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 Research Capital Investment Fund (RCIF) 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.
RCIF consists of two elements, each with its own budget:
- Higher Education Institution (HEI) Research Capital England
- Higher Education Research Capital (HERC) England
Eligibility
Refer to the Research England terms and conditions for general eligibility conditions for our funding.
To be eligible for RCIF, HEPs must also meet the following criteria:
- have submitted to the most recent REF exercise
- have received any income above zero from relevant sources (see “Data used” section)
Data used - HEI Research Capital England
The two most recent years of data from the following sources are used to inform the HEI Research Capital England allocations.
Research England funding allocations
- Mainstream QR (including London weighting)
- QR research degree programme funding
- QR business research element
- QR charity support fund
Office for Students (OfS) Annual Financial Return (AFR)
Table 5
Total research grants and contracts, and co-investment from external sources – the following:
- Total research grants and contracts – UK-based charities (open competitive process)
- Co-investment from external sources – UK-based charities (open competitive process)
- Total research grants and contracts – UK-based charities (other)
- Co-investment from external sources – UK-based charities (other)
- Total research grants and contracts – UK central government bodies/local authorities, health and hospital authorities
- Co-investment from external sources – UK central government bodies/local authorities, health and hospital authorities
- Total research grants and contracts – UK industry, commerce and public corporations
- Co-investment from external sources – UK industry, commerce and public corporations
- Total research grants and contracts – EU government bodies
- Co-investment from external sources – EU government bodies
- Total research grants and contracts – EU-based charities (open competitive process)
- Co-investment from external sources – EU-based charities (open competitive process)
- Total research grants and contracts – EU industry, commerce and public corporations
- Co-investment from external sources – EU industry, commerce and public corporations
- Total research grants and contracts – EU (other)
- Co-investment from external sources – EU (other)
- Total research grants and contracts – Income from the Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Co-investment from external sources – Income from the Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh
Data used - HERC England
The three most recent years of data from the following sources are used to inform the HERC England allocations.
OfS (AFR)
Table 5
- Total research grants and contracts; Total research income from Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Research Councils, The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh excluding income from The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Co-investment from external sources; Total research income from Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Research Councils, The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh excluding income from The Royal Society, British Academy and The Royal Society of Edinburgh
Calculation method
Step 1
For each year of data used, the eligible income from the OfS AFR is calculated by summing the total research grants and contracts minus the co-investment from other sources.
Step 2
For the HEI Research Capital England fund, an average over the two years of eligible, available AFR data and QR funding data is taken for each HEP. If the most recent AFR data corresponding to the HEI Research Capital England component is missing for a HEP, the two most recent years of available data for that HEP is used. For example, for 2023 to 2024 funding, we would typically use AFR 2022 and AFR 2021 values, however, if AFR 2022 was missing, this was replaced with AFR 2020 data so that the algorithm used AFR 2021 and AFR 2020 data.
For the HERC England fund, an average over the three years of eligible AFR data is taken for each HEP. If the most recent AFR data is missing for a HEP, the average is taken over two years instead of three.
Step 3
The HEI Research Capital England and HERC England budgets are distributed in proportion to the respective averages calculated in step 3 for each HEP.
Step 4
The total RCIF allocation for each HEP is calculated by summing the HEI Research Capital England and HERC England allocations for that HEP.
Step 5
The threshold allocation constraint is applied, HEPs below the threshold receive an allocation of £0. The surplus HEI Research Capital England and HERC England allocations are redistributed according to step 4, and the total RCIF allocation calculated according to step 5.
Summary of constraints
RCIF allocations have an allocation threshold of £10,000.