Devolved Funding Calls

Background

The SALIENT Hub is offering grant funding for research, development, and innovation short projects. We anticipate funding 50-70 projects over the next five years.

Each proposal should align itself to one or more of the five SALIENT work-packages and demonstrate a commitment to a human-centred systems approach, wherever possible.

The SALIENT Hub will adopt a fully transparent approach to assessing proposal quality and funding decisions. This will ensure the integrity of the application process and enable effective scrutiny of funding decisions by the independent strategic oversight board. In addition, anonymised data will be available to UKRI to ensure SALIENT evidences our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Funding Calls

We anticipate that our first round of funding will be announced before the end of 2024, so please keep checking back to this page for more information on how you can apply.

Just over £2.2M is available over the next five years for research projects.

Only UK academic institutions can lead a project. A maximum of £100,000 (total project costs) is available per project. Projects must clearly align with one or more of the 5 key areas (Work Package 2-6)

For more information on the application process, please visit Applications Process

Project Types

We will fund two modes of projects:

Theoretically motivated projects (e.g. research that draws upon theory as the basis for enquiry, or as a means of researching a question, position, or relationship).

Empirically derived projects (e.g. research that is based on measurement and observation of real-world phenomena).

We are keen to support and encourage Early Career Researcher (ECR) led projects as a means of promoting development and community building for new scholars.

Project Funding

Project teams can apply for a maximum of £100,000.

Projects must be led by a UK Higher Education Institute (HEI) that is eligible for UKRI funding, but project teams can include international companies or charities who are eligible for UKRI funding. 

Project teams can also include in-kind support from companies/ charities/ research groups etc. both international and UK based. 

Duration of Awards 

Projects can run between 6-9mths.  There will be a fixed start date for all projects within each call, end dates will depend on agreed project duration. The start date will be released as part of each call. Projects will need to have an award letter in place before the agreed start date of the project. The terms and conditions will form part of the application process.  

Applicants will be asked to submit a risk register and an outline of deliverables as part of the application process

Who can Apply

Only UK academic higher education institutions can apply to lead a project.  The project must be led by a UK University, but can have multiple UK academic partners. Project teams can also include funded, or in-kind support from companies/ charities/ research groups etc. both international and UK based.  Relationships with external partners will be managed by the project lead institution and due diligence needs to be undertaken.  

Project teams can only apply once per call.  Project teams cannot apply for follow on funding.  An individual cannot be named on more than one grant.   

If a project is unsuccessful for one call, they can reapply for future calls.  

Project Team

Project leads and Co-Leads can be: 

  • Academics working in a UK Higher Education Institute (HEI)
  • A researcher holding an academic position (e.g. lecturer, or equivalent) or a research fellow with an employment contract that ends beyond the end of the project end date
  • Early Career Researchers

Project members can also include project managers, project officers, administrators and technical staff.

There is no limit on the number of applications per organisation. 

Eligibility Criteria including due diligence and governance and control

All projects that meet the eligibility criteria and correctly complete the application form will be considered.

Key eligibility criteria: projects must clearly align with one or more of the SALIENT Work packages WPs (2-6). We want to support a broad and diverse portfolio of awards and activities, while ensuring a balanced spread across the work packages. 

Visit the eligibility pages for more information: Eligibility Criteria including due diligence and governance and control

Queries

If you have any questions about the funding call, please submit them to the team via this short form: SALIENT Research and Coordination Hub: Query Form