EPSRC new investigator award: applicant-led mode

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.

Who can apply
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

Who is eligible to apply?
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.
 

You can apply if:
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)
 

You are not eligible if:
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: 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)
 

For more information, please visit https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/epsrc-new-investigator-award-applicant-led-mode/