EPSRC New Investigator Award: applicant-led mode

EPSRC New Investigator Award: applicant-led mode is sponsored by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (part of UK Research and Innovation). Supports early-career researchers in the UK's engineering and physical sciences to develop their own research vision and establish a new research group.

EPSRC new investigator award: applicant-led mode – UKRI Funding opportunity: EPSRC new investigator award: applicant-led mode Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 5 August 2026 9:00am UK time Apply for funding to support your transition to research independence. You will present and develop a strong and clear independent research vision and lead a project team to successfully deliver this.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding. It must be your first application to EPSRC as a project lead. We will award 80% of the full economic cost (FEC) of the project.

Projects should apply for the duration and funding required to fully meet their research goals. This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible .

Who is eligible to apply? You must be resident in the UK. You must meet UKRI’s individual eligibility policy to hold research grants and it must be your first application to us as project lead.

Those with fixed-term appointments cannot depend on the success of a new investigator award application, and the organisation must provide the same support as for permanent staff. Postdoctoral research contracts are not considered to be an ongoing substantial relationship for the purposes of the New Investigator Award funding opportunity. We do not consider years post-PhD or job title to be a marker of career progression.

Eligibility is determined on the basis of funding history.

this is your first application as project lead to EPSRC you consider yourself to be an early-career individual (someone who has capacity to use the funds available to transition to independence, establish their own research group and develop their own, independent research vision, per the scheme aim) you have not been the project lead or equivalent on any grant, funded project or programme that was a single award valued at over £175,000 FEC (or GBP equivalent) you have not held a position where you supervised postdoctoral staff for more than 12-months (cumulative) you can show evidence of the assessed criteria Who is not eligible to apply (note exceptions in further eligibility information) this is not your first application to EPSRC as a project lead you have previously applied to an EPSRC New investigator Award scheme, whether successful or unsuccessful you have an application for a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Type 1: Early Independence Fellowship or a UKRI new investigator award that is currently being assessed you are an established researcher, or someone who has demonstrated sustained career independence, vision and leadership, at odds with the aim of the scheme you have been the project lead or equivalent on any grant, funded project or programme that was a single award valued at over £175,000 FEC (or GBP equivalent) you have held a position where you supervised postdoctoral staff for more than 12-months (cumulative) you hold, or have previously held, a comparable grant designed to support early independence and leadership, per this award (for example, other council New Investigator Awards; Wellcome Early Career Award) Further eligibility information Funding received from local sources while working overseas must be taken into consideration within the £175,000 award history limit, and the same scheme eligibility principles apply.

To establish whether you are eligible, please convert any grant totals received in foreign currency into British pounds using a commonly available currency converter, based on the exchange rate at the time the grant was awarded for comparison purposes. An approximate conversion is sufficient for this purpose.

If you have previously been part of a grant’s leadership and management team but not as project lead (for example, project co-lead), you are eligible to apply if you meet all eligibility criteria. If you have held or currently hold a postdoctoral or early career fellowship, the value of the award may exceed £175,000 FEC without affecting New Investigator Award eligibility, though all other eligibility criteria must be met.

Please pay particular attention to UKRI’s individual eligibility policy . If you are on a fixed term contract, your research organisation must be able to confirm that the contract will last at least until the end date of the grant.

The application to the New Investigator Award scheme must be your first to EPSRC as a project lead, with the following exceptions: if your application was rejected at an outline stage devolved funding from an EPSRC grant, for example funding from an EPSRC hub or receipt of an EPSRC studentship (such as doctoral training partnerships, university doctoral landscape awards, centres for doctoral training, doctoral focal awards, industrial CASE awards, or industrial doctoral landscape awards) applicants who have previously applied unsuccessfully to the EPSRC Early Career Fellowship, EPSRC Open Fellowship, or UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships If you have previously collaborated with industry, or held an industry grant (for example, a Knowledge Transfer Partnership), you may apply, the eligibility criteria still applies.

Eligibility for the New Investigator Scheme is assessed at the point of application. Applications that do not align with the aims of the scheme, which are to support early-career individuals transition to independence, establish their own research group and develop their own, independent research vision, will be rejected. If you are still uncertain about your eligibility please see the ‘Additional Information’ section.

International researchers The UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation Agreement does not apply to this funding opportunity. As such grants submitted to this funding opportunity cannot include a Norway-based project co-lead (international)”. You should include all international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.

We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI or any other funder. Find out more about EPSRC’s resubmissions policy . Equality, diversity and inclusion We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants.

We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers including those who have taken a non-standard career path after their first degree. We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances.

This includes: support for people with caring responsibilities alternative working patterns UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process. New investigator award eligibility considers your experience, including your contributions to, and leadership of, past projects. Demand management is not currently being applied to this funding opportunity.

However, should the level of interest exceed what can be managed within the assessment process, UKRI may introduce limits on the number of applications that can be submitted. Further details will be clearly communicated where this is the case. UKRI encourages organisations to support applicants in preparing well-planned, high-quality applications that are competitive for funding relative to the funding opportunity.

We are committed to the continued support of excellent responsive, discovery led research. The new investigator award aims to support early career individuals in developing their own research vision, establishing a research group to pursue it, and build research independence and leadership in their field.

A new investigator award is not intended to be an alternative to a fellowship, standard mode grant or other similar funding mechanism. New investigator awards should have a single research vision with clearly defined objectives and outcomes. Complex, multi-faceted research projects with many objectives are not appropriate to the new investigator award.

We encourage you to have early discussions with your institution to identify what training and development opportunities are available to meet your aspirations over the duration of the award. Your research organisation’s statement of support is important. You can apply for a new investigator award in any field of research relevant to our remit.

We support high quality research in: artificial intelligence (AI) information and communication technologies (ICT) sustainable manufacturing You will be asked to signpost which remit your research falls into in your application. This will not be used to change the rank order of applications for funding. Applications received will be considered on their scientific and engineering merit in competition with all other applications.

Find out more about our research areas and themes . The majority of your research must fall within our remit. We will work with other research councils to ensure that applications close to remit boundaries are assessed by the most appropriate lead council.

We encourage you to contact us first to discuss your application if you believe your research may cross research council boundaries. See our remit query form . For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section.

There is no limit on the length of your project. However, new investigator awards are typically one to three years in duration. There is no limit on the value of the grant.

We will fund 80% FEC of your project. equipment (between £25,000 to £400,000 per item) other items required to carry out the project Quotes for equipment do not need to be included in your application, but please retain quotes for equipment costing more than £138,000 as we may ask for these at post-panel stage before releasing funds. For details of how to include equipment in your application see Equipment on research grants .

All resources and costs must be comprehensive, appropriate and justified, representing optimal use of resources to achieve intended outcomes. Resources and costs requested will be part of the overall assessment. funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants Costs for students supporting research under a new investigator award must not be charged to the grant.

A doctoral student may work with the you on related research, providing a valuable training and development opportunity for the applicant. 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.

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. Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page: Confirm you are the project lead. 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.

Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI. Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must: provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit) insert each new image onto a new line use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words.

The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include: sentences or paragraphs of text excessive quantities of images A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

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 should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application. Hyperlinks can be used in reference information.

When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that: references are easily identifiable by the assessors references are formatted as appropriate to your research persistent identifiers are used where possible General use of hyperlinks Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information.

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment . Due to systems requirements, a closing date will appear on the Funding Service. Please do not wait for this date to submit your application.

You should apply when your application is ready for submission. Applications submitted to this funding opportunity will be batched and processed regularly. Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. 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.

This application would count as your first submission to EPSRC as project lead. If this happened, you would no longer be eligible to the new investigator award scheme. 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 . If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email 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) 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 .

Institutional matched funding There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations.

Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged. This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

Specifically for this new investigator award funding opportunity we expect appropriate institutional support to be provided in line with the research organisation support assessment criterion. EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at EPSRC Funding Applications Outcomes . If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research .

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: the wider research community Guidance for writing a summary Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of: the challenge the project addresses potential applications and benefits List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Only list one individual as project lead.

Project co-leads are generally not permitted on new investigator award applications, as the purpose of the award is to establish an individual’s research independence, which co-lead arrangements do not support. This is an individual award designed to help the project lead develop their independence, and applications should be structured with this objective in mind.

We would consider project co-leads on a new investigator application in exceptional circumstances where they are contributing expertise that is not available in the skill set of the project lead and such expertise is essential to the success of the project. This expertise should be critical and complementary. For example, clinicians as project co-lead on new investigator projects associated with healthcare technologies research.

In most cases we would not expect the co-lead to be from the same department, school, or similar facility as the project lead. International researchers The UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation Agreement does not apply to this funding opportunity. As such grants submitted to this funding opportunity cannot include a Norway-based project co-lead (international).

You should include all international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners. UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications . Select the EPSRC thematic area your application most closely aligns to. This should be the theme where the majority of the novelty in the research lies.

In the text box, copy the letter corresponding to your selected theme: A. artificial intelligence (AI) B. resilience and security E.

healthcare technologies F. information and communication technologies (ICT) G. sustainable manufacturing This is for administrative purposes to help the initial application processing.

We will check your choice and make a final decision on which theme will lead the peer review of your application. We will not publish closing dates for individual rounds, instead we will batch applications internally. You should apply when your application is ready for submission and not be concerned about a closing date.

Applications that gain enough support from reviewers will be batched for assessment and sent to the most appropriate responsive mode panel meeting when they reach this stage of the process. Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than eight sides of A4, single spaced in paper in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm.

You may include images, graphs and tables. One of the eight A4 single-sided pages should be used for a used for a project plan/Gantt chart using the same font and spacing. For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Vision and Approach’.

Save this document as a single PDF, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal 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. What are you hoping to achieve with and how will you deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response For the vision, 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, or generate 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 the vision section we also expect you to: identify the potential local, regional or national impacts, both direct and indirect, and who the beneficiaries might be For the Approach, 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 clearly written 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 the Approach section we also expect you to: demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work (if a doctoral student is aligned to the project) clearly describe how their work will contribute to the project, demonstrate that their success is not dependent on the project, and explain how this alignment has been established provide a maximum one single-sided page A4 project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or similar (this contributes to the total eight pages) References may be included within this section.

Research organisation support What support will be provided by the research organisation for your new investigator award?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Ensure the head of department (or equivalent) of the host organisation provides you with a supporting statement (which they have written), that includes: the name and title of the head of department (or equivalent) providing the written statement how your expertise fits within the wider interest and strategies of the research organisation and department development and training opportunities to be provided by the organisation and considering your career trajectory, how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to you mentoring and support arrangements proposed and how they are appropriate to you, include the name of any current or future mentors financial support to be provided, including the contribution to your salary, and how this improves the application Within the research organisation support section we also expect you to: provide clarity on any provision by the university of a suitable doctoral student supervision opportunity.

This could be from a UKRI training grant or similar, or an individual funded student through other means The statement of support provided by your host organisation should be copied and pasted into the text box. You cannot upload the statement of support to this section as an attachment.

Your application may be rejected if you upload a host organisation statement of support to the ‘Project partners: letters (or emails) of support’ section or any other section of your application. We reserve the right at any time to check that resources and support promised in this response are provided to the applicant as stated. Applicant fit to the funding opportunity How do you consider yourself eligible for this funding opportunity?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Give a clear description of why you are eligible for funding through this funding opportunity and according to the specific expectations of the council to which you are applying.

In your response you should consider the funding opportunity eligibility, considering and demonstrating where relevant, that you: have not previously applied to EPSRC as a project lead (or if you have, your grant is within the exceptions) have not previously applied to an EPSRC New investigator Award scheme, whether successful or unsuccessful have not currently got an application for a UKRI Type 1: Early Independence Fellowship or a UKRI new investigator award that is currently being assessed are not an established researcher, or someone who has demonstrated sustained career independence, vision and leadership, at odds with the aim of the scheme consider yourself to be an early-career individual (someone who has capacity to use the funds available to transition to independence, establish their own research group and develop their own, independent research vision, per the scheme aim) have not led a single award valued at over £175,000 full economic cost (or GBP equivalent) have not held a position where you supervised postdoctoral staff for more than 12-months (cumulative) have not met the aims and ambitions of this opportunity through other means do not hold, or have not previously held, a comparable grant designed to support early independence and leadership, per this award (for example, other council New Investigator Awards; Wellcome Early Career Award) How will this award contribute to your career development as a project lead?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain why you are applying for this new investigator award and demonstrate how it will support you in achieving your: long-term career goals and chosen career route plans to develop your own research profile independence, as the sole intellectual leader of the proposed work plans to secure further grant support during or after this award plans to establish and lead a research team Within the Career development section we also expect you to: demonstrate how you will instigate positive change in the wider research and innovation community, for example through Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), advocacy or advisory roles, stakeholder engagement, participation in expert review, influencing policy, public engagement, or outreach Applicant and team capability to deliver 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) the right balance of skills and expertise the appropriate leadership and management skills 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 Funding Service. The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the R4RI format to 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. 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 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. References may be included within this section. The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI) What are the ethical and RRI considerations, 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 and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, while minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project If you are collecting or using data you should identify: any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and 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: genetically modified organisms You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more