Our winning proposals: Astronomy at the STFC

The STFC’s system for awarding astronomy grants means that some projects will be submitted as part of a group bid and some submitted alone. Ben Upton speaks to two scientists who have handled each.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council accepts applications from consortia and institutional groupings on a three-year cycle. Teams bundle individual research projects together in a Consolidated Grant bid. The astronomy grant panel considers these as a whole, but may only choose to fund some projects from a group.

For individual researchers who have never applied to the council before and fall between the triennial calls, the STFC runs an annual New Applicant Grant competition.