Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Projects Peer Review Panel (PPRP) 2025

Apply for funding to Projects Peer Review Panel 2025. Only invited applicants, who have undergone a successful statement of interest (SoI) stage are eligible to apply.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for STFC funding.

STFC provides research grant funding opportunities that are reviewed through frequent Projects Peer Review Panel (PPRP) rounds. You must have already discussed your ideas with one of our programme managers and have been invited to submit a full proposal.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be agreed with specific programme areas and STFC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Who can apply

You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so following a successful Statement of Interest.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding. Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.

For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.

Speak to your programme manager (see the ‘Contact details’ section) for advice on:

  • specific eligibility requirements
  • whether to submit a statement of interest to the STFC Science Board

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

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

What we're looking for

Scope

We provide research grant funding opportunities that are reviewed through frequent Projects Peer Review Panel (PPRP) rounds.

We support large or complex projects that have significant scientific priority in one of the following:

  • particle physics
  • nuclear physics
  • astronomy
  • particle astrophysics
  • accelerator physics
  • computing for PPAN Programme

Large projects could involve:

  • participating in new, or developing existing, high priority experiments or missions
  • developing new instruments or accelerator technologies
  • developing new, or upgrading existing, detectors
  • purchasing new, or upgrading existing, major high performance computing facilities
  • the ongoing operation of existing facilities
  • developing new initiatives in the field of e-science, including modelling and data management

Please contact relevant programme manager as listed under the ‘Contact details’ section.

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.

Duration

The duration of this award is as required to deliver the project.

Funding available

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to the budget envelope advised and agreed by the STFC programme manager.

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) will fund 80% of the FEC.

What we will not fund

We will not fund project studentships.

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)

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.

View further guidance and information about TR&I, including where you 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.

Only invited applicants, after a successful SoI stage, are eligible to apply for this opportunity.

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.

To apply

The application link will be forwarded to invited applicants.

  1. Confirm you are the project lead.
  2. 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 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
  5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
  6. 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 should:

  • 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)
  • 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 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. You should use your 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

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) must receive your application by 28 August 2025 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

STFC 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.

Publication of outcomes

Application outcome is intimated to the applicants, not publicly listed. There is no competitive process and no rank order. Projects are assessed on their own merit on the published criteria and not tensioned against other projects.

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

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

  • context
  • the challenge the project addresses
  • aims and objectives
  • potential applications and benefits

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
  • grant manager
  • professional enabling staff
  • research and innovation associate
  • technician
  • visiting researcher
  • researcher co-lead (RcL)

Only list one individual as project lead.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Vision and Approach

Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than 70 sides of A4, single spaced in paper in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm. This document should also include your response to the Project management section below. You may include images, graphs, tables.

For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Vision and Approach’.

Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.

If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

What are you hoping to achieve with and how will you deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

For the Vision, 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, generates 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

The following can be included to support your response:

  • the technical importance of the project
  • the strategic value within the STFC programmes: the extent to which the project and facility benefits from and contributes to coherence and synergies and linkages with other programmes and facilities, including international subscriptions
  • the measures in place to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion

For the Approach, explain how you have designed your work 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
  • if applicable, uses a clear and transparent methodology
  • if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed
  • 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

The following can be included to support your response:

  • justification of staff time and its effective distribution across the project, including assessment of the descope options
  • details of adequate Governance and Monitoring arrangements

References may be included within this section.

Project management

Word limit:20

The below questions need to be included within the Vision and Approach document. Please confirm you have done this within this text box.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Please include:

  • a project management plan: outline an effective and appropriate project management measures to achieve objectives based on STFC’s Project Management Framework
  • details of staff roles and responsibilities
  • details of project schedule and reporting arrangements
  • a Project Gantt Chart
  • details of the change control process
  • details of the monitoring and reporting process
  • details of the project organisation and structure
  • the scope of the project
  • descope options which should describe and detail the implication of 10% reduction in overall project cost
  • details of the project feasibility and evaluation of the risks (including technical) associated with implementation of the project and the risks associated with the economic and societal impact and leadership objectives
  • details of the mechanism to maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide 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 1,650 words: 1,150 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.

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

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Research involving the use of animals

Does your proposed research involve the use of vertebrate animals or other organisms covered by the Animals Scientific Procedures Act?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you are proposing research that requires using animals, download and complete the Animals Scientific Procedures Act template (DOCX, 74KB), which contains all the questions relating to research using vertebrate animals or other Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 regulated organisms.

Save it as a PDF. The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Conducting research with animals overseas

Word limit: 700

Will any of the proposed animal research be conducted overseas?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you are proposing to conduct overseas research, it must be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with those in the UK, as in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research, page 14. Ensure all named applicants in the UK and overseas are aware of this requirement.

If your application proposes animal research to be conducted overseas, you must provide a statement in the text box. Depending on the species involved, you may also need to upload a completed template for each species listed.

Statement

Provide a statement to confirm that:

  • all named applicants are aware of the requirements and have agreed to abide by them
  • this overseas research will be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with the principles of UK legislation
  • the expectation set out in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research will be applied and maintained
  • appropriate national and institutional approvals are in place
Templates

Overseas studies proposing to use non-human primates, cats, dogs, equines or pigs will be assessed during NC3Rs review of research applications. Provide the required information by completing the template from the question ‘Research involving the use of animals’.

For studies involving other species, select, download, and complete the relevant Word checklist or checklists from this list:

Save your completed template as a PDF and upload to the Funding service. If you use more than one checklist template, save it as a single PDF.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

If conducting research with animals overseas does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit 1,500

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 equipment that will cost more than £10,000
  • 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’

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
  • the appropriateness of requested working allowance and contingency.
  • the appropriateness of facilities and infrastructure costs

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 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.

Add the following project partner details:

  • the organisation name and address (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.

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

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’. Each letter or email you provide should:

  • 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
  • have a page limit of two sides A4 per partner

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in 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.

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 1,500

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 that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.

Facilities

Word limit: 1,500

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, 38KB)
  • 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.

Trusted Research and Innovation

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 Trusted Research and Innovation, including:

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

We may contact you following submission of your application 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.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Assessing statements of interest (SoIs)

The appropriate programme manager will review your SoI to ensure that the data required for its consideration is complete. They will then pass your SoI to the STFC Science Board for review.

You will receive feedback on your SoI from the office of the Executive Director of Programmes on behalf of Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). STFC aims to provide feedback within 20 working days.

Any STFC Science Board member with a personal conflict of interest will withdraw from the review process for the duration of the consideration of your proposal.

Peer review

We will invite Peers to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity.

You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers.

We are monitoring the requirement for applicant-nominated reviewers as we review policies and processes as part of the continued development of the new Funding Service.

Panel

Following peer review, we will invite experts to use the evidence provided by reviewers and your applicant response to assess the quality of your application and make a funding recommendation.

Project management and delivery review

Each proposal is also subject to a project management and delivery review. This is undertaken by a relevant project management expert, who will be given access to the proposal through the peer review extranet.

The default approach is for this review to be undertaken by an appropriate member of PPRP. Where this is not possible, alternative reviewers will be sourced who will conduct the review under the same protocols as PPRP members (agreement to these protocols will be sought prior to the review being conducted).

The review will be sent to applicants through Office Message Encryption (OME) by the PPRP secretariat around two weeks before the panel for the applicants to provide a response.

This response should be returned by OME within five working days of receipt.

In order to assist PPRP with its deliberations, the project management reviewer (whether or not a PPRP member) will attend the meeting to raise questions on the project management aspects of the proposal.

You are asked to engage positively with these questions, which form a key part of PPRP’s consideration of proposals.

Preliminary assessment of the proposal and resource work packages will be made by STFC staff. You will be contacted directly if there are any areas of the proposal that require more detail or rework in advance of the PPRP meeting.

PPRP meeting

The PPRP meeting takes place to assess the proposal and question the applicant. The meeting consists of open sessions, where you will give a presentation and members of the public can attend, and closed sessions.

In its assessment of proposals, the panel will look at each category referred to within the ‘Vision and Approach’ document as well as the sections on ‘Governance’, ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’, ‘Resources and cost justification’ and ‘Ethics’ to ensure all requirements are met. The panel also assess the reviews from external reviewers, the project management and delivery review along with the applicants response to them. Applicants are given the opportunity to present during the PPRP meeting, followed by question and answer sessions.

If undergoing the non-light touch process (see the ‘Light touch process’ section below), feedback questions from the meeting are sent to the applicants to respond to ahead of the visiting panel. This includes requests for descopes (see the ‘Descopes’ section below).

These responses are assessed at the visiting panel meeting.

Visiting panel meeting

The visiting panel meeting carries out a detailed assessment of the proposal. The meeting consists of panel experts and members of PPRP (a subset of those who attended the full meeting).

The final recommendation usually takes place at the end of this meeting during a closed session.

PPRP report

A report from the visiting panel is written by the PPRP secretary in conjunction with the STFC programmes directorate and agreed and finalised by the visiting panel chair.

The report presents the visiting panel’s findings and is submitted to the next STFC Science Board meeting.

STFC Science Board meeting

At the STFC Science Board meeting, the meeting chair presents PPRP’s recommendations. The Science Board provides strategic advice and recommendations on the proposal, which are shared with the executive board and council.

Outcome of the proposal

Following the Science Board’s recommendations, the STFC executive will make a funding decision on the proposal and will inform the applicant and research organisation of STFC’s decision.

This will include any relevant information from the Science Board’s consideration of the proposal. On average, a successful proposal will take six to nine months to go through the process (excluding the grant being awarded).

Informing PPRP

PPRP will be informed of the recommendations made by the Science Board (and the actual funding decisions made by the STFC executive) at the next PPRP meeting.

Light touch process

PPRP has a light touch process which skips the visiting panel, with all recommendations reached within the PPRP meeting.

Where this process is utilised, you will be asked by the PPRP secretariat to respond to clarification questions generated by the PPRP assessor and panel experts ahead of the meeting. You may also be asked about additional descope scenarios.

Questions will be sent by and should be responded to through OME. This is in addition to the postal peer review comments and project management and delivery review in the full process.

Applicants who are subject to this process will be informed by the relevant programme manager.

Descopes

As an essential test of value for money, it is a key part of the PPRP process to request ‘descope’ (reduction) scenarios for all proposals.

Such scenarios are requested whether or not there is sufficient budget to fund the proposal in full and are in addition to any reductions in scope made prior to PPRP (such as in the consideration of the statement of interest).

You are requested to fully engage with this process in preparing credible scenarios for the cuts requested. Artificially inflating the grant or not engaging with these requests seriously runs the risk of the panel recommending cuts not in your control.

STFC will make the final funding decision.

Timescale

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

Feedback

If your application was discussed by a panel, we will give feedback 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.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

  • vision
  • approach
  • project management
  • applicant and team capability
  • ethics and responsible research and innovation
  • resources and cost justification

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Contact details

Get help with your application

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

IMPORTANT NOTE: 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 or content/remit of an 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 proposal 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 Malcolm Booy malcolm.booy@stfc.ukri.org or Roy Stephen roy.stephen@stfc.ukri.org

Programme managers:

Astronomy: Chris Woolford
Email: chris.woolford@stfc.ukri.org

Accelerators and digital research infrastructure: David Brown
Email: david.brown@stfc.ukri.org

Nuclear physics: Dr Jamie Parkin
Email: jamie.parkin@stfc.ukri.org

Particle physics: Karen Clifford
Email: karen.clifford@stfc.ukri.org

STFC Science Board: Laura Woodward
Email: laura.woodward@stfc.ukri.org

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 quicker, 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

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email grantspolicy@stfc.ac.uk

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

  • individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
  • declaration of interest
  • additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
  • conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
  • the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Background

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment, to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Additional disability and accessibility adjustments

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

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

  • breaks and delays
  • disruptive working patterns and conditions
  • the loss of ongoing work
  • role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

This is the website for UKRI: our seven research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Let us know if you have feedback or would like to help improve our online products and services.