Accessibility statement

When to apply

Most grant-giving bodies have specified closing dates for applications which are listed in their information guidelines.

A great deal of work has to be done both within the university and in the grant-giving organisations to process research grant applications and contracts so it is essential for proposals to be presented in good time.

Application review

The financial provisions of any research application or contract with external sponsors must be scrutinised by the Grant coordinator or the Finance Department and approved by a Head of Department before they leave the university.

Recruitment and equipment

In deciding on which closing date you wish to present your application you should allow for the time-lag before an applicant is notified of an award to allow time, where appropriate, to recruit necessary staff or for the purchase of essential equipment. You should remember too that research staff on contract require bridging funding if there is any gap between contracts.

Applications to the European Commission

Please get in touch with the relevant Grant coordinator as soon as you start thinking about an application, so that you can make use of all the support available. 

Demand Management

Some funders apply demand management to their calls, meaning an institution is limited in the number of applications it can put forward. In these cases, the university runs internal selection processes with internal deadlines that may be some time before the final funder deadline. These are usually run by the Research & Innovation Development Team but may also be run at faculty level or by the Fellowships Coordinator.

You can find the list of current calls that require university-level selection here. Detailed information on individual selection processes and timetables is circulated to departmental research facilitators via the YRAF mailing list.