Metascience research grants: round two is sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (Co-funders: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Coefficient Giving). This grant supports cutting-edge Metascience research into more effective ways of conducting and supporting research and development (R&D), including the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and the challenges of measuring research excellence.

Metascience research grants: round two – UKRI Funding opportunity: Metascience research grants: round two Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) , Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) , Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) , Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) , Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) , Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) , Medical Research Council (MRC) Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Coefficient Giving 12 February 2026 9:00am UK time 23 April 2026 4:00pm UK time Last updated: 17 March 2026 - see all updates Apply for funding to undertake cutting-edge Metascience research into more effective ways of conducting and supporting research and development (R&D), including the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), how to optimise research institutions and the challenges of measuring research excellence.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding, however, collaborations with international researchers are strongly encouraged. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £250,000, or £350,000 with an international partner. UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC.

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible . International researchers As UKRI is a lead funder for this opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’.

You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners. 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.

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.

If you are unsure whether your proposed research falls within the remit of this funding opportunity, email a brief summary to metascience@ukri. org and we will get back to you. This funding opportunity aims to accelerate the generation of evidence on how we can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and inclusivity of the R&D ecosystem.

For this round, we are interested in how the adoption of AI is changing the research landscape, how to optimally design and lead research institutions, and how to measure and understand scientific progress at scale. Metascience, a rapidly expanding research field, draws on a wide range of disciplinary expertise to understand how research is conducted, funded and supported, and how these practices can be enhanced or improved.

For a deeper understanding of what metascience means to UKRI, please see the UK Metascience Unit’s report .

The Metascience Grants Programme, jointly funded by UKRI and Coefficient Giving, supports innovative and ambitious metascience research projects that use scientific methods to deepen our understanding of how different incentives, institutional structures, and funding practices within the R&D system influence scientific research outputs and career outcomes.

This funding opportunity will support empirical and theoretical research that is focused on generating actionable insights for decision makers, including those in government, funding bodies, and research organisations. In this funding opportunity, we are focusing on three themes to build our metascience portfolio.

Applications should fit under one of the following: Science of AI for Science the adoption of AI is changing the research landscape this helps or hinders scientific progress and how governments, industry, and funding organisations should respond Effective design and leadership of research organisations empirical comparison of institutional models drivers of programme manager and research performance application of evidence from management and behavioural science to improve organisational structures and practices in research environments effectiveness of interventions to support inclusive, high-performing research cultures Scientometric approaches to understanding research excellence, efficiency, and equity development, validation, and generalisable use of metrics and indicators to assess research quality, influence, and impact development or application of indicators to advance the curation and synthesis of science at scale behavioural consequences of metric use in research evaluation and funding decisions We will not fund applications that do not fit under one of these three themes.

In your application, you should clearly state the theme your proposal fits within alongside providing a clear justification. The funders strongly welcome projects involving collaborations between researchers and organisations (for example research funders, research organisations, charities, think-tanks, journals) interested in implementing findings or approaches from the proposed research in their practices.

Science of AI for Science We define AI broadly as ‘software which learns by example’, including generative AI and machine learning, and applications of these in hardware, for instance, self-driving laboratories. We define ‘AI for Science’ as the application of AI in scientific research itself (including social science) and in activities undertaken within a research ecosystem, for instance, peer review or research portfolio evaluation.

This funding opportunity aims to fund projects that contribute to the embryonic ‘Science of AI for Science’, or ‘AI Metascience’. These are projects that will generate broad understanding and evaluations of the use of AI and its impacts that is relevant across multiple scientific fields and contexts. We will reject projects focused primarily on the application of AI in industrial settings like clinical medicine, law or fintech.

We will also reject proposals focused on conducting frontier computer science research (that is, the ‘science of AI’, as opposed to ‘AI metascience’), or on general AI ethics, security, safety and society-related topics, not because these are not important, but because they are covered much more substantially in other programmes funded by UKRI. The duration of this award is between six months and 24 months.

Projects should start no later than 1 December 2026. The FEC of your project can be up to £250,000 if all organisations are UK-based and eligible for funding. The FEC of your project can be up to £350,000 if you have an international partner, but the additional funds should be used solely to cover costs relating to the international partners and not the UK elements of the project.

If the UK costs are found to be over £250,000, your application will be considered as overbudget and will be rejected. UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC. The remaining 20% is expected to come from the project lead’s research organisation.

In this funding opportunity, we are focusing on three themes to build our metascience portfolio.

Applications should fit under one of the following areas, as outlined in the ‘Scope’ section above: Science of AI for Science effective design and leadership of research organisations scientometric approaches to understanding research excellence, efficiency, and equity The funders strongly welcome projects involving collaborations between researchers and organisations (for example research funders, research organisations, charities, think-tanks, journals) interested in implementing findings or approaches from the proposed research in their practices.

We will not fund applications that do not fit under one of the three themes, as outlined in the ‘Scope’ section. In your application, you should clearly state the theme your proposal fits under alongside providing a clear justification. UKRI recognises the importance of data quality and provenance.

Data generated, collected or acquired by UKRI-funded research must be well-managed by the grant holder to enable their data to be exploited to the maximum potential for further research. See our research data policy for details and further information on data requirements . The requirements of the research data policy are a condition of UKRI research funding.

Where relevant, details on data management and sharing should be provided in the ‘Data management’ section. See the importance of managing and sharing data and content for inclusion in a data management plan on the UK Data Service (UKDS) website for further guidance. We expect applicants to provide a summary of the points provided.

The UKDS ( datasharing@ukdataservice. ac. uk ) will be pleased to advise applicants on the availability of data within the academic community and provide advice on data deposit requirements.

Impact, innovation and interdisciplinarity We expect you to consider the potential scientific, societal and economic impacts of their research . Outputs, dissemination and impact are a key part of the criteria for most expert review and assessment processes. We also encourage applications that demonstrate innovation and interdisciplinarity (research combining approaches from more than one discipline).

Knowledge exchange and collaboration We are committed to knowledge exchange and encouraging collaboration between researchers and the private, public and civil society sectors. Collaborative working benefits both the researchers and the individuals and organisations involved. Through collaboration, partners learn about each other’s expertise, share knowledge and gain an appreciation of different professional cultures.

Collaborative activity can therefore lead to a better understanding of the ways that academic research can add value and offer insights to key issues of concern for policy and practice. We expect successful grant holders to participate in cohort events as we look to build the UK metascience community. Knowledge exchange should not be treated as an ‘add-on’ at the end of a project but considered before the start and built into a project.

UKRI requires that the research we support is designed and conducted in such a way that it meets ethical principles and is subject to proper professional and institutional oversight in terms of research governance. We have agreed a Framework for Research Ethics that all submitted proposals must comply with. Read further details about the Framework for Research Ethics and guidance on compliance.

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 Please 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 opportunity, 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. 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. 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 on 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 may 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 . UKRI must receive your application by 23 April 2026 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 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.

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 .

UKRI will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with DSIT and Coefficient Giving so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how DSIT and Coefficient Giving use personal information visit: If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email metascience@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.

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity . 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 may 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) project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Only list one individual as project lead.

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 .

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, 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 References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service. How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how you have designed your approach 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: provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines clearly describe both the framework and specific analysis methods proposed and explain the reasons for their choice.

You should particularly mention any innovation in this or how different methodologies or methods may be combined explain what steps you will take to provide opportunities for users to benefit from your research, and to ensure that your research has maximum economic and societal impact All applicants planning to generate data as part of their grant must complete the separate Data management question.

References may be included within this section. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service.

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) 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 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 You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the service. Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation. Resources and cost justification 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: significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences) any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities all facilities and infrastructure costs, if applicable all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’ You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project.

For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders . Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources.

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 maximise potential outcomes and impacts You must identify how support for activities to either increase impact, for public engagement and or to support responsible innovation is costed in this application.

Please also include anticipated costs to attend annual Metascience cohort events. For detailed guidance on eligible costs please see the ESRC Research Funding Guide . 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 who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or facilities.

Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.

Add the following project partner details: the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable) the project partner contact name and email address the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and readd it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made. Project partners letters or emails of support Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the ‘Project partners’ section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’.

Each letter or email you provide should: confirm the partner’s commitment to the project clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them describe any additional value that they bring to the project be no more than one A4 page in length The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the ‘Project partners’ section. For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made. Do not provide letters of support from host and project co-leads’ research organisations.

Data management and sharing How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed work? 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.

Demonstrate that you have designed your proposed work so that you can appropriately manage and share data in accordance with ESRC’s Research Data Policy and ESRC Framework for Research Ethics (if applicable) Within the Data management section we also expect you to: plan for the research through the life cycle of the award until data is accepted for archiving by the UK Data Service (UKDS) or a responsible data repository demonstrate compliance with ESRC’s Research Data Policy and ESRC Framework for Research Ethics .

This should include confirmation that existing datasets have been reviewed and why currently available datasets are inadequate for the proposed research cover any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data, including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical issues If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

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 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, 42KB) proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list confirmation you have their agreement where required Facilities should only be named if they are on the facility information list above.

If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Does your proposed work relate to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Demonstrate how your proposed work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles including: list any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research if this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act , please list the area(s) please read the academic export control guidance and confirm if an export control licence is required for this project and the status of any application(s) if your project involves any items or substances on the UK strategic export control list, please provide a list We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information later, in line with UKRI TR&I principles and funding terms and conditions (RGC 2.

6. 2, 2. 7.

1 and 2. 7. 2).

International collaboration Does the proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide details about your expected international collaboration or engagement, including: a list of the countries your international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in details of any subcontractors or service providers If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

How we will assess your application We will assess your application using the following process. Examination of applications All applications will be examined to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria and scope of the funding opportunity. If your application is outside the scope, you will be advised by email, and we will not assess your