We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the UKRI 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:
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a UKRI 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 UKRI Funding Service.
You will be prompted to select the organisation you are applying with to host the award before you start your application. This is the research partners organisation. If you are not currently based at that organisation, ensure the research office are aware of your application.
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 UKRI Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
5. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Watch our research office webinars about the new UKRI Funding Service.
Deadline
We must receive your application on 16 November 2023 by 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 close of 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
As part of UKRI, we 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.
We will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how NIHR uses personal information, visit NIHR Privacy Notice.
Publication of outcomes
We 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 count: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so 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)
- project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
Only list one individual as project lead.
The research partners should be listed as project co-leads.
Find out more about UKRI’s new grant roles.
Vision and Approach
What are you hoping to achieve with and how will you deliver your proposed work?
Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than four sides of A4, single spaced in paper in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm and no bigger than 8MB. Save this document as a single PDF file. You may include images, graphs, tables. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.
You can have an additional page for your project plan, plus an optional additional page for reproducibility information. If additional pages are completed the maximum length of the document is six pages. If you do not want to provide additional information, or it is not relevant to your application, you must limit the length of your document accordingly and not use additional pages for anything other than the specified purpose.
For the file name, use the unique UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Vision and Approach’.
If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.
The UKRI Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
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 fields or areas
- 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
Within the Vision section we also expect you to:
- identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be
- identify potential improvements in human or population health, whether through contributing to relieving disease or disability burden, improving quality of life or providing benefit to the health service or health-related industry
- outline your plans for engagement, communication and dissemination about your research and its outcomes with the research community and, where appropriate, with potentially interested wider audiences
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
- uses a clear and transparent methodology, if applicable
- summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed, if applicable
- 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
Within the Approach section we also expect you to:
- demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work
- provide a project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or similar (additional one-page A4)
- explain how you will approach diversity and inclusion in the study population and follow the MRC embedding diversity in research design policy, if applicable. If you are not proposing to do this, justify why
- show how you will use both sexes in research involving animals and tissues and cells, if applicable. If you are not proposing to do this, justify why
You have the option to provide one page of additional information about reproducibility and how you will ensure reliability and robustness of your work, such as further details of statistical analyses, methodology and experimental design.
The reproducibility information should be a clearly identified page in your vision and approach document. We expect you to seek professional statistical or other relevant advice in preparing your response, which may include:
- experimental approach to address objectives
- sample and effect sizes
- planned statistical analyses
- models chosen (for example animal model, cell line)
Refer to the MRC guidance for applicants, section 2.2.3.5 ‘Reproducibility and statistical design’, for further information, examples and online tools.
If your proposed work involves animals, and you provide information on animal sample sizes and statistical analyses in the vision and approach document, you should not duplicate it in the ‘Research involving the use of animals’ section, specifically within the experimental design and statistical framework section of the template. Use the ‘Research involving the use of animals’ section to provide information on the rationale for using animals, choice of species, welfare and procedure severity.
Career progression
Word count: 700
Question: Why is the proposed work, the environment it will be conducted in, and the support provided by the host organisation the right way to develop career?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Ensure that you have identified:
- career progression goals appropriate to the funding opportunity
- necessary support to enable you to transition, change and grow to the next career stage and achieve your stated career progression goals
- how the proposed work will provide a feasible and appropriate trajectory for you to acquire additional skills, like leadership, communication and management skills
Within your response, we encourage you to articulate:
- how you will extend and develop your research skills and experience
- why this funding opportunity is the best way to support your current and future career aspirations (beyond the clinical academic research partnership (CARP) award)
There is no requirement to continue down a ‘traditional’ clinical academic research career following a CARP award, but the award should catalyse you to be more able to engage in research in the long term. This could be for example through continuing links with the research partner, negotiating a higher number of research programmed activities after the award, placing you into a more competitive position to win further research funding.
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word count: 1,500
Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
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) 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
The word count for this section is 1,500 words, 1,000 words to be used for R4RI modules 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.
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
Clinical activities and training
Word count: 500
Question: Explain your current clinical activities and training
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Download and complete the clinical activities and training template (DOCX 53.2KB), then copy and paste the information into the text box.
The template requires you to provide the following:
- your present appointment, including your job title, speciality, department, and organisation
- your professional registration number, including the name of body and registration number such as, HCPC/GMC 1234567
- your current NHS Band/Grade
- your current job plan or working pattern such as, % full time equivalent, number of clinical and research programmed activities or sessions
- your completion of training date
- your date of PhD or MD viva (month and year)
Research partner supporting statements
Word count: 1,500
Question: What support is being provided by the research partners?
What assessors are looking for in your response
A clear statement of commitment and support from the research partner to you and the project which includes:
- the name and role of the person providing the statement, the research partners must be included within the application as a project co-lead
- confirmation that they can provide you with a strong and stable environment in which to undertake the proposed project
- an explanation as to how your expertise fits with and will add to their wider interests and strategies and how they will integrate you into their research team
- details of the support they will provide to enable you to extend and develop your research skills and experience
- any support to be provided during or following the end of the award to support your aspirations for continued engagement with research
Added value of the partnership
Word count: 250
Question: What is the added value of your proposed collaboration to you and your research partner?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Within your response, explain the value of the partnership to you and your research partner.
Host organisation supporting statement
Word count: 1,000
Question: What support is being provided by the host research organisation?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
A clear statement of commitment and support from the host research organisation to you and the project, that includes:
- the name and role of the person providing the statement, who should be the head of department or other senior manager
- what the research organisation will provide to enable you to successfully undertake the project described
- any internal assessment process the application has gone through before submission
- any support to be provided during or following the end of the award to support your aspirations for continued engagement with research
Employer letter of support
Word count: 10
Question: Provide a letter of support from the NHS organisation (or equivalent, such as a local authority, care organisation, Public Health England) that employs you.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
You must provide a letter of support containing:
- confirmation that you will have protected research time and will therefore be released for the proportion of time funded by MRC and the NIHR
- clear and feasible plans for your time to be backfilled, especially for applicants from niche specialties where this will present challenges
- guarantee that you can re-enter the clinic full-time without any loss of career progression or status at the end of the award if you choose to do so
The letter should be written by someone with authority to make these commitments.
They may also wish to detail any support they will provide you during or following the end of the award which would support your aspirations for continued engagement with research.
The letter should not be more than two sides of A4, single spaced in paper in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm and no bigger than 8MB. Save this document as a single PDF file.
Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.
The UKRI Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
References
Word count: 1,000
List the references you have used to support your application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions.
You should not include any other information in this section.
We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.
If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
Project partners
Word count: 1,000
Provide details of any project partners’ contributions, and letters or emails of support from each named partner.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are looking to provide details of project partners contributing to your project, download and complete the Project partner contributions template (DOCX, 52KB). When completed, copy and paste the table into the text box.
Enter N/A in the text box if you do not have any project partners providing direct or in-kind contributions to your project.
Each project partner you are including, must provide a letter or email of support which will:
- 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
Save letters or emails of support from each partner in a single PDF no bigger than 8MB. Unless specially requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.
For the file name, use the unique funding service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Project partner’.
If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.
The UKRI 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 UKRI 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 contributions template.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Do not provide letters of support from host and project co-leads’ research organisations.
Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)
Word count: 1,500
Question: Does your application include industry project partners?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If industry collaboration does not apply to any of your project partners, or you don’t have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box.
If your research project involves collaboration between an academic organisation and an industry or company, you are likely to need to follow the industry collaboration framework and answer this question, check using the ICF decision tree.
By ‘industry or company’ we mean an enterprise that puts goods or services on a market and whose commercial activities are greater than 20% of their overall annual capacity.
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 project partner.
Find out more about ICF, including:
- 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
In addition to the project partner information completed in the previous section, confirm your answers to the ICF questions in the text box, repeat this process for each ICF project partner:
1. Name the industry or company project partner considered under ICF.
2. Indicate whether your application is either basic research or applied research.
3. Explain why, in the absence of the requested UKRI funding, the collaboration and the planned research could not be undertaken.
4. State whether your application is under the category of either fully flexible contribution or gated contribution (based on the IP sharing arrangements with the ICF partner).
5. Outline the pre-existing IP (‘background IP’) that each project partner (including the academic partner) will bring to the collaborative research project and the terms under which project partners may access these assets.
6. 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:
- which project partners will own this IP
- what rights project 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 project partners)
7. Outline any restrictions to dissemination of the project results, including the rights of the project partner to:
- review, approve or delay publications (including the time period associated with such rights)
- request or require the removal of any information
8. Declare any conflicts of interest held by the applicants in relation to the project partners and describe how they will be managed.
9. If applicable, justify collaborating with an overseas industry or company under ICF.
Failure to provide the information requested for industry 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 project partner with your university technology transfer or contracts office before applying.
Facilities
Word count: 250
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, 35KB)
- proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
- confirmation you have their agreement where required
If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the UKRI Funding Service.
Data management and sharing
Word count: 1,500
Question: 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 following the MRC data management plan template
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
- for all other research, including less complex, the plan may be as short as 500 words
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word count: 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
Consider the MRC guidance on ethics and approvals.
If you are collecting or using data, identify:
- any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further re-use of data
- formal information standards with which your study will comply
Genetic and biological risk
Word count: 700
Does your proposed research involve any genetic or biological risk?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
In respect of animals, plants or microbes, are you proposing to:
- use genetic modification as an experimental tool, like studying gene function in a genetically modified organism
- release genetically modified organisms
- ultimately develop commercial and industrial genetically modified outcomes
If yes, provide the name of any required approving body and state if approval is already in place. If it is not, provide an indicative timeframe for obtaining the required approval.
Identify the organism or organisms as a plant, animal or microbe and specify the species and which of the three categories the research relates to.
Identify the genetic and biological risks resulting from the proposed research, their implications, and any mitigation you plan on taking. Assessors will want to know you have considered the risks and their implications to justify that any identified risks do not outweigh any benefits of the proposed research.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the UKRI Funding Service.
Research involving the use of animals
Word count: 10
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. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment. 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 UKRI Funding Service.
Conducting research with animals overseas
Word count: 10
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. 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.
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 as a PDF. If you use more than one checklist, save it as a single PDF. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.
The UKRI 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 UKRI Funding Service.
Research involving human participation
Word count: 700
Will the project involve the use of human subjects or their personal information?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing research that requires the involvement of human subjects, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.
Justify the number and the diversity of the participants involved, as well as any procedures.
Provide details of any areas of substantial or moderate severity of impact.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the UKRI Funding Service.
Research involving human tissues or biological samples
Word count: 700
Does your proposed research involve the use of human tissues, or biological samples?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing work that involves human tissues or biological samples, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.
Justify the use of human tissue or biological samples, specifying the nature and quantity of the material to be used and its source.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the UKRI Funding Service.
Resources and cost justification
Word count: 1,000
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 (contact us before requesting this)
- 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’
- support for public and patient involvement and engagement
- support for preserving, long-term storage, or sharing of data
- support for international co-leads, demonstrating this is within the 30% costs cap for co-leads from developed countries, India and China
- NHS research costs, when they are associated with NHS studies
- animal costs, such as numbers that need to be bred or maintained and to achieve high welfare standards
- support for research partners, which must not exceed 5% of their time
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
Clinical research in the NHS, public health or social care
Word count: 250
Question: Will your research take place in an NHS, public health or social care setting?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If not, enter ‘N/A’ into the text box
Researchers applying for clinical research in the NHS, public health or social care need to complete a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT) to be eligible for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) portfolio. This is the route through which support and excess treatment costs are provided in England.
You must answer ‘Yes’ and complete and upload a SoECAT if you are applying for clinical research funding, and:
- you will carry out your research in the UK
- it is intended for the NIHR CRN portfolio; this may include studies in a social care or public health setting
- the research requires approval by Health Research Authority (England) or its equivalents in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales
- your research will use NHS resources
You must complete a SoECAT even if you don’t think your clinical research will involve excess treatment costs (ETCs).
See MRC guidance 3.5.1 on who needs to complete a SoECAT
If you are applying for clinical research in the NHS, public health or social care and don’t think you need to complete a SoECAT, answer ‘Yes’ and explain why a SoECAT is not necessary.
We want to know that you have taken the appropriate steps for the full costs of your research to be attributed, calculated and paid.
We want to see the expected total resources required for your project, such as Excess Treatment Costs (ETCs), to consider if these are appropriate.
How to complete a SoECAT
SoECAT guidance can be found on the NIHR website.
These are the steps you need to take:
- Contact an AcoRD specialist as early as possible in the application process.
- Complete an online SoECAT. Excel versions of the form have been discontinued. If you don’t have an account for NIHR’s Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS) you will need create and activate one. See the user guide for instructions.
- Request authorisation of your SoECAT.
- Once authorised convert the ‘summary’ page from the ‘Funder Export’ as a PDF and upload it to your application.
Applications that require a SoECAT but have not attached the SoECAT funder export summary may be rejected.
Contact support@funding-service.ukri.org if you have questions about the UKRI aspects of this process or have concerns that your SoECAT may not be authorised in time for the application deadline.
Section: Related applications
Word count: 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
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 and how feedback on the previous application has been considered and acted on.
You may only apply twice for a clinical academic research partnership, regardless of the extent of changes to the application. Changing your organisation or project does not reset your number of previous applications.
If this is a sequential application describe how it relates to the previous award and articulate the need and added value of a further award.
