Funding opportunity

Pre-announcement: Particle Physics Experiment Consolidated Grants 2026

• Opportunity status: Upcoming
• Funders: Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
• Funding type: Grant
• Publication date: 7 April 2026
• Opening date: 27 April 2026 9:00am UK time
• Closing date: 2 July 2026 4:00pm UK time

Apply for funding to receive support for particle physics experiment research. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for STFC funding and a member of the UK particle physics community.

This opportunity is an extension to the Particle Physics Experiment Consolidated Grants 2024 and will provide funding for 24 months.

The grant period will be 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2029.

STFC will fund 80% of the FEC.

This is a pre-announcement and the information may change. The funding opportunity will open on 27 April 2026. More information will be available on this page then.

Who can apply

Proposals for research must fall within the particle physics experiment remit.

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Before applying for funding. Check if your organisation is eligible

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

• career breaks
• support for people with caring responsibilities
• flexible working
• alternative working patterns

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

What we're looking for

Demand management

Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.

Scope

The particle physics experiment consolidated grants round takes place every four years to support particle physics experiment research. However, in 2024 the particle physics experiment consolidated grants could exceptionally only be awarded for two years. The 2026 particle physics experiment consolidated grants round will award funding for the remaining two years, from 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2029.

You are asked to submit realistic bids, for example, based on your current award, outlining how this award will contribute to achieving the objectives of the original bid submitted for in the 2024 round.

This grant round will consider consolidated grant requests in the particle physics experiment subject area. Where more than one department, or group at a university is involved in the same subject area, a single consolidated grant proposal should be submitted.

Groups from different institutions working collaboratively in the same well-defined research area may apply for a consolidated research grant as a consortium.

Duration

The duration of the award is two years.

Grants must start on 1 October 2027

Funding available

We will confirm the available budget once the opportunity opens.

We will fund 80% of the FEC.

Supporting skills and talent

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)

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. 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.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

How to apply

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. We will publish full details on how to apply when the funding opportunity opens.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Panel

The Particle Physics Grants Panel (Experiment) will collectively review all the proposals against the criteria, rank them and make recommendations. The peer review meeting is scheduled for September 2026.

STFC will make the final funding decision

For more information on how we prioritise applications for funding please visit How we make decisions.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within 6 months of receiving your application.

Feedback

We will give feedback from the panel with the outcome of your application.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review

Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment, including to correct language, spelling, grammar and formatting. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.

For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

The helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue.

Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility, content or remit of a funding opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your application please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact pp@stfc.ac.uk

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org
Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

• Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
• Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries more efficiently, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.