Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: UKRI policy internships 2026

Opportunity status:: Open
Funders:: UK Research and Innovation, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Medical Research Council (MRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Funding type:: Other
Publication date:: 2 June 2026
Opening date:: 2 June 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date:: 8 September 2026 4:00pm UK time

An opportunity for UKRI-funded doctoral students to undertake a three-month internship at one of a selected group of influential policy organisations, as part of the existing doctoral studentship.

This opportunity is only open to existing doctoral students funded by the research councils of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC and STFC).

The funding details will depend on the student’s research council, and which host partner is chosen. Some research councils provide additional funding to cover internships costs while students of other research councils should access funds from their existing training grant.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

This opportunity enables existing UKRI-funded doctoral students to apply for a three-month internship with one of 16 host partners. Details of each host partner and the associated internships offered can be found in the ‘What we are looking for’ section of this guidance and the associated ‘Host Partner Information’ document.

You can apply to only one host partner but are invited to note a second choice within the UKRI Funding Service application. You may be contacted by your second-choice host partner should additional opportunities become available.

Who is eligible to apply

This scheme is only open to doctoral students funded by the research councils of UKRI (AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC and STFC). Students funded through UKRI Centres for Doctoral Training in Artificial Intelligence may also apply and should follow the eligibility criteria and funding details for EPSRC grants. You should contact the training grant administrator at your research organisation (university or institute) with any queries relating to your funding status.

Most host partners accept applications from students funded by all research councils. Some host partners only accept applications from students funded by certain research councils; where this is the case, this is stated within the ‘Host Partner Information’ document.

Students funded by STFC are eligible to apply to the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (POST) and the Government Office for Science only.

Where a host partner stipulates that internships are for students with particular research interests, you should consider how you can best evidence how your interests, research and experience are aligned with the internship.

Internships last for three months and are expected to take place within the 2027 calendar year, with the earliest starting in January 2027. The timing of the internship should be agreed with the host partner, the student’s supervisor and the student’s research organisation once the application outcome has been communicated.

All internships must start before the end of a student’s funded period of study, as well as fulfilling any research council-specific criteria. Successful applicants are not permitted to delay the start date of their policy internship so that it begins following the end of their doctoral funded period.

Applications from part-time registered students are welcomed. If successful, part-time students who are eligible for studentship extensions (see ‘Funding available’ in the ‘What we are looking for’ section of this guidance) will have these applied on a part-time basis.

Students who are studying on a student visa must check the stipulations of their visa for their eligibility to undertake a studentship placement, particularly where this requires a change in study location, an extension to the studentship period or both. UKRI consider policy internship placements to be integral to the studentship; however, international students must contact the relevant staff at their research organisation for confirmation.

Students must meet any security, and nationality checks as required by the host partner, including but not limited to: security checks, background checks, requirements for security clearance and declaration of interest. See the ‘Host Partner Information’ document for details.

All host partners are strictly non-partisan. You will be required to abstain from any party political or lobbying activity and to uphold the principles of parliamentary and public service.

Who is not eligible to apply

Those ineligible to apply are:

students who are not funded at least 50% by a UKRI doctoral studentship. If you are unsure regarding the source of your funding, contact your research organisation
students who are not currently undertaking doctoral-level study in the UK
undergraduate or masters level students
applicants who have previously undertaken or are currently undertaking a UKRI policy internship

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all 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.

Aim

Research can make a vital contribution to public policy in a range of areas. Policy making is carried out across a wide range of organisations, including government departments, civil society, groups within parliament and devolved administrations, as well as other public bodies and learned societies.

The UKRI Policy Internships scheme provides an opportunity for doctoral students funded by the research councils of UKRI to gain training and experience for three months in one of a selected group of highly impactful organisations relevant to UK policy.

The aim of the scheme is to embed students in a policy making environment so that they can develop the skills and experiences needed to make academic research accessible to policy makers. Through these internships, students will produce at least one briefing paper, participate in a policy inquiry or organise a policy event, or equivalent, or both.

Interns will gain training and experience related to how research can inform policymaking. The internship is undertaken as part of the existing doctoral studentship.

Scope

Internships are available with 16 host partners:

Cabinet Office
Department for Education
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Work and Pensions
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
Government Office for Science
Home Office
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
Ministry of Justice
Northern Ireland Assembly
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe)
Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament
UK Health Security Agency

Further information about each of the host partners and the internships offered by each is available in the ‘Host Partner Information’ document.

UKRI is keen to encourage applicants from all over the UK and encourage host partners to permit internships to be undertaken remotely or in a hybrid way, where possible. Details of any location requirements for each host partner are detailed in the ‘Host Partner Information’ document. For successful applicants not within reasonable travelling distance of the host partner, funding is available to cover travel and accommodation costs. Accommodation costs may only be claimed by students for whom it is necessary to relocate to undertake the internship.

Duration

The typical duration of an internship is three months at one FTE. Part-time internships are available for part-time registered students. If successful, part-time students who are eligible for studentship extensions (see ‘Funding available’ in the ‘What we are looking for’ section of this guidance) will have these applied on a part-time basis.

You will be asked to state the start date and duration of the internship. The start date should be indicative of your preferred start date but, if successful, this will need to be discussed and agreed with the host partner, and it may need to change to suit both parties. The duration should always be three months or pro rata if you are a part-time registered student.

Internships are expected to take place within the 2027 calendar year, with the earliest starting in January 2027.

Following confirmation of award, the host partner will agree a start date with the applicant, the applicant’s supervisory team and the applicant’s research organisation.

At the end of the internship, the applicant will be required to complete a feedback form describing the outcomes achieved during their three-month internship.

Funding available

Internships are financially supported by the research councils and host partners. The funding details will depend on the student’s research council and which host partner is chosen. Some research councils provide additional funding to cover internships costs while students of other research councils should access funds from their training grant (Doctoral Training Partnership, Centre for Doctoral Training, Doctoral Training Centre and so on). Full details are included in the ‘Funding details applicable to all’ and the ‘Funding details by research council’ sections below.

Submission of the Funding Service application must include a supporting statement, written by the training grant holder at your research organisation, that includes evidence that:

the lead supervisor (name and title to be stated) gives their permission for the applicant to undertake a three-month policy internship, with the internship supported as described within this guidance
the training grant holder (name, title, and title of training grant to be stated) gives their permission for the applicant to undertake a three-month policy internship, with the internship supported and funded as described within this guidance, noting this may have implications for the existing training grant

Funding details applicable to all

The following applies to all applicants:

the stipend (where eligible) and fees must continue to be paid by research organisations throughout the three-month internship period (pro rata for part-time applicants)
most host partners provide a co-funding contribution to meet eligible travel and accommodation costs, including attending interview, arising from the internship up to a maximum limit of £3,594. Accommodation costs can only be claimed by students for whom it is necessary to relocate to undertake the internship
the Parliamentary hosts (Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (POST), the Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service (RaISe), Senedd Research and Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) do not have a co-funding agreement in place. Therefore, eligible travel and accommodation costs up to a maximum limit of £3,594 should be claimed from other sources, such as the training grant (see ‘Funding details by research council’ for details)
all expense costs must be in line with those set out in the UKRI Travel and Subsistence Policy. Research organisations and host partners must ensure timely reimbursement of eligible expenses
all computing, email and other facilities necessary to complete the policy internship will be provided by the host partner
students who currently receive a London allowance stipend will continue to receive this supplement for the duration of the internship, regardless of the host partner location
students who do not currently receive a London allowance stipend, will not qualify for this, regardless of the host partner location. Additional costs arising from undertaking an internship within London are to be met through the internship travel and accommodation allowance

Funding details by research council

AHRC funding details

Stipend and fees

Your research organisation will continue to pay your stipend and fees, and your studentship will be extended. In line with AHRC’s training grant funding guide, when the AHRC funding continues during an internship or placement, the submission due date should not be changed. The only exception is if, at the time of the extension, the submission due date is the same as the end date of the funding period. In this case, the submission due date will need to be moved to ensure the due date is not before the funding end date. Please refer to section 3.2.2. in the AHRC training grant funding guide for further detail.

Your stipend and fees should be supported from the existing training grant award. If the training grant award holder has any questions, they should contact AHRC for advice.

Travel and accommodation

The process for claiming eligible travel and accommodation costs varies depending on your host partner:

For students hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, Senedd Research, Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, travel and accommodation expenses up to a maximum of £3,594 should be claimed from other sources, such as your training grant. If successful, it is important to agree with your research organisation’s finance office the best way to cover these costs in the short-term prior to your internship. Please contact your training grant nominated contact to discuss.

For students hosted by other organisations, travel and accommodation costs will be supported by the host partner up to a maximum of £3,594. If successful, you should contact your host partner and Research Organisation regarding the procedure for claiming these expenses.

BBSRC funding details

Stipend and fees

Typically, your research organisation will continue to pay your stipend and fees, and your studentship time will not be extended to account for your internship. Please see the section on “Placements” in the UKRI training grant guidance.

BBSRC students may use their policy internship as their PIPS. BBSRC CASE students may undertake a policy internship in addition to any placement with their industry partner, where this is explicitly supported by the student’s supervisory team, their programme management team and CASE partner.

Travel and accommodation

The process for claiming eligible travel and accommodation costs varies depending on your host partner:

For students hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, Senedd Research, Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, travel and accommodation expenses up to a maximum of £3,594 should be claimed from other sources, such as the training grant. Any shortfall in funding will need to be met by the cash limit of the training grant.

For students hosted by other organisations, travel and accommodation costs will be supported by the host partner up to a maximum of £3,594. If successful, you should contact your host partner and research organisation regarding the procedure for claiming these expenses.

ESRC funding details

Stipend and fees

Your research organisation will continue to pay your stipend and fees for the duration of the placement. For studentships starting from October 2024, where the duration of award already includes time for a Research in Practice placement, your studentship will not be extended. For studentships allocated prior to 2023, or where the duration did not initially include a placement, you may be able to apply for an extension to your funding. Please contact your Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) or Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) to discuss this further.

The required costs to support stipend and fees should be accessed through your ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) or ESRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT).

Travel and accommodation

The process for claiming eligible travel and accommodation costs varies depending on your host partner:

For students hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, Senedd Research, Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, travel and accommodation expenses up to a maximum of £3,594 should be claimed from other sources, such as your DTP. If successful, it is important to agree with your research organisation’s finance office the best way to cover these costs in the short-term prior to your internship. Please contact your DTP nominated contact to discuss.

EPSRC funding details

Stipend and fees

Your research organisation will continue to pay your stipend and fees, and your studentship will be extended.

These costs must be met from the research organisation’s existing doctoral training grant.

Travel and accommodation

The process for claiming eligible travel and accommodation costs varies depending on your host partner:

For students hosted by other organisations, travel and accommodation costs will be supported by the host partner up to a maximum of £3,594. If successful, you should contact your host partner and research organisation regarding the procedure for claiming these expenses.

MRC funding details

Stipend and fees

Your research organisation will continue to pay your stipend and fees, and your studentship will be extended.

The required costs to support stipend and fees can be accessed through the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) Flexible Supplement. No further supplements will be provided by MRC to support successful internships.

Travel and accommodation

The process for claiming eligible travel and accommodation costs varies depending on your host partner:

For students hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, Senedd Research, Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, the required costs to support travel and accommodation expenses up to a maximum of £3,594 can be accessed through the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) Flexible Supplement. No further supplements will be provided by MRC to support successful internships. You should liaise with your research organisation on how to claim necessary expenses for this internship.

For students hosted by other organisations, travel and accommodation costs will be supported by the host partner up to a maximum of £3,594. If successful, you should contact your host partner and research organisation regarding the procedure for claiming these expenses.

NERC funding details

Stipend and fees

Your research organisation will continue to pay your stipend and fees, and your studentship will be extended.

For students funded through training grants that started before 2019 or research grant associated studentships, students must complete an expense claim form for the stipend and fees incurred during the internship period. NERC will then reimburse the research organisation for these costs after the internship. For students funded through training grants that started in 2019 or after, these costs must be met from the existing training grant.

Travel and accommodation

The process for claiming eligible travel and accommodation costs varies depending on your host partner:

For students hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, Senedd Research, Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, travel and accommodation expenses up to a maximum of £3,594 should be claimed in the first instance from your research organisation. For students funded through training grants that started before 2019 or research grant associated studentships, these costs should be included on your expenses claim form, NERC will then reimburse the research organisation. For students funded through training grants that started in 2019 or after, these costs must be met from the existing training grant.

For students hosted by other organisations, travel and accommodation costs will be supported by the host partner up to a maximum of £3,594. If successful, you should contact your host partner and research organisation regarding the procedure for claiming these expenses.

STFC funding details

Stipend and fees

Your research organisation will continue to pay your stipend and fees, and your studentship will be extended.

STFC will transfer funds to your research organisation to cover an additional quarter payment for your stipend and fees.

Travel and accommodation

The process for claiming eligible travel and accommodation costs varies depending on your host partner:

For students hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, travel and accommodation expenses up to a maximum of £3,594 will be paid upfront by STFC to your research organisation.

For students hosted by the Government Office for Science (GO-Science), travel and accommodation costs will be supported by the host partner up to a maximum of £3,594. If successful, you should contact GO-Science and your Research Organisation regarding the procedure for claiming these expenses.

When reconciling costs, the research organisation should put all costs related to the Policy Internships scheme under the heading ‘Other costs’.

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.

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.

The student applying for the internship will need to select the role of ‘project lead’ on the Funding Service and is responsible for completing the application process.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI. You should ensure that you are recorded on the UKRI Student Data Portal prior to submission of the application. See more Information relating to the UKRI Student Data Portal.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

Confirm you are the project lead; this is the student applying for the internship.
Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.
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.

Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must:

provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
insert each new image on a new line
use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:

sentences or paragraphs of text
tables
excessive quantities of images

A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

References

References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:

references are easily identifiable by the assessors
references are formatted as appropriate to your research
persistent identifiers are used where possible

General use of hyperlinks

Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI)

Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.

Deadline

UKRI must receive your application by 8 September 2026 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 this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Personal data

Processing personal data

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.

UKRI will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with the host partner that you have applied to so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how each of the host partners use personal information, please see the Host partner information document (PDF, 363KB).

The Parliamentary host partners (the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (POST), the Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service (RaISe), Senedd Research and Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe)) will undertake a joint assessment process with the host partner finalised during the interview process. As such, UKRI will need to share applications to any of the Parliamentary host partners, and any personal information that it contains, with all of the Parliamentary host partners so that they can participate in the assessment process.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email policyinternships@ukri.org

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

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

Summary

Word limit: 550

Please enter N/A in this section.

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

project lead (PL)

Only list one individual as project lead. This should be the student applying to undertake the placement. You cannot submit an application on behalf of another individual.

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

UKRI Studentship reference number

Word limit: 250

Please state your UKRI studentship reference number (UKRI SRN)

What the assessors are looking for in your response

The reference is included on the email correspondence received by you when your research office created your studentship record in the Student Data Portal. You can find more information relating to this by either contacting your Research Officer, or on the Studentship Data Project page.

The information provided will be looked at by the funder for eligibility purposes.

Research council

Word limit: 50

Please state the acronym of the research council that funds your UKRI studentship

What the assessors are looking for in your response

For example, AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC. Students funded through UKRI Centres of Doctoral Training in Artificial Intelligence should state ‘EPSRC’.
The information provided will be looked at by the funder for eligibility purposes.

Mode of study

Word limit: 100

Please state your mode of study (full or part-time). If you study part time, please also provide the FTE (full time equivalent) of your studentship, for example, part time 0.6 FTE.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

The information provided will be looked at by the funder for eligibility purposes.

Internship preferences: first choice

Word limit: 250

What is your first choice of host partner?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Please state your:

first choice of host partner, aligned to the host partners listed in the ‘Scope’ section.

The information provided will be looked at by the funder for eligibility purposes.

Internship preferences: first choice – preferred opportunity

Word limit: 250

What is your preferred opportunity at your first choice host partner, if multiple are offered

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If your preferred host partner has listed multiple opportunities that are available in the ‘Host Partner Information’ document, please state your preferred choice(s) in priority order here.

If not successful in obtaining your first choice of host partner, there may be an opportunity to be considered for an alternative host partner advertised within the Policy Internships scheme if places remain unfilled.

The information provided will be looked at by the funder for eligibility purposes.

Internship preferences: second choice

Word limit: 250

What is your second choice of host partner?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Please state your second choice of host partner, aligned to the host partners listed in the ‘Scope’ section.

The information provided will be looked at by the funder for eligibility purposes.

Internship preferences: second choice – preferred opportunity

Word limit: 250

What is your preferred opportunity at your second choice host partner, if multiple are offered

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If your preferred host partner has listed multiple opportunities that are available in the ‘Host Partner Information’ document, please state your preferred choice(s) in priority order here.

The information provided will be looked at by the funder for eligibility purposes.

Applicant capability to deliver – doctoral project

Word limit: 250

Provide the title and write a summary of your doctoral project. This should be suitable for a non-specialist audience.

Applicant capability to deliver

Word limit: 1250

Why are you the right individual to undertake a policy internship?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

You should provide the following information using bullet or numbered points:

education and employment history for the last three years
any relevant work experience

You should provide a narrative response to the following:

the skills you can bring to this internship
achievements to date relevant to undertaking this internship

You should also provide evidence of a track-record of skills and experience relevant to the policy internship opportunity.

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 response (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Career development

Word limit: 1,000

Why is this policy internship the right way to develop your career?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of:

your understanding of a policy internship
your motivation for applying for a policy internship
your motivation of applying to your chosen host partner
the skills and experience you hope to gain from this internship

Host organisation support

Word limit: 1,000

How will the research organisation (responsible for the grant that funds your studentship) support and ensure appropriate funding for your internship?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Ensure the training grant holder (at the host organisation) provides you with a supporting statement (which they have written), that includes evidence that:

the lead supervisor (name and role title to be stated) gives their permission for the applicant to undertake a three-month policy internship, with the internship supported as described within the opportunity guidance
the training grant holder (name and role title to be stated) gives their permission for the applicant to undertake a three-month policy internship, with the internship supported and funded as described within the opportunity guidance, noting this may have implications for the existing training grant

The statement of support provided by your training grant holder should be copied and pasted into the text box. You cannot upload the statement of support to this section.

Summary policy briefing

Word limit: 1,000

Write a summary policy briefing. The policy briefing should not be directly related to the your doctoral research topic but should be relevant to current issues, legislation or government policy.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate the ability to:

offer timely insight on a topic that matters in the current policy landscape and for your chosen host
write an evidence-based and balanced argument, drawing from appropriate information sources
write accessibly and concisely for a policymaking audience
write an unbiased, non-partisan piece

You are also expected to provide evidence of sufficient research content, including appraisal of the current literature.

The policy briefing is not intended to be as long or exhaustive as an actual policy briefing, but you should use the word limit to demonstrate your ability to write in a style suitable for a policymaking (rather than academic) audience and organise the content accordingly.

A POSTnotes is one example format of a policy briefing that you could choose to follow.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

Trusted Research and Innovation is the protection of the UK’s intellectual property, sensitive research, people, and infrastructure from potential theft, misuse, and exploitation.

Organisations receiving UKRI funding are obliged to act in line with UK government legislation. They are also expected to undertake appropriate due diligence assessments of organisations involved in research partnerships, collaboration agreements, and commercial contracts.

You will be asked about:

which areas of the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act your project relates to
who you intend to collaborate with and how
if your project requires an export control licence

Your answers may affect the T&Cs of your funding agreement if you are successful. We may use your answers to determine that our current T&Cs are sufficient or if additional T&Cs are required.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

Your application will be assessed using the following process.

Review and shortlisting

Your application will be reviewed for eligibility by UKRI and then, if eligibility checks are met, you application will be shared with and assessed by representatives of the host partner you have applied to.

Host partners, and not UKRI, will notify individual candidates who are unsuccessful at the written application stage. This is expected to be by the end of October 2026 but may differ per host partner. Please note that not all host partners are able to provide feedback at this stage.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview by representatives of the host partner. This is expected to be by the end of October 2026 but may differ per host partner. Some host partners may not require an interview stage.

Interview

All interviews and related processes are under the direction of the host partner and not UKRI. Interviews are expected to take place in the second half of October 2026 or in November 2026 but this may differ per host partner. Interviews will take place at a location decided by the host partner, which may include a remote option. Interview panels will consist of representatives chosen by the host partner.

The host partner will make the final decisions on the internships offered and will inform all applicants of their interview outcomes.

Please note that not all host partners are able to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications or interview outcomes.

Sharing data with co-funders

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

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

Applicant capability to deliver – doctoral project
Applicant capability to deliver
Career development
Summary policy briefing

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.

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 and doctoral training programme management team in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact policyinternships@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 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.

Additional info

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.

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.

Supporting documents

Host partner information document (PDF, 351KB)

Timeline

2 June 2026 9:00am: Opening date
8 September 2026 4:00pm: Closing date
October 2026: Shortlisting by host partners
October to November 2026: Interviews by host partners
November to December 2026: Outcomes communicated
From January 2027: Internships commence