We are running this funding opportunity on the new UKRI Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
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.
If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation, check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
The funding requested on your application under Costings should be the costs being sought from MRC, inclusive of VAT if applicable and net of any discounts and contributions from elsewhere (value in Column F of the Cost Summary table (see ‘Supporting documents’ in the ‘Additional information’ section)). Costs should be requested at 100% full economic cost.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You must:
- 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, so must not be included in the image)
- 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 new 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. Applicants should use their 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
We must receive your application by 17 December 2024 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
MRC, 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
MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at board and panel outcomes.
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 equipment addresses and how it will be applied to this
- 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)
- project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
- specialist
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead. If you include more than one project lead your application will fail at the checking stage.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Purpose
Word limit: 1,000
What is the equipment, why is it needed, and why should UKRI support it?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how the proposed equipment:
- is timely, given current trends and context
- delivers an unmet need
- meets national needs by establishing or maintaining a unique or world leading activity or both
- meets community demand and need from a diverse and inclusive user base
- enhances and complements existing research capability at a local, regional, or national scale
- meet the strategic aims of UKRI or Government
- align with MRC strategy, as outlined as in the scientific areas of our website and MRC’s strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025
Describe alternative plans for how the research would be achieved should the equipment not be funded. The plans should reflect:
- host organisation strategies for this equipment
- host organisation commitment to the equipment landscape
- a summary of existing facilities beyond the host organisation, including identification of similar instruments overseas or in industry, outlining reasons why they cannot be utilised for the intended research
Guidance
Your response should ensure that you demonstrate an awareness of what other options you have for carrying out your research, their availability and wider usage and outline why they cannot be used (for example, due to being at capacity). Please ensure that you copy and paste the Equipment classification table into this section of your application, see Supporting documents in the Additional information section.
Vision
Word limit: 2,475
What are you hoping to achieve with the proposed equipment?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how the proposed equipment will:
- enable high quality, novel or transformative research
- offer training opportunities for the wider community
- if applicable, have measurable impact beyond the immediate team, including world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment
- has the potential to advance current understanding, generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
- is relevant to identified stakeholders, including users
Guidance
You should also provide a detailed plan of research which includes a description of the projects that will be supported by the equipment with sufficient experimental detail to allow the panel to assess the quality of the research, including preliminary results where possible.
Applications that only outline the groups that will use the equipment are unlikely to be successful without presenting specific detailed projects.
Ensure that you engage the academic leads for the proposed research in putting together your application.
We recommend that you use up to 250 words for figure legends for presentation of your preliminary results, if appropriate.
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Approach
Word limit: 2,200
What are your plans to manage the proposed equipment?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
We expect you to show how your approach:
- is feasible, identifying any risks to delivery and citing appropriate mitigation
- provides details of access and usage estimates particularly where a culture of equipment sharing may extend use to external users
- provides long-term technical support which will be available for the requested equipment
- provides training and development of technical staff
- describes how the research environment (in terms of the place, its location, complementary expertise, facilities and relevance to the proposal) will contribute to the successful utilisation of the equipment
Complete and paste the Timeline and Usage tables (see ‘Supporting documents’ in the ‘Additional information’ section) into the text box. These should be pasted in separately.
Guidance
You should also provide a plan for prioritising access to and maximising usage of the infrastructure. This should include any application and assessment processes and an estimate for the balance of users from the host institution, academics from external institutions and industrial users
You should ensure that you consider this section, as your approach to managing the equipment will be a key consideration in the assessment of your application. You should give due consideration to the technical support that we will be in place to support the equipment and engage technical staff in putting together the application.
When outlining the usage for your application, you should ensure that your figures are realistic and based on user demand. The usage figures should be based on this specific equipment and specification and not broader use of the facility. Ensure that you have sufficient users that need the specifications of the requested machine.
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Sustainability
Word limit: 500
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
- will address the priority areas and objectives set out in the UKRI environmental sustainability strategy
Within the Sustainability section we also expect you to explain:
- how long-term operational and maintenance costs including staffing will be supported and provide an appropriate cost recovery model
- how the proposed asset will be integrated into an existing UKRI service, facility, equipment pool, or similar
- how the proposed asset is complementary to UKRI or host institute carbon reduction targets
- 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 research community
Guidance
The equipment requested will hopefully run for many years. This will have cost implications for regular maintenance and consumables. Show you understand the cost implications of having the equipment and have put in place good practice to manage it.
Environmental sustainability will be one of the assessment criteria and applicants must show that they have provided due consideration to a move towards lower impact solutions and that the choice of equipment and the proposed management plans will aim to minimize the environmental impact of the equipment. You should ensure that your plan addresses the specific considerations for this equipment and not just the broader environmental strategy of the facility or department.
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word limit: 2,200
Why are you the right individual or team to procure and manage the proposed equipment?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
- the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage)
- the right balance of skills and expertise
- the appropriate leadership and management skills and your approach to develop others
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
Provide evidence of why your host organisation:
- is the most appropriate place for the proposed equipment
- will use its existing inventory to best complement the proposed infrastructure
The word count for this section is 2,200 words: 1,700 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
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.
Your organisation’s support
Word limit: 500
Provide details of support from your research organisation.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a Statement of Support from your research organisation detailing why the proposed work is needed. This should include details of any matched funding that will be provided to support the activity and any additional support that might add value to the work.
The committee will be looking for a strong statement of commitment from your research organisation.
You must also include the following details:
- a significant person’s name and their position
- office address or web link
Guidance
Host institution contributions can include contribution towards the equipment, its local environment, training, services costs and staff time to run and maintain the equipment.
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 third party 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.
Important note: If your application includes industry project partners, you will also need to complete the Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF) section. Find out more about ICF.
You must ensure that any third party individual or organisation you include within the Funding Service as a project partner, also provides you with a supporting email or letter of support (see next section ‘Project partners: letters or emails of support’).
The individual named as the project partner contact, cannot be included in your application as a member of the core team, in any core team role.
The project partner organisation cannot be an applicant organisation, where any member of the core team is based. For example, you cannot include a different department based within the applicant organisation as a project partner.
If an individual or organisation outside the core team is responsible for recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue for this project, list them as a project partner.
Add the following project partner details:
- the organisation name (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 there are specific circumstances where project partners do require funding for minor costs such as travel and subsistence, these project partner costs should be claimed and justified within the resources and costs section of your application.
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
Word limit: 10
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’.
What supporting statements we are looking for
Important note: We are only looking for you to provide project partner letters or emails of support from the following:
- a third party individual
- a third party organisation
This would generally be from industry partners. Third party means the individual and organisation must not be involved in the application core team. You must ensure that any project partners providing a supporting document, are also added to the ‘Project partners’ section within the Funding Service.
What supporting statements we are not looking for
We are not looking for you to provide any letters or emails of support from individuals or organisations included in your application core team (this includes other departments within the same organisation). Any individual or organisation included in your application with a core team role cannot also be a project partner. Letters from users of the equipment are not permitted except where they are from industry partners also providing a concrete contribution to the project.
Do not include any other statements or any other type of information we have not requested, including letter or emails of support from colleagues simply expressing supportive opinions. We only expect letters or emails of support from your third party project partners uploaded to this section.
If you include any information not requested by MRC, your application will be rejected.
Supporting letter and email guidance for third party project partners
Each project partner 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
- include the name of the project partner organisation and contact information (this should match the partner contact and organisation name details you must add to the ‘Project partners’ section)
- have a page limit of two sides of A4 per partner
Project partners letters and emails of support are not required to be on headed paper or include handwritten signatures (electronic signatures are acceptable from the nominated partner contact).
Industry or company project partner letter and email of support guidance
Industry or company project partners are required to complete the industry or company letter of support template by exploring the document download section of MRC Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF). This will ensure the letter or email they provide you, contains all the relevant information we need.
Project partner responsibility for the recruitment of people
If the project partner is responsible for the recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue their letter or email of support should include:
- agreement that the project partner will recruit the participants or provide tissue
- confirmation that what is being supplied is suitable for the proposed work
- confirmation that the quantity of tissue being supplied is suitable, but not excessive for achieving meaningful results (if applicable)
Multiple project partners
If you have multiple project partners, you should:
- ensure each separate partner letter or email of support, does not exceed two pages of A4
- consolidate all the supporting documents provided by each project partner into a single PDF file before uploading
- ensure the PDF does not exceed the maximum file size of 8MB
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.
Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)
Word limit: 1,500
Does your application include collaboration with industry or company project partners?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
The assessors are looking for you to confirm if your proposed work involves collaboration with an industry or company project partner. If it does, you will need to follow the MRC industry collaboration framework (ICF).
By ‘industry or company’ we mean an enterprise that puts or has intention to put goods or services on a market.
For guidance to assist your decision if your proposed work requires you to follow ICF, you should explore the ICF decision tree and find out more about ICF which includes:
- collaboration agreements
- definitions of basic or applied research
- internationally based companies
- subsidy control
- intellectual property (IP) arrangements
- fully flexible and gated contributions
- the ICF assessment criteria
Enter ‘Yes’ in the text box if you have industry or company project partners and you are likely to follow ICF. You should also confirm your answers to the ICF questions one to nine in the text box for each ICF project partner.
Contact ca@mrc.ukri.org if you are unsure if your application should follow ICF.
In addition to the project partner information completed in the previous section, the assessors are looking for information relating to the nature, goals and conditions of the collaboration and any restrictions or rights to the project results that could be claimed by the industry or company project partner.
Confirm your answers to the ICF questions in the text box, repeat this process for each ICF project partner:
- Name the industry or company project partner considered under ICF.
- Indicate whether your application is basic research or applied research.
- Explain why, in the absence of the requested UKRI funding, the collaboration and the planned research could not be undertaken.
- State whether your application is under the category of fully flexible contribution or gated contribution (based on the IP sharing arrangements with the industry or company).
- Outline the pre-existing IP (‘background IP’) that each partner, including the academic partner, will bring to the collaborative research project and the terms under which partners may access these assets.
- Outline the IP that is expected to be developed during the collaborative research project (‘foreground IP’) and briefly outline how it will be managed, including:
- who will own this IP
- what rights industry or company partners will have to use academically-generated foreground IP during and after the research project, for internal research and development or for commercial purposes
- any rights of the academic partner to commercialise the foreground IP, including foreground IP generated by industry or company partners
- Outline any restrictions to dissemination of the project results, including the rights of the industry or company partner to:
- review, approve or delay publications (including the time period associated with such rights)
- request or require the removal of any information
- Declare any conflicts of interest held by the applicants in relation to the industry or company project partners and describe how they will be managed.
- Justify collaborating with an overseas industry or company under ICF (if applicable).
Failure to provide the information requested for industry or company partners under ICF could result in your application being rejected.
You are recommended to discuss the goals and conditions of any collaboration with an industry or company with your technology transfer or contracts office before applying.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made. You must provide us with a copy of the collaboration agreement, signed by all partners, before an ICF award starts.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
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 which should clearly detail how you will comply with MRC’s published data management and sharing policies, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Provide your response in the text box following the headings in the MRC data management plan template. You are not required to upload the document to your application.
The length of your plan will vary depending on the type of study being undertaken:
- population cohorts; longitudinal studies; genetic, omics and imaging data; biobanks, and other collections that are potentially a rich resource for the wider research community: maximum of 1,500 words
- all other research, less complex, the plan may be as short as 500 words
Guidance
You should demonstrate you understand the data challenges the new equipment will present and how you will mitigate these. The Expert Panel includes data experts who will consider likely data requirements and you provide a plan based on realistic calculations of the data requirements.
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:
- list the countries your international project co-leads, project partners and visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in
- if international collaboration is involved, explain whether this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act
- if one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act are involved list the areas
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.
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word limit: 500
What the assessors are looking for in your response
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.
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
- the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
- how you will manage these considerations
Consider the MRC guidance on ethics and approvals.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Guidance
Consider the ethical considerations for the equipment and the research that will be carried out. You do not need to go into detail of the ethical implications of individual projects but please provide an overview across the proposed research and describe how the ethical considerations for research using the equipment and the data produced will be managed.
Resources and cost justification
Word limit: 1,250
Provide a detailed justification of the requested costs and resources for this application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
You should enter a single equipment cost that represents the total request from MRC. To calculate this, use the Cost Summary table (DOCX, 40KB). This should be inclusive of VAT if applicable and net of discounts and contributions from elsewhere (value in Column F of the Cost Summary table under Supplementary tables).
Costs should be requested at 100% full economic cost and added under Exceptions–Equipment rather than Directly Incurred–Equipment.
In the text box complete and paste in the Cost Summary table and provide:
- details and justification of the equipment and service/maintenance contract (if applicable)
- details of contributions from host organisations or other sources (not mandatory)
- reasons for choosing a quoted equipment (vs other quotes)
- reasons for requesting a particular equipment or manufacturer
Guidance
The figures in the Cost Summary table must match the requested funds requested from MRC (Value in row F). The value in row F should equal A + B + C – D – E.
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. However, obtain quotes from multiple suppliers where possible to inform your costs. We may ask successful applicants for quotes prior to award. The panel will expect you to exclude list prices where discounts are typically available. The panel will consider whether the equipment will be used at optimal capacity and capability. The proportion of proposed research under MRC remit will be considered and where a substantial proportion will be outside MRC remit, financial contributions from other sources are strongly encouraged.
Related applications
Word limit: 500
Is this application related to another application to MRC or other funding organisation?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If not enter N/A in the text box.
If yes, state your previous reference number and explain how this new application is related to the other application.
If the related application was submitted to another funder you should identify the name of the funder and when you applied.
If this is a resubmission describe how it differs from the previous application.
