Following the mandatory pre application stage, we are running this stage one funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
Submitting your application
Pre application stage
You must contact us at international@mrc.ukri.org before you apply to check if your application is suitable. MRC international team will confirm if you are able to apply. You must do this at least six weeks before the deadline.
You should email the programme manager, attaching a brief description of your application. The document may be up to two pages outlining the proposed partnership.
Please copy the bullet points below as a template. The document must include:
- the title of the potential partnership and project lead
- the LMICs involved in the partnership (please note partnerships involving a single LMIC are not in scope for this opportunity)
- an estimate of the likely cost to MRC including staff and equipment
You should explain the aims of the partnership, including:
- the nature of the partnership and its activities, including a list of work packages and their aims, activities and outcomes
- the applied health research that will be enabled by the partnership
Stage one application stage
You should only start the stage one application if you have been invited by email to do so after the pre-application stage. The start application link will be provided via email.
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.
If you are based in an LMIC research organisation, you can register your organisation by contacting support@funding-service.ukri.org and provide your organisation name, country and city.
If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation, check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.
To apply
Follow the link to the Funding Service provided in your invitation email to start your application.
- 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 funding 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 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)
- files must be 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. You should use your discretion when including reference 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, such as Smith, Research Paper, 2019.
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
Deadline
MRC must receive your completed partnership application through the Funding Service by 3 December 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.
Personal data
Processing personal data
MRC, 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
MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at Applied global health research board – funding decisions.
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.
If awarded 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
Succinctly describe your proposed work in terms of:
- goals to be addressed, please identify a concise and clearly articulated ultimate aim of the partnership
- its context
- the global health challenge the partnership addresses and its potential impact
- its aims and objectives
- its 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))
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
Only list one individual as project lead.
Project leads can be from eligible UK or LMIC research organisations.
We expect all applications to this opportunity to include project co-lead (international) based at LMIC research organisations.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Keywords
Word limit:10
Provide up to five keywords that describe your application.
What assessors are looking for in your response
Provide up to a maximum of five keywords, for example: maternal health, malaria, implementation science, sub-Saharan Africa.
This is for administrative purposes to help with the initial application processing and will not affect the overall assessment of your application.
Vision
Word limit: 1,000
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
- includes LMIC researchers in the intellectual design and the setting of the research agenda and its ongoing strategic direction
- ensures that partnerships are equitable
We also expect you to:
- explain how your work is strategically important for the LMICs involved, and how the partnership will contribute to the current or future applied research landscape
- explain why establishing a partnership is necessary in this area, how the partnership is novel or adds value to the current research landscape
- explain the applied research in which the partnership is embedded
- explain how the outputs of the partnership will have regional or global impact or widely generalisable outcomes
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Approach
Word limit: 1,500
How will you deliver your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how you have designed your work so that it:
- is innovative, effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
- is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
- has an appropriate governance structure
- if applicable, uses a clear and transparent methodology for small scale proof of principle work
- 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, its location, and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
- ensures an equitable role for the LMIC researchers in setting the research agenda and strategic direction of the partnership
We also expect you to:
- explain how the partnership will be planned and managed
- explain how the partnership will enable researchers to work together, network and build capability in a strategic area
- demonstrate how the partnership will benefit the wider research community
- if applicable, explain how partnership services, equipment or infrastructure will be accessed by the wider research community
- outline future plans for sustaining the partnership beyond MRC funding, or for funding applied research which may develop from the partnership
- outline how engagement of relevant stakeholders, such as end-users, healthcare workers, policymakers and implementers, is embedded throughout the design and delivery of the partnership
- outline any plans for coproduction and co-development of future research
- explain the proposed timeline including milestones and a diagrammatic workplan, such as a Gantt chart, which can be embed within the text box
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service
Research capacity strengthening
Word limit: 250
What are your capacity strengthening plans for the research project?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how you have embedded appropriate capacity building activities within the proposed work. Explain how your capacity strengthening activities:
- are appropriate to the LMIC research needs and the objectives of the project
- will benefit the LMIC researchers and communities involved
Within this section we expect you to:
- detail research capacity building needs, opportunities and planned activities
- explain who will participate in delivering these activities and who will benefit from them
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
- opportunities for LMIC leadership and management
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
The word count for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) 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 Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
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 third party 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.
The individual named as the project partner contact, cannot be included in your application as a member of the core team, in any core team role.
The project partner organisation cannot be an applicant organisation, where any member of the core team is based. For example, you cannot include a different department based within the applicant organisation as a project partner.
If an individual or organisation outside the core team is responsible for recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue for this project, list them as a project partner.
Add the following project partner details:
- the organisation name (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 there are specific circumstances where project partners do require funding for minor costs such as travel and subsistence, these project partner costs should be claimed and justified within the resources and costs section of your application.
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.
Letters or emails of support are not required from project partners at stage one of the application process (they will be required if you are invited to apply to the full application stage two).
If your stage one application includes industry project partners, you are not required to complete the Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF) review, until the stage two application process is relevant to your proposed work. Find out more about ICF.
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word limit: 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.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Financial information and equity
Word limit: 500
Provide a high-level indication of how much each research organisation will need.
Applications in which the majority of the budget is allocated to the UK will be rejected.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a breakdown of the funding requested for each eligible organisation, by copying and pasting the table provided into the text box. You should then add the cost figures relevant to each organisation involved. The table has separate column headings, which will allow you to clearly define the costs you are claiming for each participating organisation, depending on where they are based:
- low and middle-income countries (LMIC)
- the UK
- non-UK high income countries (HIC) including India
Important note: a narrative justification of your costs is not required during stage one of the application process.
Further organisation finance guidance
Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC)
LMICs are defined as those on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list.
You must include costs associated with LMIC organisations as exceptions (100%).
Important note: You can claim an additional 20% on top of the total LMIC exception costs for each specific LMIC organisation. These additional funds are a contribution towards indirect costs incurred by the LMIC overseas organisation over the duration of the project (excluding India).
Important note: There is no cap on eligible funds attributed to international project co-leads from DAC list countries, excluding India.
UK based research organisations costs
All UK based costs must comply with the principles of full economic costing (FEC) of applications and claimed accordingly (if the application is successful, we would typically fund 80% of the UK based costs claimed).
High Income Country based international organisation (including India) costs
A HIC international organisation (based overseas, including India), will not be on the OECD DAC list of official development assistance recipients (therefore not defined as an LMIC).
Costs associated with HIC international organisations must be claimed as an exception (100%).
All costs attributed to international HICs, including India must not exceed 30% of the total FEC costs claimed.
Do not include indirect costs for organisations based within any HIC international organisation, as these are not permitted. Do not claim the 20% extra costs as this is for LMIC based organisations only (excluding India).
Provide a breakdown of the funding request per organisation by completing the table provided in the Funding Service.
Related applications
Word limit: 800
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.
