Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A GBP1.2 million EPSRC Standard Grant awarded to a university engineering department to develop next-generation battery materials — falls within EPSRC's remit and is administered under EPSRC's responsive-mode scheme via the UKRI Funding Service.
- Is an instance
An EPSRC New Investigator Award granted to an early-career researcher for a first standalone project in robotics or AI — an EPSRC-badged scheme sitting within UKRI's shared funding infrastructure (see the dedicated EPSRC New Investigator Award guide for eligibility and how to apply).
- Is an instance
A studentship funded through an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), where cohorts of PhD students across a university (or consortium) are trained together in an EPSRC-funded engineering or physical-sciences discipline.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A synthetic-biology project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) — same UKRI umbrella, but the subject matter (bioscience) falls within BBSRC's remit, not EPSRC's, so it is not an EPSRC award even though both councils sit inside UKRI.
- Not an instance
A particle-physics or astronomy grant funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) — physical science in the everyday sense, but STFC (not EPSRC) holds the statutory remit for particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy within UKRI's division of subject areas.
Editorial commentary
EPSRC is the UK’s largest public funder of engineering, physical sciences, mathematics, and digital technology research by budget. Along with six other discipline research councils, plus Innovate UK and Research England, it is one of the nine constituent organisations of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), formed in April 2018. Before that, EPSRC operated as a separate legal entity with its own Royal Charter; it now holds its own council board, budget line, and subject remit inside UKRI’s shared structure rather than running fully independent systems.
Origins
EPSRC was established by Royal Charter in 1994, when the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) was split into discipline-specific successor bodies following a 1993 review by the Director General of the Research Councils. Particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy were carved out into what is now the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), leaving EPSRC with the engineering, physical sciences, and (later) digital/AI portfolio. That split explains a common point of confusion: “physical sciences” in EPSRC’s name does not include astronomy or particle physics, which sit with STFC.
What EPSRC funds
EPSRC’s remit covers engineering (from manufacturing to civil and chemical engineering), the physical sciences (chemistry, physics excluding particle/nuclear physics, materials science), mathematical sciences, and digital technologies including artificial intelligence and computer science. Interdisciplinary proposals that combine EPSRC’s remit with another council’s (health, environment, social science) are common and are often routed through cross-council calls or co-funded studentships rather than EPSRC funding alone.
Structure within UKRI
Like the other six UKRI research councils, EPSRC applications go through the UKRI Funding Service (the successor to Je-S), are costed on a full economic costing (fEC) basis under the UKRI-wide 80% fEC/TRAC funding rate, and are reportable through Researchfish for annual outcomes reporting. EPSRC does not run a separate application or costing system from the rest of UKRI — the council-specific distinctions are in scheme names, panel composition, and subject-matter eligibility, not in the underlying administrative infrastructure.
Key funding schemes
EPSRC’s funding portfolio includes responsive-mode Standard Grants (investigator-led, any topic within remit), Programme Grants (larger, longer-term awards for established research teams), and early-career schemes such as the EPSRC New Investigator Award. EPSRC also funds postgraduate training through Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), which train cohorts of PhD students in a specific engineering or physical-sciences discipline, following the same doctoral-training model used across UKRI’s other research councils.
Related terms
See also ESRC and BBSRC for the equivalent statutory research councils covering social science and bioscience respectively, and UKRI Funding Service for the shared application platform all seven research councils use.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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