Research grants are open to:
- UK higher education institutions
- research council institutes
- UKRI-approved independent research organisations
- eligible public sector research establishments
- eligible research and technology organisations
- NHS bodies with research capacity
Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.
EPSRC standard eligibility rules apply. For full details, visit EPSRC’s eligibility page.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.
For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.
Who is eligible to apply
You can apply if you are a resident in the UK and meet at least one of the conditions below:
- are employed at the submitting research organisation at a level equivalent to lecturer or above
- hold a fixed-term contract that extends beyond the duration of the proposed project, and the host research organisation is prepared to give you all the support normal for a permanent employee
- hold an EPSRC, Royal Society or Royal Academy of Engineering fellowship aimed at later career stages
- hold fellowships under other schemes (please contact EPSRC to check eligibility, which is considered on a case-by-case basis)
The lead institution must be based in the UK and must be eligible to hold EPSRC grants.
In addition to the general eligibility requirements listed above, applicant consortia must satisfy one of the following requirements (A or B) to be eligible to apply through this funding opportunity. Applicant consortia only need to satisfy one of the criteria. You can satisfy both, but this is not a requirement.
Criterion A
The applicant consortium must hold at least one of the current EPSRC strategic research grants as listed below. This grant must have an end date after June 2024 to qualify.
In order to satisfy the eligibility criterion, the project lead of the centre to centre application must be the project lead or project co-lead on the existing strategic investment.
We expect at least 50% of the core team (for example, project leads or project co-leads – see the ‘How to apply’ section for a further definition and role types within a core team) within the centre to centre consortium to be project leads or project co-leads on the existing grant. However, there is no requirement to include all members of the core team involved in the existing strategic grant in the application for this funding opportunity.
We particularly welcome applicants from diverse research consortia and the inclusion of early career researchers.
The list of strategic research investments considered to satisfy this criterion is as follows:
- AI Hubs
- ARCHER2 high performance computing centre
- BBSRC-EPSRC synthetic biology research centres
- Centre for power electronics
- Centre for Secure Information Technologies
- Digital Health Hubs
- EPSRC institutes
- EPSRC circular economy critical mass programmes
- ExCALIBUR programme
- Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC)
- Future Manufacturing Research Hubs
- Global Centres
- Healthcare technologies interdisciplinary research collaborations (IRCs)
- Henry Royce Institute
- High-end computing consortia
- Hubs for Mathematical Sciences in Healthcare
- Hydrogen Hubs
- ICT Future Communications Systems Platforms
- Innovation and Knowledge Centres
- Mathematics in healthcare centres
- Manufacturing Hubs for a Sustainable Future
- National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research Programme
- National Research Facilities
- NCSC-EPSRC cyber security research institutes
- Next stage digital economy hubs/centres
- Physics of Life
- Programme grants
- Prosperity partnerships
- Quantum Technology Research Hubs
- Responsible AI UK
- Rosalind Franklin Institute
- SUPERGEN hubs
- The Alan Turing Institute
- Tier 2 high performance computing centre
- Transformative Healthcare Technologies
- Transport Hubs
- UK Catalysis Hub
- UK Centre for Research on Energy Demand
- UK Energy Research Centre
- UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub
- Wellcome EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering
- Wellcome EPSRC Centre for Surgical and Interventional Sciences
In cases where an investment on the list above consists of more than one large-scale grants (more than £2 million) with different project leads and distinct objectives, the group of project leads or project co-leads on each separate grant may submit an application to this funding opportunity if desired.
Smaller component grants (less than £2 million) of a larger centre or similar investment do not qualify under this criterion but may be included in the qualifying portfolio under criterion B below.
Criterion B
Applicant consortia must collectively hold a research portfolio of at least £3 million of current EPSRC research grants. Each of these grants must have an end date after 9 June 2024. If an offer letter for a grant has been issued by 9 June 2024, it can be included in this portfolio even if the project has not yet started.
Grants can only be included in the centre to centre consortium’s portfolio if the project lead of the grant is involved in the consortium. Not every proposed project lead is required to hold a current EPSRC grant, but we expect the majority of the applicant team to be project leads or project co-leads on one or more of the existing grants cited. We particularly welcome applications from diverse research consortia and the inclusion of early career researchers.
There are no requirements on the minimum or maximum number of grants that can be listed in order to establish eligibility in this criterion. The qualifying amount for the cost of the grant is EPSRC’s contribution, rather than the full economic cost.
Exceptions
We are aware that grant values are typically significantly smaller for some of the fundamental areas of EPSRC’s remit. For example, mathematical sciences. As such, we are willing to consider exceptions to criterion B, where consortia have a significant EPSRC grant portfolio in their area and applicants can provide evidence of prior collaboration (for example, joint publications). Consortia working in these areas must confirm eligibility with EPSRC prior to outline submission by emailing the EPSRC international team [email: international@epsrc.ukri.org].
Any individual grant may only be cited against one application through this funding opportunity. Linked grants (parent and child grants) which make up a single research project count as one grant.
The following grants will not qualify to satisfy either A or B:
- Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund awards
- Capital equipment grants, including institute capital funding
- Centres for Doctoral Training
- Doctoral Training Partnerships
- Training and Skills Hubs
- Fellowships (with the exception of AI world leading researcher fellows)
- Impact Acceleration Accounts
- Institutional sponsorship awards and other institutional block grants
- Networks and Network Plus grants
- Overseas Travel Grants
- Platform grants
- Workshops
Applicant teams may be based in a single discipline or multi-disciplinary, as long as they satisfy one of the criteria above. We are open to applications in any area of research predominantly in EPSRC’s remit. We welcome the inclusion of early career researchers in applicant consortia and diverse research consortia, as long as one of the eligibility criteria A or B are satisfied by the team overall.
There are no requirements on the maximum or minimum number of project leads or project co-leads that we would expect to see involved in these applications. UK project leads and project co-leads can be from a single institution or multiple institutions.
Please ensure sufficient time to create Funding Service accounts for project leads and project co-leads who do not currently have one. There is also no limit on the number of international institutions or countries that projects can work with. Project teams should be the most appropriate set of researchers to achieve the proposed project.
Please note that UK applicants may only be named as project lead or project co-lead on one application to this funding opportunity.
Current International Centre to Centre grant holders are only eligible to apply through this funding opportunity where the research challenges to be addressed are significantly different to their current grant. As such it is expected that they will satisfy the eligibility criteria based on a different grant or set of grants and be working with different international partners.
A track record of the core applicant team working together is required and will be assessed at both outline and full application stages. See the ‘Assessment criteria’ section for more information.
Outline submissions to this funding opportunity will not count towards the EPSRC repeatedly unsuccessful applicants policy. Full application submissions to this funding opportunity will count towards the policy.
If you are currently restricted under the repeatedly unsuccessful applicants policy, you may submit unlimited outlines. However, you will only be able to submit one full application as project lead or project co-lead during the 12 month restricted period.
Who is not eligible to apply
Holders of postdoctoral level fellowships are not eligible to apply for an EPSRC grant.
International applicants
Under the UKRI and Research Council of Norway Money Follows Cooperation agreement a project co-lead (international) (previously co-investigator) can be based in a Norwegian institution.
Resubmissions
We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI or any other funder.
Find out more about EPSRC’s resubmissions policy.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding 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
- part-time contracts
- support for people with caring responsibilities
- flexible working
- alternative working patterns
Recognising the international nature of this funding opportunity, we welcome applications including additional care costs. Requests can also be made for resources to enable different approaches to building and sustaining collaborations, which reduce the need to travel. Find out further information on the types of support we can provide.
At the full application stage, applicants will be required to provide an equality, diversity and Inclusion (EDI) plan. Resources allocated to address EDI challenges are an eligible cost for this opportunity. See the ‘Additional information’ section for further details.
Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at EPSRC.
Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.
