Further information - research grants
For complete information on the application procedure read the NERC research grants handbook. The following is a brief introduction.
Applicants to a Small, Standard, Consortium or Knowledge Transfer grants round may submit up to one application as the Principal or as a Co-Investigator, and one further application as a Co-Investigator.
Consortium grant applications will only be accepted if a concept note has previously been received and endorsed by the appropriate Science & Innovation Manager.
Applicants must ensure that their application is received by NERC by 16:00 on the relevant closing date. They should leave enough time for their application to pass through their organisation's Je-S submission route before this time. Any application that is received after the closing date, is incomplete or does not meet NERC's eligibility criteria will be returned to the applicant and will not be considered.
Some research projects require the involvement of more than one research organisation. For some of our schemes we allow the award to be joint between several research organisations. Each component should be submitted separately with a named Principal Investigator but the project title, objectives, summary, beneficiaries, Justification of Resources and case for support should be common to all component applications.
For all applications for NERC research grants, the Principal Investigator must submit form Je-SRP1 (NERC), together with a Case for Support. The maximum length of the Case for Support depends on the scheme type. It must be completed in single-spaced typescript of minimum font size 11 point (Arial font) with margins of at least 2 cm. References can be presented in a smaller font size provided it is sufficiently clear to ensure good quality reproductions. Applicants should avoid the use of colour graphs or pictures, which NERC cannot guarantee will be reproduced in colour for referees. Any proposal in which the Case For Support does not comply with these specifications will be rejected.
The Case for Support should have two parts:
Part 1 - Previous Track Record
- A summary of results and conclusions of recent relevant work
- Specific expertise available to the project
- An indication of how previous work has contributed to UK competitiveness or improving the quality of life
Part 2 - A Description of the Proposed Research
- Underlying rationale, scientific and technological issues to be addressed
- Specific objectives of the project
- Methodology and approach
- Programme and/or plan of research
- Management of the project and resources
- Long-term stewardship of resulting datasets
- Dissemination activities
- Justification of resources
Project Studentships may be requested for Standard, Consortium and Partnership research grants. The request for a project studentship must be justified fully in the case for support. All costs for the student's travel and subsistence, consumables, etc must be itemised on the grant application form as a Directly Incurred cost. Project studentships may not be included in Small, New Investigator or Network grants.
Justification of Resources
Applicants are allowed two pages of A4 in which to justify the resources requested. Failure to properly demonstrate that the resources are fully appropriate to the proposed programme of research and that they provide value for money, may result in cuts being recommended by moderating panels.
An example of a well-written Justification of Resources is provided below. Our thanks to the authors of this text for providing their permission to publish it as a good practice guide.
Justification of Resources Example (16KB)
Justification is not required for the Directly Allocated Estates and Indirect costs. All other costs, particularly all Directly Incurred and Investigator effort, must be fully justified.
Impact plans
From April 2009 all applications for research grant proposals in responsive mode must be accompanied by an impact plan. Applicants are allowed two pages of A4 to provide information on:
- Likely users and beneficiaries of the research
- Likely benefits and uses of the research
- Methods that may be used to help with engagement and dissemination
Related links
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