Not all proposals will be treated as urgent, as funder makes changes to ongoing call
UK Research and Innovation has announced changes to its rolling call for Covid-19 projects, with rapid review only to be applied to projects deemed urgent.
UKRI has had “an extremely high level of interest” for its rolling call first published on 31 March, receiving over 1,400 applications via e-mail, and funding 140 projects worth around £41 million.
The funder says it has used “significantly streamlined” processes to “quickly identify projects needing urgent funding” with “rapid turnaround of reviews often within days rather than months”.
But from 31 July, rapid review will only be applied to the projects identified as “highly urgent”, the funder said.
“As the pandemic has progressed, the nature of the research questions that need to be addressed has evolved—while some projects still require urgent action, others can be addressed with less urgency,” the funder said in a statement on 13 July.
“UKRI is therefore moving to a new way of managing proposals to its Covid-19 open call.”
Applicants will be asked to explain how their research fits within—and complements—the wider landscape of ongoing research, as well as justifying a start date within three months.
Also, instead of submitting a proposal via email, researchers and businesses must apply via the funder’s online submission systems, the Joint Electronic Submission or the Innovation Funding Service.
UKRI is now urging researchers and businesses to check their access to these systems and register before 31 July. Applicants will not be able to submit proposals via email after this date.