how long-term operational and maintenance costs, including staffing will be supported?
- is the proposed asset to be integrated into an existing NERC service, facility, equipment pool, or similar and if so, how?
- how the proposed asset is complementary to NERC or host institute carbon reduction targets?
- if relevant, how does the proposed asset contribute to a broader approach to environmental sustainability such as enhancing biodiversity or clean air, as well as reducing carbon emissions?
- how you have considered equality, diversity and inclusion, including equitable access, in the design and planned use of the asset to maximise benefit to the UK environmental sciences community?
For environmental sustainability, NERC centres should explain how the asset is complementary to the NERC’s commitment to have net zero emissions for all operations by 2040, while other research organisations should explain how the asset complements your organisation’s carbon reduction targets, where applicable.
Project partners
Word count: 1,000
Provide details about any project partners’ contributions.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you do have project partners, download and complete the project partner contributions template (DOCX, 52KB) then copy and paste the table within it into the text box.
Ensure you have obtained prior agreement from project partners that, should you be offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the template.
A project partner is a collaborating organisation that is contributing to the application and will have an integral role in the proposed research. Project partners cannot normally receive funding directly from the grant. An exception relevant to this funding opportunity is:
- where a project partner is providing services or equipment that will go through a formal procurement process audited by the host research organisation
Within the project partners section we also expect you to:
- describe any additional value that they bring to the project
If you do not have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.
References
Word count: 1,000
List the references you have used to support your application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
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.
Quotes
Word Count: 250
Upload any quotes that you need to provide for requesting funding of your asset.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
You must provide three equipment quotes for equipment costing over £138,000.
Where you believe that there are fewer than three potential suppliers for an item, you should provide a brief explanation as to why fewer than three quotations were obtained.
Upload guidance
Save the quotes in a single PDF no bigger than 8MB.
For the file name, use the unique UKRI funding service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the word ‘Quotes’.
If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.
The UKRI Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
Resources and cost justification
Word count: 1,000
What will you need to deliver your asset and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Guidance on using the costs table
Only equipment costs can be requested via this funding opportunity. In the costs table:
- set the salary costs for any member of the team, including the project lead, to £0 and % FTE as appropriate
- include the total value of the requested assets under the ‘Exceptions – Equipment’ header, enabling funding at 100% FEC from NERC
- leave all other cost headings blank
If non-eligible costs are included in the costs table or in the ‘Justification of Resources’ text box, the application will be rejected.
Using the text box, demonstrate how the resources you are requesting:
- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
List the requested asset and equipment costs broken down in components ensuring you also state:
- if applicable, how much additional funding the host organisation or project partner is providing, and the total funding requested from NERC
- a brief justification of labour costs, if applicable, and why they are required and cannot be met elsewhere. Labour costs required for procuring and installing the asset may be included within the funds requested
- a brief justification of any other costs required for the generation of the asset which are not covered in the quotes
If you have equipment costs, input these under the ‘Exceptions’ heading on the UKRI Funding Service. This will allow them to be costed at 100%.
