Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Closed funding opportunity: UK-India Future Networks Initiative

Opportunity status:: Open
Funders:: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Funding type:: Grant
Total fund:: £1,000,000
Award range:: £950,000 - £1,000,000
Publication date:: 19 July 2024
Opening date:: 16 July 2024 9:00am UK time
Closing date:: 24 September 2024 4:00pm UK time

Apply for funding to lead a collaborative network bringing together the UK and India research community in telecommunications and future communications.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding and be invited to this opportunity.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £1,000,000. EPSRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

The duration of funding will be four years, with grants commencing February 2025.

Who can apply

You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to apply for this opportunity.

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.

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
support for people with caring responsibilities
flexible working
alternative working patterns

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

What we're looking for

Aim

We aim to fund one NetworkPlus to bring together the UK and India community in telecommunications, complementing existing research and building capability. The network will act as a focal point for UK research capability and build collaboration and knowledge exchange across research and stakeholder communities across the UK and internationally. The network will identify areas for future collaboration, facilitate travel and support small pilot projects.

Scope

The NetworkPlus should generate new interdisciplinary collaborations and connect researchers to the wider telecoms stakeholder community to capitalise on the UK’s internationally leading position in telecoms technologies. The network should forge connections with India partners, to mutually strengthen advances in the telecoms space. The network should form a forum for international engagement, bring together existing research groups, and support the development of new interdisciplinary collaborations in fundamental telecoms science, telecoms technologies and systems.

We expect the NetworkPlus to drive progress in telecoms research by bringing together communities spanning academia, industry, policy, and others with expertise in other relevant areas.

Expectations

The network should deliver:

a clear focal point for UK capability in telecoms research
an internationally recognised point of engagement for academia, policy, industry and other stakeholders in telecoms research
leadership of diverse, inclusive interdisciplinary research communities in telecoms across the UK and internationally
new connections between relevant international communities, and new and existing projects, to accelerate knowledge transfer and the realisation of near and longer-term impacts
greater community capacity and capability in telecoms research, with consideration of new methods, tools and approaches, and the training and skills required to support telecoms research in the long term
engagement with industry to facilitate translation of research outputs into technological impacts
externally distributed seedcorn funding for small-scale innovative research projects, pilot projects and feasibility studies
other investments in the communications systems space will be creating a science and technology roadmap for this area. It is expected that the UK-India Future Networks Initiative (UKI-FNI) would help co-create this.

The network could achieve these deliverables by:

facilitating knowledge exchange and driving progress in telecoms research and facilitating application of the state of the art between different areas of research
building and supporting connections between research and non-academic stakeholders to drive greater co-creation of problems and solutions and identifying realistic translation pathways
convening workshops and events to enable collaboration, horizon-scanning and generation of new ideas, bringing together UK and international partners

The network is also expected to take a broader role in building a diverse and inclusive research community through activities such as, but not limited to:

convening special interest groups around equality, diversity and inclusion and career development
supporting early and mid-career academics to engage more widely, internationally and with business
public engagement, where appropriate
running regular multi-stakeholder strategy meetings

This list is not exhaustive, and the successful network is not obliged to do all of the above. Applicants are encouraged to tailor their activities to the needs of the area and to be innovative in their approach.

Community networking expectations

The NetworkPlus should also bring together the projects funded through the India-UK joint opportunity in telecommunications research (DST-EPSRC) funding opportunity. This includes:

hosting an annual showcase meeting to bring together all funded projects
including the project leads from the funded projects as members of the NetworkPlus advisory board
acting as an advocate for the funded projects within the wider research community
considering funded projects to be core stakeholders, and including them in all relevant networking activities

User engagement

We encourage you to engage with research users in the conception and implementation of the network to maximise impact where appropriate. These can include:

academia
industry
small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
third sector
end users
policymakers
research institutes
learned societies
other sectors as appropriate

Systems approach

A whole systems approach enables the development of solutions and innovations that are more impactful whilst minimising and mitigating unintended consequences. It is a discovery process combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to understanding and managing technological systems alongside broader economic, environmental, social, political and behavioural considerations, taking into account complex interactions.

The network must embed a systems approach within its own work, and across its members and communities. An embedded and informed systems approach enables consideration of the trade-offs, risks and mitigations associated with different approaches.

Environmental sustainability

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s environmental sustainability strategy lays out our ambition to actively lead environmental sustainability across our sectors. This includes a vision to ensure that all major investment and funding decisions we make are directly informed by environmental sustainability, recognising environmental benefits as well as potential for environmental harm.

Environmental sustainability is a broad term but may include consideration of such broad areas as:

reducing carbon emissions
protecting and enhancing the natural environment and biodiversity
waste or pollution elimination
resource efficiency and a circular economy

EPSRC, on behalf of UKRI, expects the funded network to embed careful consideration of environmental sustainability within its own work, but also across its members and communities.

The network should ensure that environmental impact and mitigation of the proposed and programme operations, as well as any associated project outputs and outcomes, is considered.

Duration

The duration of this award is four years.

Projects must start by 1 February 2025.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £1,000,000.

EPSRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

What we will fund

We will fund:

UK and international community building and networking activities
innovative workstreams and activities to advance international collaboration in THz research
relevant non-academic staff, for example a grant manager, commercialisation experts, engagement experts, communications and impact staff, administrative support and so on

Project lead and co-leads’ salaries

These should be requested under the directly allocated cost heading.

The project lead and co-leads can request funds to cover their salary costs for the time spent on setting up and leading the network.

Funding requested under the directly incurred cost heading may include:

Travel and subsistence

Travel and subsistence enabling members of the network to meet to exchange ideas and expertise. This may include:

travel within the UK
visits by or to experts internationally
travel and subsistence costs to support secondments

Where possible, collaborators should meet their own travel costs.

Administrative support

A sufficient level of administrative support should be requested to ensure the co-ordination, management, and smooth running of the network.

You are expected to employ a dedicated grant manager as a core member of the team, with relevant experience and costed at the appropriate grade.

Reasonable costs for monitoring and dissemination of the network’s output can also be included.

Organisation of activities

Funding can be requested for:

activities to identify and disseminate key research challenges in the area, such as horizon-scanning studies
activities to generate new research projects in the area, such as sandpits
activities to facilitate impact and advance policy, such as reports, websites and briefings
secondment support, including scoping of potential opportunities, travel and subsistence, and other appropriate costs
activities to support career development and training
activities to connect users, industry and other stakeholders with the research base
communication costs and for additional equipment such as personal computers and webservers
equipment to support networking, events and communication
other projects as appropriate for the network
flexible funds to distribute small-scale funding for projects or feasibility studies to enable cross-disciplinary, foresight, speculative or risky early-stage research, or other projects
networking events
expert working groups
online discussion forums
lectures and seminars
problem-solving workshops

You are encouraged to think creatively about the range of activities that could support the delivery of the network goals. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your proposed activities with us ahead of submission.

Flexible funds

Research is outside of the NetworkPlus scope. However, flexible funding can be requested to externally commission small-scale research studies, pilot projects, feasibility studies or similar small level projects (but not to demonstrator phase or beyond technology readiness level (TRL) 4). These funds must be distributed externally to the grant.

Flexible funds can be allocated to researchers at any organisation currently eligible for EPSRC funding. You will need to think carefully about how any budget for external distribution will be commissioned, and how you will ensure processes for the allocation of funds are fair and transparent.

Please note that any activities commissioned by the Network Plus using the flexible funds will be restricted to EPSRC current research organisation eligibility but will not be bound by standard EPSRC investigator eligibility criterion. It is the project lead’s responsibility to ensure ongoing governance to ensure correct usage and accountability of the funds. We would expect some examples of the types of projects at the application stage, but the research challenges are expected to evolve throughout the NetworkPlus lifetime and should be co-created and collaborative in nature.

The sum awarded under the heading of ‘flexible funds’ can include both directly incurred and directly allocated expenditure. These funds must be reported on the final expenditure statement (FES) as awarded on the offer letter and a breakdown of the expenditure must be submitted along with the FES. Flexible funds are funded at 80% FEC by EPSRC.

Research

Funds cannot be requested to support the NetworkPlus to carry out research-related activities itself. These should be sought through the normal mechanisms or commissioned via open competition using flexible funds.

Appropriately skilled individuals may be costed to conduct and analyse horizon scanning activities to meet the aims and objectives of the NetworkPlus.

What we will not fund

We will not fund:

research activities. This is a network grant and funds should not be requested to carry out research activities
support for equipment is not available through this funding opportunity

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

Additional conditions

The NetworkPlus funding will be subject to the following additional conditions, in addition to our standard terms.

Community network expectations

This grant is awarded on the understanding that the project will undertake a wider networking role with the research and user community outside its membership. This may involve coordination of activities such as meetings, workshops or seminars on behalf of EPSRC. A dedicated website must be set up within six months of the start of the grant and regularly maintained to provide a resource for engagement with the wider community.

This grant is expected to further develop the network, including its academic and user (such as policy, business, non-governmental organisations) membership, throughout the period of funding in order to maximise its impact on a wide range of disciplines. As part of the grant, networks must identify ambitious ‘real-world’ challenges which require a multidisciplinary approach and form an agenda for future research in the area.

User engagement strategy

You must develop and execute a strategy for engaging with potential users of the research funded in the project. This strategy should be reviewed and updated regularly as part of the formal management and reporting process agreed for this grant.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

In addition to RGC 3.4, you are expected to prepare a full equality, diversity and inclusion plan for the duration of this grant to demonstrate best practice in equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the lifetime of this funding award. This must be recorded through the grant reporting process.

Project officer appointment

We will nominate a member of EPSRC staff (the project officer) who will be your primary point of contact. The project officer will ensure that the project is being run in accordance with the terms and conditions and in line with financial due diligence. The project officer should have access to all documentation of governance and reporting bodies, in so far as it relates to the administration and application of the grant. As funding administrators, all UKRI staff have agreed to maintain the confidentiality required by all parties involved in EPSRC funded research.

Advisory board appointment

This grant must establish and run an independent advisory board, or equivalent body, to oversee the running of the project and provide advice on the strategic direction and activities of the project. The terms of reference and membership of this group (at least 50% independent membership and an independent chair) should be agreed with EPSRC. The EPSRC project officer will also be expected to attend and participate in advisory board and other appropriate meetings for the duration of the grant.

It is expected the first advisory board meeting will be held within four months of the start date of the project and there will two meetings a year with contact outside of the meeting when appropriate.

Publicity and branding

In addition to RGC 12.4 publication and acknowledgement of support, you must make reference to EPSRC and UKRI funding and include the UKRI logo and relevant branding on all online or printed materials (including press releases, posters, exhibition materials and other publications) related to activities funded by this grant.

Progress reports

In addition to the requirements set out in RGC 7.4.3, you are responsible for providing annual progress reports against non-financial performance metrics. A detailed list of performance metrics and instructions for reporting will be agreed with the grant holder and advisory board upon commencement of the grant.

Management structure

You should have established an appropriate management structure with clear lines of responsibility and authority to oversee the day-to-day running of the project. This should be in place within six months of the start date of the grant. The terms of reference and management structure, including the project lead, co-leads and senior investigators must be approved by us in advance as must any changes to this structure. The project officer will be our main contact with the project and must receive all meeting minutes of the management committees. We reserve the right to attend any meetings.

Management resourcing

Adequate resourcing to support an appropriate management structure, as specified in the funding call documentation, should be costed within the grant. This includes employing a grant manager on the grant.

Flexible funding

Notwithstanding standard grant condition RGC 4.4 the sum awarded under the heading of ‘Flexible Funds’ can include both directly incurred and directly allocated expenditure. These funds must be reported on the final expenditure statement (FES) as awarded on the offer letter and a breakdown of the expenditure must be submitted along with the FES. If a breakdown of this expenditure is not received the final expenditure statements will be returned. Standard grant conditions apply to all other funds awarded on this grant.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the 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

You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so. The start application link will be provided via email.

Confirm you are the project lead.
Sign in or create a 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 Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
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 Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You should:

use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words
insert each new image onto a new line
provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)
ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

References

Applications should be self-contained, and hyperlinks should only be used to provide links directly to reference information. To ensure the information’s integrity is maintained, where possible, persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers should be used. Assessors are not required to access links to carry out assessment or recommend a funding decision. Applicants should use their discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

References should be included in the appropriate question section of the application and be easily identifiable by the assessors, for example (Smith, Research Paper, 2019).

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

Deadline

EPSRC must receive your application by 24 September 2024 at 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 submission of your application to 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. If an application is withdrawn prior to peer review or office rejected due to substantive errors in the application, it cannot be resubmitted to the opportunity.

Personal data

Processing personal data

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, 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.

Publication of outcomes

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at EPSRC Funding Application Outcomes | Tableau Public.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. 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
researcher co-lead (RcL)

Only list one individual as project lead.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 1,500

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work:

is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
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
will embed EDI considerations into, and how these will guide your aims, as well as other activities such as stakeholder engagement, events and networking

Within the Vision section we also expect you to:

describe the concept, context and coordination function of your project
if applicable, demonstrate the alignment of the application to the funding opportunity objectives
clearly state the research challenges that you will address
explain how you will embed environmental sustainability within your activities

Approach

Word limit: 1,500

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:

will deliver against the expectations outlined in the funding opportunity
is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
if applicable, uses a clearly written and transparent methodology
if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed
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
will build equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations into the formation, operation and governance of the hub, including how these will be operationalised

Within the Approach section we also expect you to:

demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the application
evidence co-creation and user engagement
provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines
include a detailed and appropriate plan for how you will acquire and manage data (additional one-page A4)
explain how the partnership will be planned and managed
explain how the partnership will enable stakeholders to work together, network and build capability in a strategic area
outline future plans for sustaining the partnership beyond this application, or for funding research which may develop from the partnership

Governance

Word limit: 500

How will you manage the award to successfully deliver its objectives?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how the proposed award will be managed, demonstrating that it:

will be effectively governed, including details about advisory structures
will be effectively and inclusively managed, demonstrated by a clear management plan
has clear leadership team roles and responsibilities
will manage and encourage partnerships with non-HEI organisations across government, industry and civil society
has plans for monitoring your progress as well as self-evaluation throughout the lifetime of your award
will put in place appropriate governance and administration to deliver the range of devolved funding opportunities

Within this section you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You must:

use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words
insert each new image onto a new line
provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)
ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

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 1,650 words, 1,150 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 to 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 below. 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).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.

For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical and 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

If you are collecting or using data you should identify:

any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and 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 that your proposed work will comply with

Additional sub-questions (to be answered only if appropriate) relating to research involving:

animals
human participants
genetically modified organisms

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 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)
international collaboration costs

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

Flexible fund

Word limit: 1,000

How will you use and manage the flexible fund?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you will use and manage the flexible fund so that it:

supports your objectives
distributes funding appropriately across a diverse range of activities
where appropriate, distributes funding through robust, transparent competitive processes
builds capacity in key fields and career stages
ensures appropriate processes for monitoring, reporting and governance of funded activities

Project partners

Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

Add the following project partner details:

the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
the project partner contact name and email address
the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value

If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Project partners: letters (or emails) of support

Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the Project partners section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’. Each letter or email you provide should:

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
the page limit is two sides A4 per partner

The 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 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.

Added value

Word count: 500

What is the added value that this network will enable that would not be possible otherwise?

What the assessors are looking for

Using the text box, demonstrate what the network will achieve, considering how it will do the following:

create new interdisciplinary research communities and topics
provide a critical mass of researchers with a range of expertise and experience
promote mobility between academe, universities and industry
achieve sustainability beyond the funding requested

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process. This process will differ to our standard operating procedure, so please read the opportunity closely.

Peer review

We will invite members of the panel to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity. These will be anonymised and shared with applicants who will be given opportunity to provide a applicant response.

You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers.

We are monitoring the requirement for applicant-nominated reviewers as we review policies and processes as part of the continued development of the new Funding Service.

Panel

Following peer review, we will invite the same panel to use the evidence provided by reviewers and your applicant response to assess the quality of your application after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

Feedback

We will give feedback with the outcome of your application.

EPSRC will make the final funding decision.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Assessment criteria

The criteria we will assess your application against are:

Vision
Approach
Governance
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Resources and cost justification
Flexible Fund
Added value

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

Important note: The Helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the Helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding Finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content/remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please email ict.theme@epsrc.ukri.org with the following staff quoting ‘EPSRC-DST Telecommunications’ in the subject line.

Enquiries can be sent through via email, however, we will not be able to provide additional information about this funding opportunity in advance of its publication.

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org
Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

See further information on submitting an application.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, please contact tfschangeepsrc@epsrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
declaration of interest
additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Background

This programme is funded by the UK government’s International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF). ISPF is managed by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), and delivered by a consortium of the UK’s leading research and innovation bodies, including UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The £337 million fund supports collaboration between UK researchers and innovators and their peers around the world on the major themes of our time: planet, health, tech, and talent.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

breaks and delays
disruptive working patterns and conditions
the loss of ongoing work
role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.