Please note that the following information is intended as an overview of major sources of research funding in the UK. While every effort is made to ensure that the information presented here is up-to-date, funders' priorities and specific programmes operated by them may change. The seven UK Research Counils are discussed here, and then a number of other funders whose selection is a product of UEL's bidding activity. If there are any UK funders you think we should be including here, please let us know.
Each year the seven UK Research Councils invest in research in UK universities and in their own Research Institutes. Together the Research Councils cover the full spectrum of academic disciplines from the medical and biological sciences to astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering, social sciences, economics, and the arts and humanities. In April 2007, PPARC, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, and CCLRC, the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils, merged to form the STFC, Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Each Council offers a variety of research funding opportunities, either in the form of responsive mode funding, or as strategic calls for proposals with specified deadlines. Cross-council initiatives are also regularly announced.
The individual Research Councils are discussed below. In addition, they work together as Research Councils UK (RCUK), a strategic partnership through which the Research Councils work together to champion research, training and innovation. The RCUK website also gives details about the strategic aims and priorities of all of the Research Councils.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) supports research within a huge subject domain from traditional humanities subjects to the creative and performing arts. The subject areas within the AHRC remit are: Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology; Visual Arts and Media: practice, history, theory; English Language and Literature; Medieval and Modern History; Modern Languages and Linguistics; Librarianship, Information and Museum Studies; Music and Performing Arts; and Philosophy, Religious Studies and Law.
The AHRC has a number of responsive-mode application routes including its Research Grants, including special routes for early career researchers and for practice-led and applied work, and its well-known and unique Research Leave scheme. Please note that its Research Grants scheme awards are not intended to support individual researchers, but must include other research staff. In addition it funds a number of strategic initiatives looking at a diverse range of issues of intellectual and wider cultural, social or economic urgency that the Council considers are best supported by concentrated and coherent funding initiatives . At present, these include the Religion and Society Research Programme which is a collaborative programme between the AHRC and the ESRC aiming to explore the current developments in the arts and humanities and social sciences communities, concerning questions of belief, human culture, society and religion; and, with all seven Research Councils, the Global Uncertainties programme which seeks to advance our understanding of the nature and interactions of five global phenomena - conflict, crime, environmental degradation, poverty and terrorism - and their implications for various concepts and contexts of security and insecurity.
Click here to visit the AHRC's website for more information on its responsive-mode and strategic initatives.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) exists to promote and support, by any means, high-quality basic, strategic and applied research and related postgraduate training relating to the understanding and exploitation of biological systems. It aims to advance knowledge and technology (including the promotion and support of the exploitation of research outcomes), and provide trained scientists and engineers, which meet the needs of users and beneficiaries (including the agriculture, bioprocessing, chemical, food, healthcare, pharmaceutical and other biotechnological related industries), thereby contributing to the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom and the quality of life.
The BBSRC funds research in a number of scientific areas: agri-food; animal sciences; biochemistry and cell biology; biomolecular sciences; engineering and biological systems; genes and developmental biology; and plants and microbial science. In each scientific area there are mechanisms to support longer and larger grants, new investigators, and collaborative projects with industry.
Click here to visit the BBSRC's website for more information on its research grant funding opportunities.
The Economic and Social Research Council
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) supports research within a variety of social science subjects in six research areas: economic affairs, education and human development, environment and planning, government and law, industry and employment, and social affairs
The ESRC has a wide range of research funding programmes which give out research funding based on competitions open to application at any time and competitions with closing dates. These include Large (£1.5 million and above) Standard (£100,000 and above) and Small (under £100,000) Research Grants and the Research Fellowship Scheme which is designed to support fellows at professorial and postdoctoral levels. In addition, it provides funds for collaborative activities at international level through its International Collaborative Grants, for multi-institutional discussion networks of academics through its Research Seminars Competition and for collaborative long-term projects among national Research Centres and Groups. The ESRC’s Researcher Development Initiative has recently been launched with the aim of facilitating the production and deployment of a range of activities and resources, including student-led activities, training for research students and researchers throughout their career, regional training events and the development and use of new tools for training purposes. In conjunction with a number of other Research Councils it is involved in a number of joint activities, and is part of the NORFACE network of European funding councils which is currently setting up a programme on Migration in Europe.
Click here to visit the ESRC's website for more information on its responsive mode research grants and other current funding opportunities.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funds research within the areas of its scientific remit, including innovative manufacturing; physics; information and communication technologies; life sciences interface; basic technology; chemistry, mathematical sciences; materials; energy and e-science.
Its Responsive Mode funding is one of the key EPSRC Research Grant schemes. It is very flexible, supporting projects ranging from small value, short-term grants to multi-million pound research programmes. Other types of EPSRC Research Grants include the First Grants Scheme, which is designed to assist early career academics and Networks, to create new interdisciplinary research communities and topics, by developing interaction between between the research community and appropriate science, technology and industrial groups. A small number of Fellowships are offered every year supporting talented individuals at different stages of their careers. These are Leadership Fellowships, Career Acceleration Fellowships and Postdoctoral Fellowships. In addition to these, Royal Academy of Engineering/EPSRC Research Fellowships funds outstanding researchers from all branches of engineering to establish an independent research career. Postgraduate researchers are supported through training grants.
Click here to visit the EPSRC's website for more information on its research grant funding opportunities.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) supports research across the entire spectrum of medical sciences, in universities and hospitals, in MRC’s own units and institutes in the UK and in Africa. Its research priorities are in clinical and public health research; infections and vaccine research; global health research; ageing-related research, biomarkers; and sustaining capability in areas of strategic research.
The MRC runs a number of funding schemes, including its Research Grant scheme, which is suitable for both short and long term research projects, for which application deadlines are usually in January, May and September. MRC’s other main funding programmes include Collaboration Grants, which aim to establish networks between participants of research programmes; Trial Grants, in which the MRC co-operates with the NHS to support clinical trials; New Investigator Research Grants, which are designed to support early career researchers who are capable of becoming a principal investigator; and finally grants that aim to support collaboration with industry and to encourage interdisciplinary research.
The MRC is currently the only UK Research Council that does not use the Je-S application system, though it expects to be doing so by the end of 2009.
Click here to visit MRC’s web site for more information on its available research grants.
Professor Mark McDermott (School of Psychology) attended the ARMA Study Tour of the MRC on 10 October 2008. To download his notes, and the associated presentations, click below:
The Natural Environment Research Council
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is the leading UK organisation in providing independent research and training in the environmental sciences. NERC’s research areas centre on major environmental issues, such as climate change, biodiversity and natural disasters and hazards, covering atmospheric science; earth science; polar science; terrestrial & freshwater science; earth observation; marine science; and science-based archaeology.
NERC funds scientific research through a number of Research Programmes which are aimed at the scientific challenges and priorities in the 21st century and are normally time-limited, competitive and encouraging collaboration. At present these include Oceans 2025 and UK Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme. In addition NERC runs a Responsive Mode stream which is aimed at funding science research grants, training awards (PhD and Masters), fellowships and knowledge exchange. Finally, NERC also has a National Capability scheme, which aims to deliver nationally strategic and urgent areas in environmental science, is rarely an open competition stream. However, this scheme is open only rarely.
Please click here for more information on NERC’s funding opportunities.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is one of Europe’s largest multidisciplinary organisations supporting scientists and engineers throughout the world. It provides grants particularly in astronomy, particle physics, space science and nuclear physics, and supports a broad range of scientific and technical expertise in space and ground-based astronomy technologies, microelectronics, wafer scale manufacturing, particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications and radar.
STFC’s funding opportunities vary from theme-specific research grants, for example in astronomy and physics, to technology programmes and follow-on funding. The Council also operates various Fellowship Schemes to help to improve the careers of the scientists supported. Other funding programmes include activities such as the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships which exist to promote industry – university partnerships, postgraduate studentships and the public’s engagement in science through the Science in Society scheme.
Please click here for more information on STFC's grants and awards.
The British Academy
The British Academy receives grant-in-aid from the Office of Science and Innovation (OSI) as the national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Its aim is to foster high-quality research and to help develop research capacity through a framework of responsive-mode programmes, through the provision of small-scale support.
The Academy’s Research Grants provide support for researchers to conduct primary research in the UK and abroad through its Small Research Grants and Research Development Awards. The Academy support scholars from overseas to visit the UK and the British scholars to establish networks and collaborate in organising seminars and training sessions in the UK and abroad. British academics can also apply for Research Leave and Postdoctoral Fellowships and for support for attending a conference in overseas.
Please click here for more information about the British Academy's funding schemes.
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation primarily supports research into areas concerning the UK’s cultural life, arts and heritage, education, the natural environment and promoting enterprise and independence in social change to enable disadvantaged people to be involved in societal life. The research funding is mainly operated thorough the Main Fund scheme which distributes about two-third of the Foundation’s funding. The second major funding scheme is the time-limited, specific Strands which include key subject areas to be funded. These are currently biodiversity, food, museum and heritage collections, and new approaches to learning.
Click here for more information on Esmee Fairbairn Foundation funding opportunities.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation seeks to fund research and development which has the capacity to change policy or practice for the better. The Foundation focuses on two main research areas: poverty and disadvantage, and housing and neighbourhoods. The Foundation announces specific calls for proposals related to the main research programmes and accepts applications only for specific calls: it does not operate any responsive-mode schemes.
Please click here for more information about Joseph Rowntree Foundation funding opportunities
The Leverhulme Trust provides awards for research and training of individuals, encompassing all subject areas, though it does not usually support research in social policy and welfare (especially action research), medicine and education. The Trust's financial support is organised into grants and awards which vary in size, purpose and application procedure. The total sum awarded in a typical year across all of their schemes is around £25m.
The Trust emphasises individuals and places special weight on the originality of the projects; the significance of the proposed work; the ability to judge and take appropriate risk in the project; and the removal of barriers between traditional disciplines. The Trust does not make awards for equipment, exhibitions, conferences, workshops or symposia which are not directly related to research projects.
Its major Research Grants cover innovative and original Research Projects with high quality and potential, while two research themes are selected annually for support under the Leverhulme Trust's Research Programmes scheme. The Trust’s Fellowship scheme aims to support researchers to study abroad or to develop their careers through the Early Career Fellowships and Research Fellowships programmes. Its Major Research Fellowships in the Humanities and Social Sciences enable well-established researchers in this areas to focus on a significant and original research project. Another major Leverhulme award exists to support Academic Collaboration at international level. The Trust also awards The Philip Leverhulme Prizes to outstanding scholars normally below the age of 36 who have made a substantial contribution in their fields.
For more information on the funding opportunities available please visit the Leverhulme Trust's website.
The NHS National Institute for Health Research
The Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) of the NHS National Institute for Health Research was set up in 2006 to manage and administer the NHS National Research and Development Programme, which investigates a range of healthcare matters and assists in how research-based knowledge is applied across all healthcare sectors. The National Institute for Health Research funds research in specific subject programmes of the Department of Health. These programmes focus on areas like patient benefit, Innovation, Speculation and Creativity, genetics, biomedical sciences, new and emerging applications of technology, policy development on social care and health issues, and the improvement of healthcare technologies through innovation and investing in new ideas accelerating the invention of new technologies.
Click here to visit the CCF’s web site for more information about NIHR funding opportunities.
The Nuffield Foundation funds research and development in the areas of education, law, science and social policy. Its preference is for work that has wide significance, beyond the local or routine. The Foundation looks to support projects that are imaginative and innovative, take a thoughtful and rigorous approach to problems, and have the potential to influence policy and practice.
The Foundation’s specific funding programmes include Access to Justice, with a proposed agenda of promoting the developments in the legal system and increasing awareness of people’s rights in society; child protection and family justice; grants for women students, grants for education and the Commonwealth Programme aiming to invest in long term projects for the improvement of education, civil justice and education systems in Eastern and South Africa. The Foundation also supports research projects through its Social Science Small Grants and awards individuals with the Social Science Fellowships. The foundation’s science bursaries provide young individuals with experience in leading industries during summer period. The Foundation maintains an "open door" policy for proposals of exceptional merit for research projects or practical innovations that lie outside its main programme areas, but that meet Trustees’ wider interests.
For more information about research funding opportunities please visit the Nuffield Foundation website.
The Royal Society
The Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK and the Commonwealth, dedicated to promoting excellence in science. The Society plays an influential role in national and international science policy and supports developments in science and technology.
The Royal Society invests in excellence by funding more than 1600 of the UK's best scientists, from postdoctoral level to senior professors, each year, offering grants for a variety of purposes ranging from conference travel to the modernisation of laboratories. The Society’s international grants programme enables outstanding UK scientists to initiate networks and collaborate with the world’s other leading scientists. Its specific programmes include conference grants, grants for visiting scholars to and from the UK, specific funds and awards for training, industry or international fellowships, conference organisation and attendance, science networks with specific countries, and research merits and professorships.
Please click here for more information about the Royal Society's funding schemes.
The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) was established to stimulate technology and innovation in areas strategic for enhancing economic growth in the UK. The Board provides advice to the UK Government for the acceleration and promotion of innovation and is funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills and other government departments.
The TSB invests in competitively-selected collaborative research projects, aims to establish Knowledge Transfer Networks by bringing together people from industry, research and finance organisations and universities, supports the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships programme to enable companies to obtain significant knowledge and capabilities from research organisations and universities.
Click here for more information on funding opportunities provided by the TSB. .
The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust makes awards in areas of science related to medicine, and the history of medicine, with the overall aim of improving human and animal health, covering all aspects of biomedical science and medical history. It is the UK's largest non-governmental source of funding for biomedical research.
The Tust’s technology transfer funding aims to support researchers in commercialising new technologies with potential medical applications. The medical humanities schemes are designed to support research in biomedical ethics and social and historical aspects of science and medicine. Through the Public Engagement scheme the Trust aims at supporting research on the public understanding of science or science and society. The Trust also funds large projects through its Capital Funding scheme and facilitates research and training to add value to the existing research groups through its flexible Strategic awards.
Click here for more information about the Wellcome Trust’s funding opportunities.
© 2008
For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link:Link to general description
For further information on this web site's accessibility features please follow this link:Link to accessibility information
The following message does not apply to screenreader users:
You will still be able to access all the essential content of this web site, but it will not look, or function, exactly as intended.
