Scope

This is the 2024 round of the EPSRC International Centre to Centre scheme. Our aim is to enable world-leading partnerships by providing an opportunity for leading UK research groups to work in partnership with the best international collaborators for their research.

For this funding opportunity:

• we will consider applications to collaborate with one or more international research organisation (including universities, public sector research organisations and publicly funded research institutes)
• although the majority of the application should lie within EPSRC remit, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations with international partners are welcomed
• partnerships can involve one or more overseas research organisations in one or more countries
• we are open to applications to either develop new international collaborators or to build on existing relationships
• partners may be in a low or middle income country. However, we do not require compliance with Official Development Assistance (ODA) criteria for this funding opportunity
• industry engagement is strongly encouraged where appropriate and you are encouraged to engage with your strategic partners and co-develop ideas early in the process

If you have any questions relating to these points please contact EPSRC before applying. Applications not meeting these requirements in the judgement of EPSRC staff will be rejected without recourse to peer review.

Duration

The duration of this award is three to five years.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £1,800,000 (this is the 100% FEC figure).

EPSRC will fund 80% of the FEC figure (that is, £1,440,000).

What we will fund

Up to £15 million is available from EPSRC for this funding opportunity. We aim to fund nine to twelve research consortia through this activity for projects of three to five years’ duration. Applications may consist of a single research project, or a suite of related research activities in a defined research area.

Support for the proposed international collaboration is subject to standard EPSRC funding rules. Project co-leads (international) based outside of Norway may not be requested for this funding opportunity. We expect to see contributions from overseas partners to the project but recognise that it will depend on the nature of the project whether those are cash or in-kind contributions. Aspects of the ‘Fit to opportunity’ criterion in particular will assess the contribution of the overseas partner (see the ‘How we will assess your application’ section).

In terms of staff resource, we expect at least two full-time equivalent postdoctoral research staff to be requested on each application. If appropriate for the proposed project’s direction and objectives, you can request postdoctoral researcher positions that do not necessarily span the full length of the project or include part-time positions. However, we do not expect the application to include requests for short-term postdoctoral researcher positions. PhD studentships or funding associated with PhD studentships are not eligible for inclusion in the costs sought from EPSRC.

We would expect to see funding requests to support travel, subsistence and consumables for the UK project leads, project co-leads and research staff to visit or have extended work placements at a partner’s laboratory overseas. Requests can also be made for resources to enable different approaches to building and sustaining collaborations, which reduce the need to travel. We would expect the budget requested for the travel or alternative resources to be sufficient to support the collaboration between the centres.

Overseas partner organisations can be universities, public sector research organisations or publicly funded research institutes. International collaborators should be included in applications as either:

Project partners

Project partners can receive small amounts of funding from the grant, such as for travel and subsistence to attend project meetings. Extended visits should be listed as visiting researchers.

Project partners’ estimated financial contributions to the research consortium should be indicated on the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as cash or in-kind contributions as appropriate. A short description of types of costs that the international partner’s planned financial contribution will cover (for example, staff costs, travel, laboratory access) should be included in the ‘Justification of resources’. International partner contributions do not need to be new funding they are applying for from equivalent international funding bodies; their contribution can take the form of aligned existing funds.

Visiting researchers

Support may be requested for visits by overseas collaborators to the UK for up to 12 months per individual. The application may include estates and indirect costs for any visiting researcher, regardless of whether the support being requested includes a salary contribution or is only travel and subsistence. Visiting researchers should be of acknowledged standing, that is, individuals who hold an academic lectureship position (or equivalent) or above.

What we will not fund

Equipment over £10,000 in value (including VAT) is not available through this funding opportunity. Smaller items of equipment (individually under £10,000) should be in the ‘Directly incurred – other costs’ heading.

See more information about EPSRC’s approach to equipment funding.

EPSRC standard guidance on intellectual property applies to projects supported by 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 you can find additional support.

Responsible innovation

You are expected to work within the EPSRC framework for responsible innovation.

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.

This funding opportunity will have a two-stage application process:

• outline application
• invited submission of a full application, if successful at the outline stage

Although applications may be multi-institutional, only one application form should be submitted for each bid. Single-form applications are required in order to facilitate integration across the UK research partners.

The lead institution must be based in the UK and must be eligible to hold EPSRC grants.

Webinar

A webinar for prospective applicants was held on 25 June 2024. This was comprised of a presentation about the funding opportunity by the EPSRC International Team and was followed by a question and answer session.

Watch the webinar recording on YouTube.

Webinar slides and the question and answer document can be found in the ‘Additional info’ section.

Stage one: outline application

You should ensure you are aware of and comply with any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place.

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.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.
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. 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:

• how applicants use the Funding Service
• how research offices use the Funding Service
• how reviewers use the Funding Service

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 references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

References should be included in the appropriate question section of the application (for this opportunity – within the Applicant and Team Capability to Deliver section) 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 12 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.

If successful at the outline stage, you will be invited to submit a full application. We will send you guidance on completing a full application at this next stage.

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 What we have funded.

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) (only if based in Norway)
• research and innovation associate (optional)
• professional enabling staff
• technician (optional)
• visiting researcher (optional)
• specialist (optional)
• grant manager (optional)
• researcher co-lead (RcL) (optional)

Only list one individual as project lead.

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

Application questions

Outline Vision

Word limit: 500 words

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
• meets the strategic aims of the funding opportunity

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

Within this section 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 8MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Your application may be rejected if images are provided without a descriptive legend in the text box, or are used to replace text that could be input into the text box.

References may be included within this section.

Within the Vision section we also expect you to:

• focus on the value and impact of the addition of proposed international partnerships, and what this grant would enable which would not otherwise be feasible with a UK focused consortia group
• this section should also describe in brief the whole planned research project or programme, including the scientific contribution of the listed international partners
• make sure you address all the assessment criteria, see the ‘Assessment criteria section for more details

Outline Approach

Word limit: 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

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

Within this section 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 8MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Your application may be rejected if images are provided without a descriptive legend in the text box, or are used to replace text that could be input into the text box.

References may be included within this section.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 500

How will the application team deliver the proposed research programme?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

• relevant research experience and skills to develop and deliver the proposed transdisciplinary research programme
• planned to identify and embed additional expertise where gaps in the team exist

The core leadership team should consist of the project lead (programme director) and the project co-leads identified on the outline application. There will be scope to expand this team and include new collaborators on the full application and you will be able to add further detail.

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.

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

For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

Outline costs

Word limit: 1,000

What are the expected costs of the proposed work?

For this outline stage, a brief justification for the UK resources should be given. A short description should be provided of types of costs that the international partner’s planned financial contribution will cover (for example, staff costs, travel, laboratory access).

What the assessors are looking for in your response

• provide the approximate total values in GBP (£) for the expected directly incurred, directly allocated, indirect costs and exceptions
• view the guidance on the costs you can apply for

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

If you are collecting or using data you should identify:

• any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse 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

Fit to opportunity

Word limit: 500

How will you establish or maintain a unique, world leading activity?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Please explain:

• how your work will be of added value to the UK research base of the proposed international research partnership
• what the unique features of the joint research team are
• the appropriateness and timeliness of proposed international partnership
• the track record of UK applicant team working together
• how undertaking this work will meet national and international needs

Application cover letter

Word limit: 1,000

This should be used to detail which eligibility criterion is fulfilled and through which EPSRC grants.

If the overseas partners are applying for or plan to apply for funding in parallel to enable their participation in the consortium this should also be specified in the application cover letter. Further details are not required at the outline stage but will be required at the full application stage.

If the required information is not included in the cover letter the outline application will be rejected without consideration by the shortlisting panel.

Please use a table with the following headings and complete the information in each column:

• EPSRC grant reference number
• project lead (formerly principal investigator) name
• holding research organisation
• grant type (for example, programme grant)
• EPSRC grant value
• grant end date

Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than two sides of A4, single spaced in paper in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm.

For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Application cover letter’.

Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive data within the attachment.

If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

We will assess your application using the following process.

Assessment process

Outlines will be considered by a peer review panel, specifically an expert (assessment) panel.

Invited full applications will undergo postal peer review, followed by a prioritisation panel, resulting in a rank-ordered list.

At both the Expert Panel (who will shortlist proposals to invite to Full Stage) and funding prioritisation panel meetings (at Full Stage), applications may be grouped by topic and ranked on separate lists, as required. If there is significant demand, then we may group the applications by topic and run two or more expert or prioritisation panels. The panels will assess the applications against the assessment criteria described below.

In the event of this funding opportunity being substantially oversubscribed as to be unmanageable, EPSRC reserve the right to modify the assessment process.

Feedback

Feedback will not be provided for successful and unsuccessful outline applications.

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.

Assessment criteria

The criteria we will assess your outline application against are:

• Vision
• Approach
• Applicant and team capability to deliver
• Fit to opportunity

Invited full applications will undergo postal peer review, followed by a prioritisation panel.

The assessment of the full applications will take into account:

• the effectiveness and appropriateness of the approach to deliver the proposed work
• the applicant and teams capability to deliver, including the added value to research outcomes from the international partnership
• resources and cost justification

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 application 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 international@epsrc.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 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.

Find out more about 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.

Background

Research is an international endeavour and many challenges that we face are global. As well as maintaining the strength of UK research, we want UK researchers to be able to work with the best collaborators around the world. This funding opportunity is the third round of an EPSRC funding initiative, which aims to provide opportunities for leading UK research groups to work in partnership with the best international researchers for their research.

The objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• to enable high-profile, world-leading international collaborations focused on excellent research with impact
• to contribute to EPSRC’s strategy by supporting high-quality research collaborations which align with our research area strategies and address priorities related to our strategic delivery plan
• to further the UK’s strategic needs in international science and innovation partnerships

Full application stage

Documents we are likely to require at the full application stage include:

• vision and approach
• applicant and team capability to deliver
• project partner contributions (submitted using a prescribed template)
• project partner letters of support
• CVs of visiting researchers
• equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) plan
• resources and cost justification
• data management and sharing (if applicable)
• intellectual property rights (if applicable)
• outsourcing information (if applicable)
• sensitive Information (if applicable)
• ethics and responsible research and innovation
• work plan
• technical assessment for the use of any major facility (if applicable)

EPSRC aims to support a diverse and inclusive research environment where there is equality of opportunities. As such, we will be asking for an EDI plan at the full application stage of this funding opportunity. These plans should describe the approaches and activities you will employ to enable and facilitate greater EDI in your project.

While we do not expect project teams to have specific expertise in EDI, the plans should still demonstrate an understanding of any EDI challenges associated with the project. EDI outcomes and the methods required to reach them should also be identified. These plans should be feasible and have appropriate resources allocated to address the challenges.

Examples of what could be included in the EDI plan are listed below. However, you are not expected to include all of these:

• actions to promote inclusive participation in international collaboration activities
• EDI research
• EDI advocacy
• budgeting for activity and building a small team to deliver if necessary

The EDI plan should be project-specific and focus on activities beyond any institutional EDI activities already in place.

Find further information on the types of equality, diversity and inclusion support we can provide.

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

Additional disability and accessibility adjustments

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

Webinar for potential applicants

We held a webinar on 25 June 2024. This provided more information about the funding opportunity and a chance to ask questions.

Watch the webinar recording on YouTube.

View webinar slides (PDF, 1MB).

Read the webinar question and answer document (PDF, 146KB).

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.

Supporting documents

Equality impact assessment (DOCX, 95KB)