Introduction
This technical guide is aimed at those in planning and finance offices who need to have a good understanding of how Research England’s Participatory Research Funding (PRF) grants are calculated.
For information about the strategic purpose of our funding refer to How we fund higher education providers (HEPs).
Common principles and definitions are provided in general notes for Research England technical guides.
Eligibility
Refer to the Research England terms and conditions for general eligibility conditions for our funding.
To be eligible for PRF, HEPs must also receive QR funding (see Data used for detail).
Data used
Allocations are made in proportion to the sum of the quality-related research (QR) allocations that a HEP receives in the same year. This includes:
- Mainstream QR (including London weighting)
- QR research degree programme supervision funding
- QR business research element
- QR charity support fund
- QR funding for national research libraries
Calculation method
Step 1
A volume measure is calculated for each HEP as the sum of QR allocations from the current funding year.
Step 2
The PRF budget is distributed in proportion to each HEP’s volume measure.
Step 3
The conditions specified in Summary of constraints are applied. Any surplus or deficit is redistributed, in proportion to each HEP’s volume measure.
Step 4
Step 3 is repeated until the PRF budget is distributed.
Summary of constraints
The following constraints apply to PRF allocations:
- a maximum allocation of £150,000
- a minimum allocation of £20,000 for providers with a total recurrent QR allocation over £25,000
- a minimum allocation of £5,000 for providers with a total recurrent QR allocation under £25,000