Metascience research grants: round two (Grant)

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

International researchers

As UKRI is a lead funder for this opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’. You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.

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

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

Remit

If you are unsure whether your proposed research falls within the remit of this funding opportunity, email a brief summary to metascience@ukri.org and we will get back to you.

Aim

This funding opportunity aims to accelerate the generation of evidence on how we can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and inclusivity of the R&D ecosystem. For this round, we are interested in how the adoption of AI is changing the research landscape, how to optimally design and lead research institutions, and how to measure and understand scientific progress at scale.

Scope

Metascience, a rapidly expanding research field, draws on a wide range of disciplinary expertise to understand how research is conducted, funded and supported, and how these practices can be enhanced or improved. For a deeper understanding of what metascience means to UKRI, please see the UK Metascience Unit’s report.

The Metascience Grants Programme, jointly funded by UKRI and Coefficient Giving, supports innovative and ambitious metascience research projects that use scientific methods to deepen our understanding of how different incentives, institutional structures, and funding practices within the R&D system influence scientific research outputs and career outcomes. This funding opportunity will support empirical and theoretical research that is focused on generating actionable insights for decision makers, including those in government, funding bodies, and research organisations.

In this funding opportunity, we are focusing on three themes to build our metascience portfolio. Applications should fit under one of the following:

Science of AI for Science

This theme looks at how:

• the adoption of AI is changing the research landscape

• this helps or hinders scientific progress and how governments, industry, and funding organisations should respond

Effective design and leadership of research organisations

This theme includes the:

• empirical comparison of institutional models

• drivers of programme manager and research performance

• application of evidence from management and behavioural science to improve organisational structures and practices in research environments

• effectiveness of interventions to support inclusive, high-performing research cultures

Scientometric approaches to understanding research excellence, efficiency, and equity

This theme includes the:

• development, validation, and generalisable use of metrics and indicators to assess research quality, influence, and impact

• development or application of indicators to advance the curation and synthesis of science at scale

• behavioural consequences of metric use in research evaluation and funding decisions

We will not fund applications that do not fit under one of these three themes. In your application, you should clearly state the theme your proposal fits within alongside providing a clear justification.

The funders strongly welcome projects involving collaborations between researchers and organisations (for example research funders, research organisations, charities, think-tanks, journals) interested in implementing findings or approaches from the proposed research in their practices.

Science of AI for Science

As an emerging area, it is our experience from other funding opportunities that AI for Science requires further guidance to ensure common understanding.

We define AI broadly as ‘software which learns by example’, including generative AI and machine learning, and applications of these in hardware, for instance, self-driving laboratories. We define ‘AI for Science’ as the application of AI in scientific research itself (including social science) and in activities undertaken within a research ecosystem, for instance, peer review or research portfolio evaluation.

This funding opportunity aims to fund projects that contribute to the embryonic ‘Science of AI for Science’, or ‘AI Metascience’. These are projects that will generate broad understanding and evaluations of the use of AI and its impacts that is relevant across multiple scientific fields and contexts.

We will reject projects focused primarily on the application of AI in industrial settings like clinical medicine, law or fintech. We will also reject proposals focused on conducting frontier computer science research (that is, the ‘science of AI’, as opposed to ‘AI metascience’), or on general AI ethics, security, safety and society-related topics, not because these are not important, but because they are covered much more substantially in other programmes funded by UKRI.

Duration

The duration of this award is between six months and 24 months.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £250,000 if all organisations are UK-based and eligible for funding. The FEC of your project can be up to £350,000 if you have an international partner, but the additional funds should be used solely to cover costs relating to the international partners and not the UK elements of the project. If the UK costs are found to be over £250,000, your application will be considered as overbudget and will be rejected.

UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC. The remaining 20% is expected to come from the project lead’s research organisation.

What we will fund

In this funding opportunity, we are focusing on three themes to build our metascience portfolio. Applications should fit under one of the following areas, as outlined in the ‘Scope’ section above:

• Science of AI for Science

• effective design and leadership of research organisations

• scientometric approaches to understanding research excellence, efficiency, and equity

The funders strongly welcome projects involving collaborations between researchers and organisations (for example research funders, research organisations, charities, think-tanks, journals) interested in implementing findings or approaches from the proposed research in their practices.

What we will not fund

We will not fund applications that do not fit under one of the three themes, as outlined in the ‘Scope’ section. In your application, you should clearly state the theme your proposal fits under alongside providing a clear justification.

Data requirements

UKRI recognises the importance of data quality and provenance. Data generated, collected or acquired by UKRI-funded research must be well-managed by the grant holder to enable their data to be exploited to the maximum potential for further research. See our research data policy for details and further information on data requirements. The requirements of the research data policy are a condition of UKRI research funding.

Where relevant, details on data management and sharing should be provided in the ‘Data management’ section. See the importance of managing and sharing data and content for inclusion in a data management plan on the UK Data Service (UKDS) website for further guidance. We expect applicants to provide a summary of the points provided. The UKDS (datasharing@ukdataservice.ac.uk) will be pleased to advise applicants on the availability of data within the academic community and provide advice on data deposit requirements.

Impact, innovation and interdisciplinarity

We expect you to consider the potential scientific, societal and economic impacts of their research. Outputs, dissemination and impact are a key part of the criteria for most expert review and assessment processes. We also encourage applications that demonstrate innovation and interdisciplinarity (research combining approaches from more than one discipline).

Knowledge exchange and collaboration

We are committed to knowledge exchange and encouraging collaboration between researchers and the private, public and civil society sectors. Collaborative working benefits both the researchers and the individuals and organisations involved. Through collaboration, partners learn about each other’s expertise, share knowledge and gain an appreciation of different professional cultures. Collaborative activity can therefore lead to a better understanding of the ways that academic research can add value and offer insights to key issues of concern for policy and practice. We expect successful grant holders to participate in cohort events as we look to build the UK metascience community.

Knowledge exchange should not be treated as an ‘add-on’ at the end of a project but considered before the start and built into a project.

Research ethics

UKRI requires that the research we support is designed and conducted in such a way that it meets ethical principles and is subject to proper professional and institutional oversight in terms of research governance. We have agreed a Framework for Research Ethics that all submitted proposals must comply with. Read further details about the Framework for Research Ethics and guidance on compliance.

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.

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Examination of applications

All applications will be examined to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria and scope of the funding opportunity. If your application is outside the scope, you will be advised by email, and we will not assess your application. We aim to notify you of this around six weeks after the closing date.

Distributed peer review

All proposals for the UKRI Metascience research grants round two will undergo distributed peer review (DPR). In DPR, applicants are also assessors and review other proposals submitted to the same funding opportunity to decide who gets funding. By submitting a proposal, applicants agree to act as reviewers and to have their proposal reviewed by their peers. Please find the DPR Rules and Guidelines in the ‘Additional information’ section below. It is important that you read these carefully before applying.

Please note that by submitting a proposal, you accept the following terms and conditions:

• all applicants will receive a maximum of 10 proposals to review

• the reviewer is expected to carefully read all the assigned proposals, rate them and provide feedback to the applicants following the rules and guidelines

• failing to provide the reviews by the deadline will lead to the automatic rejection of the proposal submitted by the given applicant

By using different reviewer pools, budgets and an allocation algorithm, proposals will be assigned to reviewers in such a way that scoring an application has no bearing on the ranking of the reviewer’s own application. See the DPR rules and guidelines in the Additional information section below.

The DPR process and outcomes will be evaluated by the UK Metascience Unit. You will be approached for feedback following the process.

By applying for this scheme, you are consenting to take part in DPR. Please do not apply for this particular funding opportunity if you would prefer not to take part in the DPR process.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will make the final funding decision. UKRI reserves the right to take a portfolio approach to ensure disciplinary coverage.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within three months of receiving your application.

Feedback

We will give feedback with the outcome of your application. The reviews received for your application via the distributed peer review process will be made available for you to read once the final funding decisions have been made.

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.

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review

Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment, including to correct language, spelling, grammar and formatting. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.

For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.

Sharing data with co-funders

We will need to share the application (including any personal information that it contains) with DSIT and Coefficient Giving so that they can participate in the assessment process.

For more information on how they use personal information, visit:

• DSIT privacy notices

• Coefficient Giving Privacy policy

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

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

• vision

• approach

• applicant and team capability to deliver

• ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

• resources and cost justification

• data management and sharing

• international collaboration (if applicable)

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

Webinar for potential applicants

We will hold a webinar on 24 March 2026. This will provide more information about the funding opportunity and a chance to ask questions.

Register for the webinar

Click here to start an application on the UKRI Funding Service: 

https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1197/apply/1224

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

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

1. Confirm you are the project lead

2. 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.orgPlease 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.

3. 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.

4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.

5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

6. 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.

When including images, you must:

• provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)

• insert each new image on a new line

• use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:

• sentences or paragraphs of text

• tables

• excessive quantities of images

A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

• how applicants use the Funding Service

• how research offices use the Funding Service

• how reviewers use the Funding Service

References

References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:

• references are easily identifiable by the assessors

• references are formatted as appropriate to your research

• persistent identifiers are used where possible

General use of hyperlinks

Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI)

Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.

Deadline

UKRI must receive your application by 23 April 2026 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 this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Personal data

Processing personal data

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.

UKRI will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with DSIT and Coefficient Giving so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how DSIT and Coefficient Giving use personal information visit:

• DSIT privacy notices

• Coefficient Giving Privacy policy

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email metascience@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.

Institutional Matched Funding

There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.

This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

Publication of outcomes

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity.

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 may 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

Only list one individual as project lead.

UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.

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

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 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, or generate 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

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 service.

Approach

Word limit: 2,500

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:

• is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives

• is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed

• uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)

• summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)

• 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

Within the Approach section we also expect you to:

• provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines

• clearly describe both the framework and specific analysis methods proposed and explain the reasons for their choice. You should particularly mention any innovation in this or how different methodologies or methods may be combined

• explain what steps you will take to provide opportunities for users to benefit from your research, and to ensure that your research has maximum economic and societal impact

All applicants planning to generate data as part of their grant must complete the separate Data management question.

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 service.

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

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the 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.

References may be included within this section.

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical and RRI considerations, 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 and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project

• the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm

• how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project

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

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service.

Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation.

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)

• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities

• all facilities and infrastructure costs, if applicable

• all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’

You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project. For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders.

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

You must identify how support for activities to either increase impact, for public engagement and or to support responsible innovation is costed in this application. Please also include anticipated costs to attend annual Metascience cohort events.

For detailed guidance on eligible costs please see the ESRC Research Funding Guide.

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 contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or facilities. Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.

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 indirect) 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

• be no more than one A4 page in length

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 ‘Project partners’ section.

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.

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 500

How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.

Demonstrate that you have designed your proposed work so that you can appropriately manage and share data in accordance with ESRC’s Research Data Policy and ESRC Framework for Research Ethics (if applicable)

Within the Data management section we also expect you to:

• plan for the research through the life cycle of the award until data is accepted for archiving by the UK Data Service (UKDS) or a responsible data repository

• demonstrate compliance with ESRC’s Research Data Policy and ESRC Framework for Research Ethics. This should include confirmation that existing datasets have been reviewed and why currently available datasets are inadequate for the proposed research

• cover any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data, including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical issues

• include any challenges to data sharing (for example copyright or data confidentiality), with possible solutions discussed to optimise data sharing

If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Facilities

Word limit: 250

Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.

For each requested facility you will need to provide the:

• name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 42KB)

• proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list

• confirmation you have their agreement where required

Facilities should only be named if they are on the facility information list above. If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

Word limit: 100

Does your proposed work relate to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate how your proposed work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles including:

• list any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• if this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, please list the area(s)

• please read the academic export control guidance and confirm if an export control licence is required for this project and the status of any application(s)

• if your project involves any items or substances on the UK strategic export control list, please provide a list

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information later, in line with UKRI TR&I principles and funding terms and conditions (RGC 2.6.2, 2.7.1 and 2.7.2).

International collaboration

Word limit: 100

Does the proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide details about your expected international collaboration or engagement, including:

• a list of the countries your international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in

• details of any subcontractors or service providers

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Background

Investing in research, development, and innovation is vital to UK and international economic growth and prosperity. However, it is not just the quantity of that investment that matters but also the quality. How research is funded and practiced is critical to accelerating scientific breakthroughs and innovations, nurturing talent, and shaping research culture.

In November 2023, the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) announced a metascience programme in the Government’s response to the Independent Review of the UK’s Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape (PDF, 2MB). The programme is being delivered by a joint DSIT-UKRI initiative; the UK Metascience Unit.

The UK Metascience Unit recently published their first major report: A year in metascience (2025).

This funding opportunity is part of a range of activities delivered by the unit to generate evidence on more effective approaches to delivering and supporting R&D using a range methods, including randomised evaluations, natural experiments, and data science.

This funding opportunity is delivered in partnership with Coefficient Giving. Coefficient Giving is a philanthropic funder and advisor which aims to use its resources to help others as effectively as it can. The organisation makes grants across a number of areas, including research on economic growth and scientific innovation.

The Metascience Unit is committed to experimenting in the delivery of research funding. We believe that a successful research portfolio balances both targeted and curiosity-driven approaches. Separate to this research grants funding opportunity, we have also launched the Scientometrics sandpit, a targeted event to co-create a set of interrelated projects as a group, all centred around the specific objective of developing scientometrics for research assessment.

Applicants may apply to both the Metascience grants round two and the Scientometrics for research assessment metascience sandpit.

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Supporting documents

Equality Impact Assessment for the opportunity (PDF, 220KB)

DPR Rules and guidelines (PDF, 175KB)

Global Talent visa

Applicants are eligible for a Global Talent visa under the ‘exceptional promise’ category for future research leaders.

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.

Related content

• UKRI policies and standards

• ESRC research funding guide

• ESRC Guidance for applicants

Related opportunities

• Metascience sandpit: scientometrics for research assessment

Get help with your application

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

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, content or remit of a funding 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 contact metascience@ukri.org

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 more efficiently, 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.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.