UKRI Cross Research Council Responsive Mode Pilot Scheme

About the opportunity

UKRI has published round 1 of their cross-research council responsive mode pilot scheme offering grants from £200k - £1.2M. This funding is designed to support new interdisciplinary ideas emerging from the research community outside current disciplinary boundaries.

UKRI are seeking:

• high quality, and creative ideas that transcend, combine or significantly span research council remits
• new, unexpected and novel projects that have the potential to lead to breakthrough ideas and collaborations
• research that can only be addressed through interdisciplinary collaboration
• projects combining disciplines to create new approaches to a research question, new methodologies or new ways of working
• reciprocity across the disciplines, with the disciplines involved being changed or transformed by working together
• projects that catalyse new interdisciplinary research through co-creation and design
• ideas with no clear ‘lead’ UKRI research council for responsive mode funding including applications that significantly span 2 or more research council remits

This pilot scheme will support ideas not routinely funded through existing UKRI responsive mode schemes, helping ensure there is space for the convergence and divergence of new ideas across all fields of research.

For full details on the opportunity, including eligibility and assessment criteria visit the UKRI cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme page.

Timeline

Institutional Process for Supporting Grant Applications

Internal Deadline – Thursday 15^th June 2023

Recognising that the scheme is likely to be highly competitive, early oversight and preliminary assessment of applications will be key to ensuring bids are within remit and capable of scoring highly against the funder’s assessment criteria.

A Supporting Grant Application (SGA) proforma has been adapted for the UKRI Cross Research Council Responsive Mode Pilot Scheme and a triage panel composed of selected Deans of Research, School Directors of Research, Interdisciplinary Centre Directors and Research & Innovation will be convened to review SGA submissions to help maximise the quality and success of applications by providing early constructive feedback and enabling discussion with senior colleagues who have a track record with major funders.

Please note this is a University-wide triage process and the adapted SGA proforma replaces local Intention to Submit (ItS)/ Supporting Grant Applications (SGA) processes.

Please provide a short Outline Case for Support using the SGA proforma in advance of the advertised internal triage deadlines – Thursday 15^th June. This will ensure appropriate advice and guidance can be provided to help develop your application. The SGA proforma should be submitted by email to the Grants Academy.

• SGA Proforma document link

Peer reviewers from different disciplines will be recommended for each application as an outcome of the triage process.

Following the SGA process, a Worktribe application to support costings and record the necessary internal approvals will be required. Guidance and access to Worktribe can be found here. Please complete a Worktribe project and submit for approval at least 5 working days ahead of UKRI’s deadline  for outline applications (20 July 2023) or the date you intend to submit.

Where applications are being led by other HEIs the University’s SGA process is not mandatory but we do encourage colleagues to create a Worktribe record and engage with the Research Development Team and IDR Directors as early as possible to ensure visibility.

Update 30/05/2023: The SGA proforma has been updated to reflect that UKRI will not require project costs, or a justification of resources, at the outline stage, however if you are in any doubt whether your proposed project’s budget will be in the range of £200,000 - £1,200,000 (full economic cost) please do contact your School’s Pre Award Costing Accountant for support.

Applications to UKRI’s Interdisciplinary Assessment College

UKRI is inviting applications to join a new Interdisciplinary Assessment College which will support the assessment of their new cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme.

College membership offers a unique opportunity to be part of an important new approach to funding research ideas that transcend, combine or significantly span disciplines.

Applications are open to everyone with experience of interdisciplinary research, from academic and non-academic backgrounds (including business, public and third sector organisations), and from across the diverse range of roles needed for successful research (for example, technicians and professional services).

Colleagues from early, mid and late career stages are welcome to apply.

UKRI are holding two webinars for prospective college applicants where you can learn more about the Interdisciplinary Assessment College:

• 16 May 2023 - 10:00am to 11:00am: register via Zoom to attend
• 18 May 2023 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm: register via Zoom to attend

Further information is available here.

You can review UKRI’s Interdisciplinary Assessment College applicant survey questions here.

Applications should be submitted via UKRI Engagement Hub for this recruitment. The closing date for applications is 20 June 2023.

Further Resources

• Use our ‘Find A Collaborator’ tool to search and find potential collaborators from another discipline based on interest and expertise.
   
• Do you have a good research idea but need to connect with researchers from outside your discipline and outside the university to make it great? The Scottish Research Pools and partners have launched a Multidisciplinary Matchmaker to support researchers to connect with Scottish academics across disciplines. Check out the Multidisciplinary Matchmaker page and fill in a short form to connect to potential collaborators in both academia and industry. This initiative is being supported by the following Research Pools, Innovation Centres and Graduate Schools, providing connections across the following disciplines: Life Sciences, Informatics and Computing Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, Medical Imaging, Geosciences and thematic areas of Marine Science, Biotechnology, IoT and Sensing and Energy.
   
• Visit Research & Knowledge Exchange Support | StaffNet | The University of Aberdeen (abdn.ac.uk) for further guidance and resources on idea preparation, application development and submission.
   
• The University of Aberdeen under the Aberdeen Grants Academy manages several internal funding opportunities to pump-prime research and knowledge exchange activities. Pump prime funds can be used to establish new, high quality interdisciplinary research collaborations, or significantly enhance existing partnerships, both internally and externally building on excellent research, where applicants can demonstrate clear pathways to achieve outcomes, for example attracting UKRI Cross Research Council Responsive Mode funding. See the University’s Research & Research Network Pump Prime Scheme for further details on funding available to pump prime interdisciplinary research initiatives, support for bid development, and networking. Current funding must be spent by 31st July 2023 however we anticipated that further pump prime funding for 2023/24 will be made available in due course.

This page was last updated on 02 June 2023.