Scope

Our Large Grants are intended to support adventurous, large-scale and complex research, tackling big science questions that cannot be addressed through our other funding opportunities. You can submit an application in any area of environmental science, provided it is predominantly within a research area or subject associated with NERC’s remit.

We also welcome multidisciplinary applications that cross into other research council areas.

We are looking for applications that can support pure, applied, technology-led or policy-driven research but still address (or provide the means to address) clearly defined scientific questions.

We expect that the research projects we fund will have the potential to be world leading and tackle big science questions. To achieve this, they will often involve multidisciplinary approaches. We expect your application to show several interdependent components (work packages) interacting in a single overall structure.

Duration

The duration of this award is up to five years.

You should propose a realistic and appropriate project start date based on the requirements of your project. It is anticipated that grants will be able to start from October 2025, but it should be noted that start dates for all successful grants will only be confirmed following discussion with NERC regarding project requirements. For those projects requiring use of large research infrastructure, start dates will be dependent on access to infrastructure being scheduled and confirmed.

Funding available

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be between £1.2 million and £3.7 million.

We will fund 80% of the FEC with the following exceptions:

• justified equipment would be funded at 100%
• eligible costs for international project co-lead (previously co-investigator) involvement would be funded at 100%
• associated studentship stipends and fees would be funded at 100%

The total cost includes any associated studentships and facility costs (for example, ship time, aircraft time).

Please note that for this funding opportunity we will require full costing information and a justification of resources as part of your application.

Most applications are expected to be less than £3.7 million. We recognise that a small number of projects may have exceptional costs that require the budget to exceed the £3.7 million limit. In these exceptional cases, we request that you notify us during the preparation of your application so we can advise you as necessary. We will require written justification as part of your application for any requests to exceed the usual £3.7 million limit and reserve the right to reduce the amount requested if not deemed reasonable or fully justified.

Justified equipment is funded at 100% FEC.

Any requests for equipment over £10,000 must be fully justified as part of your application. You are reminded that funding for equipment is subject to consideration by NERC of the justification of resources and budget availability. We therefore recommend discussing with NERC in advance if you intend to request equipment of significant value within the costs of your project to ensure you know what information to provide.

Associated studentships based at the UK organisation can be requested through this funding opportunity. We will fund studentship stipends and fees at 100% direct costs and other related costs at 80% FEC.

Eligible project co-lead (international) costs (under the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis or Norway agreement) are funded at:

• 100% for eligible direct costs
• a maximum of 30% of the full economic cost value for all international costs

For eligible project co-leads (international), we will fund:

• salaries
• directly incurred costs (for example, travel and subsistence, consumables)
• research and innovation associate

For eligible project co-leads (international) only, we will not fund:

• estates and other indirect costs
• capital or equipment (items over £10,000)

Associated studentships

Associated studentships based at the UK organisation can be requested through this funding opportunity. You should review our guidance for applying for a Large Grant associated studentship on our large grant associated studentships page and associated studentships guidance in our NERC research grants and fellowships handbook in advance of preparing your application.

Services and facilities

You can apply to use a NERC facility or resource in your funding application.

You should discuss your application with the facility or service at least two months before the funding opportunity’s closing date to:

• discuss the proposed work in detail
• receive confirmation that they can provide the services required within the timeframe of the funding

The facility will provide a technical assessment that includes the calculated cost of providing the service. NERC services and facilities must be costed within the limits of the funding.

You should not submit the technical assessment with the application, but you must confirm you have received it.

For more information, go to the NERC research grants and fellowships handbook.

Read the full list of NERC facilities that require a technical assessment.

High Performance Computing (HPC), Ship-Time or Marine Equipment (SME) and the large research facilities at Harwell have their own policies for access and costing.

Ship-time and marine facilities

Applicants requiring ship-time and other marine facilities would have already completed an online ship-time and marine equipment (SME) or autonomous deployment (ADF) application form for the outline stage of this funding opportunity.

If changes are required, then you should contact marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org to discuss ship-time and equipment needs as soon as possible and by 12 September 2024 at the latest.

In any case, you are required to attach a PDF of the SME or ADF as a facility form on your full application and to include the SME or ADF number on the ‘Facilities’ section of your application. If you do not do this, your request may not be considered for inclusion in the NERC Marine Facilities Programme.

British Antarctic Survey Antarctic Logistics Support

Applicants requiring NERC British Antarctic Survey Antarctic Logistics Support would have already completed a pre-award operational support planning questionnaire (OSPQ) online at the outline stage, nothing further is required.

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.

International co-funding

We have international co-funding agreements with the following funders:

• National Science Foundation (NSF) USA
• São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Brazil
• Fonds Nationale de la Recherche (FNR) Luxembourg

If you wish to work with US-based researchers (NSF), then you must have already completed the expression of interest at outline application stage and received approval from leadagency@nerc.ukri.org. No new expressions of interests will be considered at this full application stage. Follow the guidance for submitting your application as per working with US-based researchers: NERC-NSF lead agency.

If you wish to work with researchers based in Sao Paulo (FAPESP), then you must have already checked your eligibility with FAPESP at outline application stage. Follow the guidance for submitting your application as per working with Brazilian researchers: NERC FAPESP lead agency. This includes submitting your application to the FAPESP SAGe system.

If you wish to work with researchers based in Luxembourg, then you must have already indicated this within your outline application. Refer to the guidance for collaborating with researchers in Luxembourg for your application submission.

Any queries on using any of these international collaboration agreements should be directed to leadagency@nerc.ukri.org

Trusted Research and Innovation

UK Research and Innovation (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 your 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.

Data management

You must adhere to UKRI open research policy and NERC data policy and complete the ‘Data management and sharing’ question.

For details of data centres, see the NERC Environmental Data Service.

We will pay the data centre directly on behalf of the programme for archival and curation services, but you should ensure that you request sufficient resource to cover preparation of data for archiving by the research team. Additional services from the data centres, such as database development or a specialist in project data management during your project, will need to be discussed with the relevant data centre prior to submission, costs for additional services will need to be funded from your grant.

Responsible research

Through our funding processes, we seek to make a positive contribution to society and the environment. This is not just through research outputs and outcomes but through the way in which research is conducted and facilities managed.

All NERC grant holders are to adopt responsible research practices as set out in the NERC responsible business statement.

Responsible research is defined as reducing harm or enhancing benefit on the environment and society through effective management of research activities and facilities. Specifically, this covers:

• the natural environment
• the local community
• equality, diversity and inclusion

You should consider the responsible research context of your project, not the host institution as a whole. You should take action to enhance your responsible research approach where practical and reasonable.

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.

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so 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.

Watch our recording on how to apply for an opportunity in the Funding Service.

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
   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, that 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 that image 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 your application.

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

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

Deadline

We must receive your application by 12 November 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

NERC, 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

NERC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity on What NERC has 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 that we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so 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
• doctoral student (named if possible, otherwise include as ‘unnamed’)
• research and innovation associate
• technician
• visiting researcher
• researcher co-lead (RcL)

Only list one individual as project lead.

The project lead is responsible for setting up and completing the application process on the Funding Service.

The project co-lead (international) role may only be used for collaborators based at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and in Norway, where we have collaboration agreements in place. We do not otherwise accept project co-lead (international) applicants.

Do not include international team members that are funded by international co-funders (NSF, FAPESP, FNR) within your core team. Instead include the project leads within the project partners section and include the amount to be funded by the international co-funder as an in-direct contribution.

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

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 2,000

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

Within this section we also expect you to:

• identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be
• explain why a large-scale project is more effective and appropriate than several smaller projects to achieve your objectives

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the ‘How to apply’ section.

References may be included within this section.

Approach

Word limit: 4,000

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your work 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 clear 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 this section we also expect you to:

• demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work
• provide a project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or similar (to be included within the word limit)

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the ‘How to apply’ section.

References may be included within this section.

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 ‘How to apply’ section.

The word limit 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 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

References may be included within this section.

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.

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

Using the text box, demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations, and how you will manage them. This could include, but is not limited to:

• research involving animals
• research involving human tissues or biological samples, including the nature and quantity of the material used and its source
• research involving human participation, including the numbers and diversity of the participants involved and any procedures
• consideration of environmental sustainability, following UKRI’s environmental sustainability strategy, including preventing environmental harm and enhancing environmental benefit
• consideration of social responsibility including equality, diversity and inclusion, in line with NERC’s responsible business statement

State the names of any bodies you will require approval from and whether you already have it. If it is not yet in place, then give an indicative timeframe for when it will be.

If you are collecting or using data, 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 re-use of data
• formal information standards with which your study will comply

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

International co-funding

Word limit: 10

Are you submitting your application under a NERC lead agency agreement with an international co-funder (NSF/FAPESP/FNR)?

If not, enter ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move on to the next section.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If your application is in collaboration with researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the US, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil or Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR) in Luxembourg, provide the name of the agreement in the textbox.

You should include further details of the team, the collaboration and the added value to the project in the sections ‘Vision’, ‘Approach’, ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’, not here.

Add any further documentation required for the international funder as a single PDF attachment in this section.

Any involvement of international project co-leads from IIASA or Norway should be included in ’Core team’, ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ and any other relevant sections and are not applicable to this question.

Upload guidance

Upload a single PDF containing the international funder documentation, if applicable, ensuring it is no larger than 8MB.

For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives to your application when you create an application, immediately followed by the words ‘international partnerships’. Then use the ‘upload’ button.

Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment.

Once you have uploaded, mark this section as complete and move to the next one.

Project partners

Provide details about any project partners’ contributions.

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 that will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

Add the following project partner details:

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

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

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

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 research council 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, 35KB)
• proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
• confirmation you have their agreement where required

If you have to attach a facility form, for example NERC ship-time and marine equipment, then upload it as a PDF. If you need to upload multiple forms, then combine them into a single PDF.

Facilities should only be named if they are on the facility information list. If you do not need to use a facility, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.

Upload guidance

Upload a single PDF containing facility forms ensuring it is no larger than 8MB, if applicable.

For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives to your application when you create an application, immediately followed by the words ‘facility forms’. Then use the ‘upload’ button.

Unless specifically requested, please do not include any personal data within the attachment.

Once you have uploaded, mark this section as complete and move to the next one.

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 500

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

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.

Indicate:

• which NERC data centre is required to archive the data
• whether the total volume of data is likely to be larger than 1TB
• any other detail on how you will comply with NERC data policy
• requirements of the proposed sensing system or capability on current digital research infrastructure (including data and compute)
• how data accessibility for both private and public end users will be enhanced

Associated studentships

Word limit: 5,000 (1,000 per studentship, maximum of five studentships per application)

What is the studentship project and how will the studentship be delivered?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

For each studentship, explain:

• the supervisory arrangements including supervisor name(s), organisation, proposed start and end dates
• what the project will be and how the student will develop new research ideas
• how the research undertaken through the studentship will be closely associated with the work carried out in the grant but still constitute a distinct project

If you are successful, you will be required to provide further information about the provision of training and delivery of the studentship.

If you are not requesting any associated studentships, add N/A into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 3,000

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 equipment that will cost more than £10,000
• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
• all facilities and infrastructure costs
• all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want to be assured that:

• all resources are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
• the project will make optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
• potential outcomes and impacts will be maximised

Most applications are expected to be less than £3.7 million. We recognise that a small number of projects may have exceptional costs that require the budget to exceed the £3.7 million limit. In these exceptional cases, we request that you notify us during the preparation of your application so we can advise you as necessary. We will require written justification as part of your application for any requests to exceed the usual £3.7 million limit and reserve the right to reduce the amount requested if not deemed reasonable or fully justified.

Any requests for equipment over £10,000 must be fully justified as part of your application. Applicants are reminded that funding for equipment is subject to consideration by NERC of the justification of resources and budget availability. We therefore recommend discussing with NERC in advance if you intend to request equipment of significant value within the costs of your project to ensure you know what information to provide.

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Expert review

We will invite experts to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity. You will have the opportunity to respond to their comments in writing before NERC’s large grants interview panel assesses your full application.

You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers. We are monitoring the requirement for applicant-nominated reviewers as we review policies and processes as part of the continued development of the Funding Service.

Interview

An expert interview panel will conduct interviews with applicants, after which the panel will make a funding recommendation. The panel will include members of the peer review college and independent experts, as needed. We will invite you to make a presentation to the panel and answer the panel’s questions as part of the assessment process.

We expect interviews to be held in March 2025. We will confirm the date as soon as it has been agreed and we will provide further details via email from largegrants@nerc.ukri.org in due course.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within six months of the funding opportunity closing date.

Feedback

We will give feedback with the outcome of your application after the panel meeting.

We reserve the right to work with successful applicants post assessment to discuss any aspect of the application before award (for example, discuss panel feedback, start dates, or requirements from NERC).

Principles of assessment

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

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

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

Associated studentships

The assessors will assess the appropriateness of the studentship project(s).

Once a decision is made on applications that are in the funding frame, we will request further details to ensure that the provision of training, supervision and delivery will be equivalent to that expected for other NERC studentships. At that stage, members of the NERC talent and skills team will assess the proposed associated studentship against the following criteria: training excellence, multidisciplinary training environment, and recruiting and nurturing talent.

Further information about these assessment criteria, including key aspects of an excellent associated studentship proposal and evidence that might be discussed, is available at Large grants associated studentships.

Assessment areas

The areas against which your application will be assessed are:

• vision
• approach
• applicant and team capability to deliver
• ethical and responsible research and innovation
• associated studentships (if applicable)

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

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 funding 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 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 application, 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, contact largegrants@nerc.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 quickly, applicants should highlight the council and funding opportunity name in the subject title of their email query and include the application reference number. Only contact one mailbox with the same query at any one time.

Find further information on submitting an application.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email largegrants@nerc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: NERC Large Grants; 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

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

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.

Our commitment to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015

Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms which deprive a person of their liberty in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain, such as:

• slavery
• servitude
• human trafficking
• forced and compulsory labour

We are committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking.