Published: 31 Aug 2023 540 views
We are running the funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Apply for funding to further your career through an independent research fellowship.
Through an independent research fellowship (IRF), we will invest in researchers seeking to conduct their own environmental research within an eligible host organisation. You should demonstrate convincing evidence of working towards this goal and a high potential to become an independent research leader of the future.
You must demonstrate that, if awarded an IRF, you will be working independently of senior colleagues with whom you might have previously collaborated or with whom you might currently be working in a supporting role. Assessors must be convinced that you have devised your own research questions.
For examples of how to demonstrate meeting these criteria, see the ‘How we will assess your application’ section.
This funding opportunity supports excellent investigator-led research across the breadth of our scientific remit. We welcome multidisciplinary applications that cross into other research council areas but expect the primary focus of your work to fall within our remit.
We work with other research councils to ensure that applications close to remit boundaries are assessed by the most appropriate lead council.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK. Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £6 billion, UKRI brings together the 7 Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England.
Funding available
There are no funding limits for our IRFs.
We will fund 80% of the Full Economic Cost (FEC).
Costs for ship and marine equipment (SME) are not included in the application.
We will fund:
We will not fund PhD studentships.
Requests for equipment of £10,000 and over are not part of this funding opportunity. You should request smaller items of equipment (under £10,000 individually) under ‘Consumables (other directly incurred costs)’ in your application. This £10,000 funding limit cannot be used to part-fund equipment costing more than the £10,000 limit.
You must adhere to the NERC data policy.
We will pay the data centre directly for archival and curation services. You will need to fund the costs of preparation of data for archiving from the grant budget. Outline data management plans are not required at the application stage but will be requested for those projects that are to be funded.
You can apply to use a 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 closing date to:
The facility will provide a technical assessment that includes the calculated cost of providing the service.
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.
Before applying for funding, check the following:
This funding opportunity is open to early career researchers wishing to carry out independent research. Applicants on an upward trajectory to pursuing working independently and developing research leadership are encouraged to apply.
You must also be able to evidence reasonable scientific and technical skills and competencies, in line with the ambitions of the Independent Research Fellowship (IRF) scheme.
If you are currently studying for a PhD, you are only eligible if you are expecting to have passed your PhD viva before March 2024.
There is no limit on the number of years postdoctoral or work experience.
Holders of postdoctoral training fellowships such as the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions can apply. Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellows and Daphne Jackson Trust Fellows who meet all eligibility requirements may also apply.
If you have been included on applications as a project co-lead, then you are eligible to apply provided you still meet all eligibility criteria. Your application must be different from applications you have been included on.
You may be employed at a lecturer level that is clearly a ‘teaching only’ post.
You should not apply if you hold, or have ever held:
If you hold a fellowship where you are eligible to supervise PhD students or submit research grants as a project lead, then we consider that equivalent to a lectureship. As a result, you are not eligible to apply.
Examples of these fellowships include, but are not limited to:
If you are unsure of your eligibility status,you should email [email protected] to confirm before you apply.
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:
Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI and NERC’s diversity and inclusion action plan.
Independent research fellowships (IRFs) may be held full or part-time. We welcome applications from you should you wish to work on a part-time or flexible basis to combine your responsibilities with a career.
IRFs can be held on a part-time basis down to 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE). In all cases, the length of the fellowship must be extended accordingly on a pro rata basis. For example, a five-year fellowship on a full-time basis would equate to a 10-year fellowship with the fellow working 0.5 FTE, but the value of the award would remain the same.
It is possible to change from part-time to full-time, or full-time to part-time at any point during the lifetime of the award.
For more details on funding for fellows on research grants, see the NERC research grant and fellowships handbook.
We recognise that mobility is not the only means to acquire the skills and experiences necessary to build a research career. We also recognise the need for having a fixed institution to provide unique facilities or opportunities, and other circumstances where moving would be unsuitable, such as domestic arrangements.
To demonstrate a commitment to the development of IRFs, we expect the head of department of the host institution to submit a letter of support. This is to demonstrate their support offered to you.
We will assess your application using the following process.
Expert reviewing and shortlisting panel
We will invite a panel of experts to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity. They will provide us with a shortlist of applicants who will be invited to an interview panel. The interview panel will make a funding recommendation.
Interview panel
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to deliver a presentation, followed by interview questions from the panel. These questions will consist of scientific questions raised by panel members about your proposed work and non-scientific questions (such as leadership, career development or impact).
Reasonable adjustments to the interview set-up will be implemented for those who request it.
We expect interviews to be held in March or April 2024.
NERC will make the final funding decision.
We aim to complete the assessment process within seven months of receiving your application.
We will provide panel feedback to all applicants by email.
If you are unsuccessful at the sift panel you will be provided with panel feedback.
All applicants who attend the interview panel will be provided with panel feedback.
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.
The criteria against which your application will be assessed directly relates to the application questions:
Further detail on what the assessors are looking for is available in the questions in the ‘How to apply’ section.
Go to UK Research and Innovation(UKRI) on funding-service.ukri.org to apply
We are running the funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. You cannot apply for this funding opportunity on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
If you do not already have an account with the UKRI Funding Service, you will be able to create one by selecting the ‘start application’ button at the start of this page. Creating an account is a 2-minute process requiring you to verify your email address and set a password.
If you are a member of an organisation with a research office that we do not have contact details for, we will contact them to enable administrator access. This provides:
Research offices that have not already received an invitation to open an account should email [email protected]
To find out more about the role of research office professionals in the application process, watch a recording of a recent research office webinar on YouTube.
To apply
Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.
