Calls pre-announced recently: 

• Horizon Europe Culture, Creativity, and Inclusive Society (Cluster 2) 2025 calls. UK NCP advised that the calls and topics will officially be published in April/May, with deadline around September 2025 most likely. Updates will follow in due course, probably early 2025.
• Pandemic Fund This is intended for projects that will help strengthen core capacities in one or more of the priority areas, which present the promise of generating a visible impact in terms of prevention and preparedness to effectively detect and respond to disease outbreaks. Up to $40m, project costs, for regional projects, call should open March-May
• NERC Novel ecosystems: changing UK ecosystems under climatic and societal pressures.
• Innovate UK (IUK) Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT).
• UKRI& Innovation National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) a collaborative research and development (CR&D) competition
• HEU European Bauhaus initiative.
• Research England & OfS Competition to reduce inequalities in postgraduate research study.
• Spencer Foundation Lyle Spencer Research Awards.
• University of Manchester | University of Bordeaux Manchester-Bordeaux joint research fund.
• Research England International Investment Initiative (I3).

Regular schemes:

• The Leverhulme Trust 
• British Academy 
• The Wellcome Trust
• Horizon Europe the European Commission's research framework running 2021-2027. Participation pending on post-brexit agreements. Submissions require advice from RSS. Main grant programmes:
  • ERC, annual reiterative calls. HEU awarding funds require association. Government UK support (new UK scheme) while transitioning to association;
  • MSCA, annual reiterative calls. HEU awarding funds require association. Government UK support (new UK scheme) while transitioning to association;
  • Societal Challenges, annual calls. Participation is allowed without association: UKRI Guarantee funding (proposal as beneficiary, third country award).
• Other calls for funding: New opportunities are scanned regularly and those are highlighted every week to key staff from the Faculty of Humanities. Calls can be searched online downloading the calls database or browsing the highlights opportunities, and also requesting punctual information to RSS. Other funding sources are various and relevant: Norface, Nuffield Foundation, JPIs, ERA-NETs, EC DGs, EEF, ELRHa, NSF, charities and foundations, and many others.

Previous calls:

The UK Government (through UKRI and Innovate UK) will allocate £1.6b in “new investments” for R&D in 2018 to target 2.5% GDP spending.

• UKRI’s Strategic in Places Fund (SPF). Invested £200 million over the next three years in 12 Strength in Places projects to develop R&D capacity and support local growth across the UK. BEIS t is "currently working to set detailed R&D budgets through to 2024/25".  
• UKRI's Fund for International Collaboration (FIC). "The Fund aims to enhance the UK’s excellence in research and innovation through global engagement, forging new bilateral and multilateral research and innovation programmes with global partners." A £79m investment in international projects for world-leading collaborations. The FIC website provides further information. Calls will be led by research councils through different schemes. Relevant pre-announcements:
  • Digital research skill and digital scholarship museums (AHRC);
  • Supporting business-led multilateral collaboration through the EUREKA framework;
  • Delivering Disruptive Industrial Research and Innovation between the UK and Canada to access global markets;
  • Climate, Environment and Health (Multilateral through the Belmont Forum);
  • Tackling AMR in the Environment (India);
  • Delivering Healthy Soils: Signals in the Soil (USA);
  • UKRI's Research England:
    • International Investment Initiative (I3): A £4m fund to strengthen research relationships between English universities and their counterparts outside the UK. Matching-fund projects.
• UKRI's GCRF or the Global Challenges Research Fund. £1.5 billion funds from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 2016-2021 to address global challenges. Expected new calls.
• The Newton Fund. £735m from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) lasting from 2014 until 2021 in principle. Some reiterative schemes:
  • International workshops (through the British Council);
  • Research Links workshops (British Council);
  • Mobility Grants (British Council and British Academy);
  • Institutional links grants (British Council);
  • Placements in foreign countries (British Council);
  • Advanced Fellowships (British Academy).

ESRC calls through the Rebuilding Macroeconomics Institutions Research Hub:

• Finance Hub research call;
• Instability Hub research call;
• Sustainability Hub research call;
• Macroeconomic Hub

The following calls add to those already announced or pre-announced in other pages (especially the highlight page). These listed calls are educated assumptions based on previous announcements but in some cases recurrence has not yet been confirmed and it is not known yet. They all are included in the highlight funding opportunities database. This page will be updated regularly. 

The UK officially associated to Horizon Europe from 1 January 2024. The UK organisations and researchers are able to apply to the vast majority of Horizon calls, and UK researchers can lead consortia.

• Link to Horizon Europe pages on this website
• UK becomes associated to Horizon Europe, UKRO, 4 Dec 2024.
• UK Government press release 4 Dec 2024.
• DSIT helpful explainer document on UK Associatie Country, Sep 2023
• UK Government explainer document on UK Association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus, Sep 2023
• Joint statement by the UK and Commission, Sep 2023
• UK Gov press release, 7 Sep 2023
• EC Q&A on the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus 7 Sep 2023
• EU Funding Website, UoM StaffNet
• European Commission – Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal
• UKRI Help for UK applicants and participants.
• UKRI Guarantee funding.
• EU Research Funding, University of Manchester pages.
• The University of Manchester staff Brexit pages.
• Horizon Europe negotiations together with the MFF. Links available on the EC pages and UKRO website.

(Update 17/01/25)

External

• UKRI Improving your funding experience
• UKRI Simpler and Better Funding (SBF) programme 
• UKRI Councils transition to the new Funding Service 
• UKRI harmonisation roles You can read more about roles in funding applications: eligibility, responsibilities and costings guidance on the UKRI website
• UKRI's new Open Access Policy: Long-form publication
• Arts and Humanities research infrastructure map, AHRC.
• UKRI open access policy update.
• The Research Offices of the Future report, by Research Professional.
• UKRI terms and conditions update. fEC Grants, new conditions and updates. link.
• The lives of early career researchers (HEPI Report 169). Feb 2024 report: 11 members of the Early Career Researcher Network write about their experiences of life and work in UK higher education. Their essays showcase the realities and challenges faced by researchers at this stage of their careers, ranging from precarious contracts to dealing with imposter phenomenon to balancing parenthood with the pressures of academic life. link
• British Academy support to ECRs. Newsletter 28.3.24.

Internal

• University StaffNet.
• Faculty of Humanities StaffNet.
• Professional Services. Leadership Team Open Meetings.
• Coronavirus information page.
• Working on campus.
• The University is 'modernising the IT experience' for staff and students.
• Internal pump-priming funding opportunities listserv email open for any interested signing up to this url.
• The University of Manchester Research Lifecycle Programme. A five-year programme on investment to support The University of Manchester in meeting its goal of being one of the top 25 research universities in the world, through a series of strategic investments in IT and associated change. Signing to the monthly newsletter.
• The University of Manchester Research IT service is available for discussions on research needs.
• Patrick Hackett blog: Working smarter and living better: a hybrid future.
• Hybrid working across the Professional Services.
• Faculty of Humanities launches microsites for Size and Shape and Hybrid Working projects.
• University's Pure support website.
• Humanities StaffNet Research Funding Opportunities.
• The University of Manchester policy on staff travel is available online. It is relevant for fieldwork, business, etc. The information includes a risk assessment flow chart.
• Practical ideas needed for freeing up staff time. Please send your ideas, including examples of what works well, to our virtual suggestion box c orrespondence@manchester.ac.uk by 12 November.
• PSLT open meetings.
• UKRI open access policy update, UoM Library.
• UoM Pay Gap Report 2023. Gender, Ethnicity, Disability, Sexual Orientation and Religion Pay Gaps Report 2023 is now available. link
• Manchester 2035

(update 17/01/25)

• Experts to produce POSTnotes. POST (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology) is a body within Parliament that sources reliable research evidence for Parliament. POST works with experts to produce POSTnotes - short briefings that help MPs, Members of the House of Lords, and Parliamentary staff navigate research. If you would like to contribute, please contact bethany.warke@manchester.ac.uk with a short email describing your expertise. If you would like to contribute, please contact bethany.warke@manchester.ac.uk with a short email describing your expertise.  
  • POSTnotes
  • guidance for expert contributors
  • responding to select committee inquiries
  • departmental consultations
• Opportunities for evidence to Parliament: Committee inquires:
  • UK
  • Wales
  • Scotland
• Opportunities for evidence to Parliament: Committee consultations.
• University of Manchester What works? Your views on working at our University.
• Horizon Europe (HEU) - It is possible to become an expert by registering on the participant portal. Lists of HEU Expert Evaluators are available online.
• University of Manchester:
  • Business engagement and knowledge exchange open to partnerships
  • BE&KE supporting staff

(version 17/01/25)

Proposal preparation

Basically, funding bodies websites should produce all the facilities and advice but writing events are specific activities promoted by specific organisations:

• UKRO is an organisation that has always promoted these kinds of events in the UK. The EC support writing events
• session through its networks of National Contact Points. Writing events are normally announced previous any ERC call. Coordination projects proposal writing advice is also provided by UKRO when new work programmes are announced. UKRO’s website and newsletters inform of any previous and future events.
• KTN is a source of these type of events in relation to innovation projects and SMEs.
• Some specific call for proposals is nowadays very often promoted with webinars and proposal advice events.
• The British Academy. Supports submissions to the ERC and Pillar 2 collaborative projects through specific events and grants announced well before deadlines. 
• UKRI advises on how to approach a research proposal and its Research Councils provide with advice on proposal preparation online. 
  • ESRC’s guidance for applicants. Writing a good research grant application.
  • AHRC’s research funding guide.
  • NERC’s how to apply.

Partnership building resources

Online guidance

• UKRI: international funding
• European Partrships information available on the ERA-LEARNT website and the EC website.
• ESRC: international co-investigator policy; guidance for collaboration; bilateral agreements; main page
• AHRC: international co-investigator policy; AHRC main page
• NERC: international partnerships; main page
• KTN: innovation networking; knowledge transfer partnerships.
• British Academy: supporting Horizon Europe Pillar 2 consortia building.
• UoM: 
  • Partnerships
  • Partner with us
  • International collaborations
  • Exchange partners

Online partnership building

• Horizon Europe (HEU) Participant portal: partner search page and calls participant requests (each call include contact details of those showing interest for participating using the portal)
• Marie Curie Alumni Association: websites for partner search.
• Net4Society network of NCPs for SSH
• UKRO: resources: funding guides, factsheets, etc.; writing proposal, call information and brokerage events; supporting events in Brussels
• EC: project partner search services
• EU: Keep.eu partner search
• EPA: European Projects Accelerator. ‘A One-Stop Shop for European Projects where you can turn your project idea into reality and where your project can turn to excellence’.

Partnership building calls

• AHRC responsive mode Curiosity Awards.
• British Academy Horizon Europe Pump Priming Collaboration between UK and EU Partners 2024.
• COST Actions. A foot in the door at Horizon Europe. Researchers who get COST backing have a 37% success rate in applying for Horizon Europe grants, significantly higher than the overall success rate of 15.9%.
• University of Manchester - Faculty of Humanities Research Investment Funds Preparing for Large Grants.
• British Council website.
• Links to relevant calls available on the faculty funding opportunities database.

(Update 17/01/25)

• What now for international HE amid the great anglophone visa crunch? (THE), 31/10/24
• Research budget pressures: an inevitable result of Brexit? (RP). 31/10/24
• Reeves pledge ‘to protect core R&D funding’ leaves questions (RP) 31/10/24
• Anger as budget delivers ‘£372m financial blow to universities’ (RP) 31/10/24
• Everything in the Budget for higher education (Wonkhe) 31/10/24
• Treasury budget docs 31/10/24
• UK ‘at risk’ of losing international postgraduate research students (RP) 19/09/24
• Labour urged to reform Research Excellence Framework (RP) 31/10/24
• EU and UK agree to cooperate on competition investigations (RP) 31/10/24
• Bish bash bosh (RP), 31/10/24
• The Royal Historical Society is warning about cuts to history departments (Royal Historical Society), 31/10/24
• Autum Budget 2024 (Gov.uk), 30/10/24
• Everything in the Budget for higher education (Wonkhe), 31/10/24
• HM Treasury - Autumn Budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change (Advance HE), 31/10/24
• Educate or accumulate? (RP), 31/10/24