CASRAI Dictionary

Tag: ukri grants

  • UKRI Terms and Conditions: 2025-26 Grant Changes

    UKRI updated its standard terms and conditions for both research grants and training grants for the 2025–26 academic year, with the most consequential changes taking effect on 1 April 2025 and 1 October 2025. The revisions raise the minimum PhD stipend, extend medical leave provisions, change how equipment costs are funded, and add new national-security compliance requirements. Research organisations need to update internal compliance checklists to reflect all four changes before their next award cycle.

    UKRI terms and conditions are the contractual obligations that UK Research and Innovation attaches to every research and training grant it awards, covering governance, eligible costs, reporting, and — since October 2025 — Trusted Research and Innovation compliance. They apply automatically to any research organisation that accepts UKRI funding, regardless of which of the seven research councils, Research England, or Innovate UK makes the award.

    Why UKRI’s terms and conditions changed for 2025–26

    UKRI published its policy statement: review of the training grant conditions on 30 January 2025, setting out a package of changes following an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) review of doctoral training conditions. The review drew on the EDI Caucus appraisal of the UKRI training grant conditions, an internal advisory exercise UKRI commissioned specifically to test whether existing rules created barriers for disabled students and those needing extended leave.

    The standard terms and conditions of training grant, and the accompanying training grant guidance, were formally replaced with updated versions on 1 October 2025. UKRI republished the training grant terms and conditions as an accessible HTML document on 1 April 2026, retiring the previous PDF-only format — a change that affects how institutions cite and archive the current wording, not the substance of the obligations.

    What changed in the training grant terms and conditions

    The doctoral training changes are the most visible part of the update. UKRI raised the minimum stipend for UKRI-funded PhD students by 8% to £20,780, effective from 1 October 2025 — described by UKRI as the largest real-terms increase to the minimum stipend in over two decades. This is a floor, not a fixed rate: individual training grants and doctoral training partnerships may set stipends above the minimum.

    Alongside the stipend increase, the revised conditions:

    • Allow doctoral students up to 28 weeks of medical leave, with clearer routes to extend their studentship following medical or other leave.
    • Require research organisations to remove procedural barriers that could prevent disabled students from accessing agreed support.
    • Set out explicit expectations for transparency and fair treatment in how leave, extensions, and part-time study arrangements are communicated to students.
    • Clarify Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) stipend calculation for part-time students and require the expected submission date to be recorded on the student record.
    • Introduce clearer processes for flexible or phased returns to study, including a documented plan of study.

    The same 1 October 2025 update also folded in Trusted Research and Innovation requirements that were previously handled separately, so training grant conditions now sit alongside research grant conditions on national security compliance rather than being addressed only through supplementary guidance.

    What changed in FEC, equipment costing, and Trusted Research rules

    UKRI moved to fund all equipment purchases at 80% of Full Economic Cost (FEC) from 1 April 2025, standardising a rate that previously varied by council and grant type. UKRI also raised the threshold at which a purchase must be classified as capital equipment from £10,000 to £25,000, which is intended to reduce the administrative burden of tracking smaller items through capital asset registers.

    On national security, UKRI’s terms and conditions now require research organisations to identify and, where relevant, notify acquisitions that fall under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021. UKRI states that grant suspension or repayment is a possible consequence of a breach. This is not a new UK law — the NSI Act has applied since 2021 — but its explicit incorporation into UKRI’s grant conditions is new, and it converts a general legal obligation into a specific, auditable grant term.

    Key UKRI terms and conditions changes, 2025–26
    Change Effective date Applies to
    Equipment funded at 80% FEC 1 April 2025 Research grants
    Capital equipment threshold raised to £25,000 1 April 2025 Research grants
    Revised training grant T&Cs published (stipend, leave, EDI, NSI Act) 1 October 2025 Training grants
    Minimum PhD stipend raised to £20,780 1 October 2025 Training grants
    Training grant T&Cs republished as accessible HTML 1 April 2026 Training grants

    Compliance checklist: what institutions must update now

    Research offices need to work through both the research-grant and training-grant strands separately, since they carry different obligations and effective dates. For research grants, finance and grants teams should confirm that costing models already reflect the 80% FEC equipment rate and the £25,000 capital threshold, and that any live proposals or awards agreed before 1 April 2025 are checked against the older rate where transitional provisions apply.

    For training grants, doctoral college and graduate school teams should verify that:

    • Studentship offer letters and stipend schedules reflect the £20,780 minimum from 1 October 2025.
    • Leave and extension policies explicitly reference the 28-week medical leave provision.
    • Disability support processes have been reviewed for the barriers UKRI’s EDI review identified.
    • Part-time student records capture FTE calculations and expected submission dates correctly.

    Across both strands, institutions need a documented process for identifying transactions or partnerships that could trigger National Security and Investment Act 2021 notification duties under the Trusted Research and Innovation conditions, since this is now an explicit grant term rather than a background legal obligation. Research administration teams responsible for post-award compliance are typically best placed to own this checklist, since it spans finance, HR/student records, and governance functions that individually may not see the full picture.

    Common questions about UKRI terms and conditions

    What are UKRI’s terms and conditions?

    UKRI’s terms and conditions are the contractual rules attached to every research or training grant it funds, covering eligible costs, governance, reporting, and compliance obligations such as open access and national security. Research organisations must accept and comply with them as a condition of receiving and retaining UKRI funding.

    What is the UKRI training grant minimum stipend for 2025–26?

    From 1 October 2025, UKRI’s minimum stipend for UKRI-funded PhD students is £20,780 a year, an 8% increase UKRI describes as the largest real-terms rise in over two decades. Individual doctoral training partnerships and grants may pay above this floor but not below it.

    Do UKRI terms and conditions apply to PhD students?

    Yes — doctoral students funded through UKRI training grants are covered by a dedicated set of standard terms and conditions of training grant, separate from the research grant terms that apply to principal investigators. These were substantially revised on 1 October 2025 to strengthen leave, extension, and disability-support provisions.

    What costs are eligible under UKRI terms and conditions?

    Eligible costs under UKRI’s Full Economic Costing (FEC) terms include directly incurred and directly allocated project costs, with equipment now funded at 80% of FEC from 1 April 2025. Costs must stay within the original grant cash limit, and exceptions funds cannot be used to cover ordinary directly incurred costs.

    What this means for research offices going forward

    The 2025–26 revisions show UKRI treating training grant conditions with the same review cadence it has long applied to fEC research grant terms — a pattern research offices should expect to recur. ARMA UK has previously flagged comparable UKRI fEC and training grant terms updates as requiring coordinated review across finance, HR, and doctoral college functions, and that cross-functional approach is again the practical requirement here.

    Institutions that have not yet reconciled their studentship offer templates, capital asset thresholds, and Trusted Research due-diligence processes against the 1 October 2025 and 1 April 2025 effective dates carry live compliance risk on active awards. The next practical checkpoint is UKRI’s 1 April 2026 republication of the training grant terms in accessible HTML format, which institutions should treat as a prompt to re-verify that internal policy documents still cite the current clause numbering and wording rather than the superseded PDF.

  • UKRI New Investigator Award: First-Time PI Guide

    The UKRI New Investigator Award (NIA) is a grant route run separately by several UKRI councils that funds academics in a lectureship or equivalent post who have not yet led a significant research grant. It bridges the gap between a postdoctoral fellowship and a first major PI-led award, typically funding projects of one to five years depending on the council.

    The New Investigator Award is UKRI’s mechanism for funding a researcher’s first period as principal investigator, rather than as a co-investigator or postdoctoral researcher on someone else’s grant. It is not a single scheme: EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC, ESRC and NERC each run their own version, with council-specific eligibility thresholds and funding ceilings.

    What is the UKRI New Investigator Award?

    The UKRI New Investigator Award addresses a specific gap in the funding landscape: researchers who already hold an academic lectureship or equivalent position but have never been the principal investigator on a substantial grant. Rather than a single UKRI-wide scheme, it is a family of council-run awards that share a common purpose — funding a researcher’s transition to independence — while differing in scope, duration and funding ceiling.

    Under EPSRC’s guidance, last updated 7 May 2026, the award provides “foundational funds to initiate a research group,” coupled with host-institution support. EPSRC is explicit that the award “is not intended to be an alternative to a fellowship, standard mode grant or other similar funding mechanism” — a distinct pipeline stage, not a substitute for one.

    Projects funded under EPSRC’s NIA are expected to be self-contained, with a single clearly defined research vision, typically delivered over one to three years. Complex, multi-objective proposals are explicitly discouraged for this route.

    Who is eligible to apply?

    Eligibility criteria vary by council but follow a consistent logic: applicants must hold an appropriate academic post and must not have already established themselves as an independent research leader. The following conditions recur across councils:

    • Holding an academic lectureship or an equivalent research-active post at an eligible UK research organisation.
    • Not having previously been principal investigator on a grant that meets the council’s definition of “significant.”
    • Demonstrating, with host-institution support, readiness to transition into independent research leadership.
    • Proposing a single, well-defined project rather than a multi-strand research programme.

    EPSRC gives the most precise definition of a disqualifying “significant grant”: one that includes more than six months of postdoctoral research assistant (PDRA) time, capital equipment exceeding £20,000, or a total value exceeding £100,000 in full economic cost. Multiple shorter periods of PDRA supervision are assessed holistically against the skills the applicant has already developed, rather than triggering automatic exclusion. The EPSRC scheme can only be applied to once, whether or not the previous attempt succeeded, except where a resubmission is explicitly invited following peer review.

    BBSRC applies a comparable test for its New Investigator Award, aimed at newly appointed lecturers and equivalent researchers who have not previously held a competitively awarded grant with staff support costs. MRC frames eligibility through its applicant skills and experience table, requiring evidence that a candidate has reached the “transition to independence” stage. ESRC’s responsive-mode new investigator grants are designed, in the council’s own words, “to allow early career researchers to gain experience of research leadership and management” ahead of larger open-mode awards. NERC runs a parallel New Investigator Award for its own disciplinary community.

    How does the NIA compare with postdoctoral fellowships and other routes?

    The New Investigator Award sits at a specific point in the UKRI career pipeline — after a postdoctoral fellowship, not instead of one. A UKRI postdoctoral fellowship typically funds a researcher’s salary and research costs before they hold a permanent academic post, building the track record needed for a lectureship. The NIA assumes that post is already held, and funds the first PI-led project rather than the researcher’s personal career development.

    Feature New Investigator Award Postdoctoral / independent fellowship
    Career stage Already in a lectureship or equivalent post Typically pre-lectureship, building an independent track record
    Funding purpose First PI-led project to establish a research group Personal salary plus research costs to develop independence
    PI status Applicant holds PI status from the outset Fellowship itself is often the route to first PI status
    Application limit (EPSRC) One NIA application only, barring invited resubmission Varies by fellowship scheme
    Typical next step Standard-mode or open grant competition New Investigator Award or equivalent early-PI scheme

    This positioning matters for research offices: recommending an NIA before a qualifying post is held, or after a “significant grant” threshold has already been crossed, wastes a single-use application opportunity under schemes such as EPSRC’s.

    What funding and duration apply by council?

    Funding ceilings and durations differ meaningfully across councils, and applicants should treat each as a distinct scheme rather than a single UKRI product.

    Council Award name Funding ceiling Typical duration Key eligibility marker
    EPSRC New Investigator Award (NIA) Not fixed; PI time typically 10–20% FTE (up to 35% in some fields) 1–3 years No prior grant exceeding £100,000 FEC, £20,000 equipment, or 6 months PDRA time
    BBSRC New Investigator Award (applicant-led mode) Up to £2 million full economic cost Up to 5 years Newly appointed lecturer/equivalent, no prior staffed grant
    MRC New Investigator Research Grant Assessed per proposal Assessed per proposal “Transition to independence” stage on the MRC applicant skills and experience table
    ESRC Responsive-mode new investigator grants Assessed per proposal Assessed per proposal Early-career researcher building research leadership experience
    NERC New Investigator Award Assessed per proposal Assessed per proposal Early-career, transition-to-independence eligibility test

    Where a council does not publish a fixed ceiling, applicants and research offices should consult the live opportunity listing on the UKRI Funding Service, since figures are set per funding round rather than as a permanent policy.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the new investigator award?

    The New Investigator Award is a UKRI grant that funds a researcher’s first period as principal investigator. Offered through EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC, ESRC and NERC in council-specific forms, it provides foundational funding — typically one to five years depending on the council — to help a lecturer or equivalent establish an independent research group before competing in open-mode funding.

    Who is eligible for new investigator in UKRI?

    Eligibility generally requires an academic lectureship or equivalent post, documented host-institution support, and no prior role as principal investigator on a significant grant. EPSRC defines that threshold as £100,000 full economic cost, £20,000 in capital equipment, or six months of postdoctoral research assistant time; other councils apply comparable transition-to-independence tests.

    What is a new investigator?

    A new investigator is a researcher who has not yet led a substantial, competitively awarded research grant as principal investigator. UKRI uses the term in this sense, as does the US National Institutes of Health, which defines a New Investigator as an applicant who “has not yet competed successfully for a substantial, competing NIH research grant” — a comparable transition-to-independence concept applied internationally.

    What this means for research offices and applicants

    Because most councils allow only one attempt, or treat the NIA as a single-use route for a given career stage, institutional research administration teams have a direct role in protecting that opportunity. Advisers should check a candidate’s grant history against each council’s “significant grant” definition before recommending an NIA application, since crossing a threshold — even through PDRA time accumulated across several smaller projects — can affect eligibility.

    Research offices are also well placed to sequence funding routes correctly: steering a researcher toward a postdoctoral fellowship first, and toward the NIA once a qualifying post is secured, rather than treating the two as interchangeable options at the same career stage.

    Outlook for first-time grant holders

    UKRI’s New Investigator Award schemes remain council-specific rather than converging into a single unified product, so applicants should read each council’s current opportunity listing rather than relying on a generic description. Thresholds such as EPSRC’s £100,000 significant-grant definition and BBSRC’s five-year, £2 million ceiling should be re-verified against the live UKRI Funding Service page before an application is drafted, since figures are set per round rather than fixed indefinitely.

    For research administrators, the enduring task is the same regardless of council: match the researcher’s actual career stage and grant history to the scheme’s eligibility test, and treat the New Investigator Award as one deliberate step in a longer funding pathway rather than a generic “early-career” label.