Scope

We’re looking to support UK-based observers visiting a range of astronomy facilities.
There are two funding opportunities related to travel and subsistence in support of competitively awarded science observation time at astronomy facilities.

This funding opportunity is for travel grants: two-year funding for groups with travel costs of more than £7,500 a year (application deadline in October each year).

There is a separate funding opportunity for travel claims: for applicants who neither hold nor have access to a travel grant awarded by the panel (no deadline). See the PATT travel claim opportunity.

Travel grants for costs and subsistence

You can apply for the full cost of expenses for travel and subsistence in support of competitively awarded science observation time. Any other costs associated with the research, such as postdoctoral salaries, equipment, and applicant time, are assumed to be covered by the relevant research grant awarded.

We will not fund commissioning work or observation at private facilities.

The scheme covers costs for travel and subsistence only.

How funding can be used

You may use the awarded funds, without seeking further approval, in support of observing runs on the following:

• facilities in direct receipt of STFC funds, for example e-MERLIN, ING, LT
• facilities approved by our Panel for the Allocation of Telescope Time (PATT). For details, refer to the list of PATT approved telescopes in the Additional Information section

You should only use travel funds when the presence of a UK observer is essential to the observing programme or required by the facility.

Funding use which requires approval

Whilst you can apply for travel funds in support of observing runs on non-approved telescopes you must first get approval from us.

Only in exceptional cases can you apply for funding for:

• the collection or collation of data
• data reduction visits

The default is that PATT is not the appropriate source of funding for the collection of data. You should seek guidance from the STFC office before applying. Please use the email details in the ‘Contact details’ section.

Your application must include a justification for a physical journey, for example because of the complexities of the data or difficulties in transporting the data.

If you need to change or cancel an agreed observing programme, you must get approval from the STFC office for any alternative plans.

Funding for visits to both approved and non-approved telescopes is not guaranteed.

You should not book flights or make other travel arrangements unless we have confirmed funding.

Duration

The duration of this award is two years.

Grants must start on 1 April 2025.

Funding available

STFC will fund 100% of the full economic cost (FEC).

What we will fund

You can apply for the full cost of expenses for travel and subsistence in support of competitively awarded science observation time. Any other costs associated with the research, such as postdoctoral salaries, equipment, and applicant time, are assumed to be covered by the relevant research grant awarded.

The scheme covers costs for travel and subsistence only.

Please refer to the PATT approved telescopes list for the guideline travel and subsistence rates.

What we will not fund

We will not fund commissioning work or observations at private facilities.

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.org
   Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service.
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. Applicants should use their discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

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

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

Deadline

STFC must receive your application by 4:00pm UK time on 17 October 2024.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Personal data

Processing personal data

STFC, 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

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

Please add the following text to this box: The funds awarded will be used to pay for travel and subsistence costs associated with observing runs on telescopes around the world.

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

• project lead (PL)

Only list one individual as project lead

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

Application questions

Purpose

Word limit: 3,000

Why is the travel needed?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Give details of:

• who will be making use of the proposed award
• how the proposed award will be used

Within the Purpose section, we expect you to provide:

• a list of academic and research staff who you expect to use the proposed funding
• how the funds compare to the previous award (if applicable)
• how you used funding last time and what other observing trips you made in the last two years (if applicable). All applicants who hold an existing travel grant must download and complete the Expenditure breakdown template (XLSX 13KB). The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If a trip is not yet finalised but is expected to be carried out before the end of the current grant, give estimated costs. List the total PATT-funded expenditure at the bottom of the table

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 1,500

What will you need to complete your activity and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

• travel and subsistence
• details of the expected number of future trips and destinations, and the requested costs for the period of the application
• details of the use of, and costings for, any telescope not on the list of PATT approved telescopes. If appropriate, you may make a request in the application for a facility to be added to the approved list.
• any data collation or reduction visits where an observer is not required

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all observing runs.

If an existing grant is held, provide justification for any change to the requested amounts relevant to the amount awarded on the existing grant. You should explain the rationale behind such request, for example group expansion, increased observing time and so on.

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

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Peer review

Your application will be reviewed by the Panel for the Allocation of Telescope Time (PATT).

Timescale

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

Feedback

We will give feedback with the outcome of your application.

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.

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 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 the STFC Office using the email addresses provided below and include ‘PATT Travel Grant’ in the subject line.

Justyna Misior, Programme Manager

E-mail: justyna.misior@stfc.ukri.org

Kim Burchell, Head of Astronomy Awards

E-mail: kim.burchell@stfc.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.

Read 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, contact the STFC Office using the email grantspolicy@stfc.ac.uk

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

What is PATT?

Panel for the Allocation of Telescope Time (PATT) is an advisory body set up to consider the allocation of telescope travel and subsistence costs in support of those allocations for a range of astronomy facilities for the UK community.

Applications for European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities are dealt with directly by ESO. It may on occasion be asked for input to policy and related matters.

PATT no longer includes the time allocation groups (TAGS) which consider applications for the use of the Isaac Newton Group (ING), Liverpool Telescope (LT) and Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometry Network (e-MERLIN) facilities. For more information about applying for time on the ING, LT or e-MERLIN, please consult directly with the telescope directors or check the relevant website.

Panel members are:

Professor Chris Watson, Queen’s University, Belfast (Chair)
Dr Carolin Villforth, University of Bath
Dr James Mullaney, University of Sheffield

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

List of PATT approved telescopes

Panel for the Allocation of Telescope Time guidance for applicants

Equality and Inclusion Impact Assessment

Expenditure breakdown template (XLSX, 13KB)