The Royal Society online Grants Management System – Flexi-Grant®

The Royal Society uses the grants management system, Flexi-Grant® to administer the pre and post award stages of its grant giving work. It is also used to manage the nomination stages of the Society’s medals and awards.

See below for FAQs relating to using the system.

Applying for Royal Society funding

Troubleshooting account access

Post award queries

Applying for Royal Society funding

What is the application submission process?

The deadline for submission of your application and the completion of support statements from your Head of Department and Nominated Referees will fall on the same date. Your Research Office will not be able to approve your application for submission until the support statements have been provided and your application has been submitted to them for approval. Applicants should bear this in mind when coordinating completion of their application prior to submission. Please note, all applications should be submitted by 3pm (UK time) on the published closing date of the grant.

Why do I need an ORCID identifier?

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is an open, non-profit, community-driven initiative to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research funding, research publications, research data and any other research outputs to these identifiers. ORCID provides you with a unique persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher.

You can register for an account on Flexi-Grant® without the need for an ORCID identifier. However, all applicants applying to the Royal Society for grant support will be required to submit an ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) identifier before their application will be accepted for submission. This is a mandatory requirement at the application submission stage only and users can register for an ORCID account online. Further information about ORCID  can be found here: http://orcid.org/.

How do I control visibility of my data in ORCID?

Individuals have the ability to control the visibility and access to their own data, which is a fundamental principle of ORCID. Using this feature, you can control the information that can be retrieved from your ORCID record when completing a grant application form. Currently, Royal Society application forms are configured to allow you to retrieve your education, employment, funding and publications.

For further information on the visibility settings available through ORCID can be found on the ORCID website.

My collaborator did not receive the email invitation to participate in the application

Check with your collaborator that you have invited them using the email address they were expecting. If they have not received the invitation may need to revoke the invitation and re-invite them with their desired address. 

Ask your collaborator to check all folders including junk folders as in rare cases emails generated from the system can be automatically filtered into these folders. Alternatively, this may be due to security settings within your collaborator’s host organisation. If this persists for longer than one day please have your collaborator contact us directly so we can assist them.

The submit button is not appearing but all areas of my application are complete

Navigate to the ‘participants tab’ on your application form. All of the participants should be showing as ‘Complete’. If any are showing as ‘Active’ you will need to contact them and ask them to submit their contribution.  Once the application and all participants are showing as ‘Complete’ you will be able to submit your application for your organisational approval.

Are there any user guidance notes?

If you are an applicant applying for a Royal Society Grant, system guidance notes are included within the relevant scheme notes.

Troubleshooting account access

Do I need to create a new user account in Flexi-Grant®?

Most active user accounts (individual and organizational) which already existed in eGAP (the Society’s grants management system up to 2017) were migrated to Flexi-Grant®. Although usernames were migrated across, passwords were not, you therefore must reset your password using the 'forgotten password' link in the Flexi-Grant® home page. If you are notified that your account does not exist, please register for a new one. On first login, users will be prompted to read and accept the Society’s Data Privacy Policy and Conditions of Use.

I have forgotten my password, what should I do?

If you have forgotten your password, please use the ‘Forgotten Password’ link on the Flexi-Grant® login page to reset this. If you enter your password incorrectly five times your account will be locked.

I have locked my user account, what should I do?

If you have locked yourself out of your user account, you will need to contact us directly via email grants@royalsociety.org or phone, +44(0)20 7451 2666.  If possible, please contact us using the same email account with which you are registered on Flexi-Grant® and make sure to include your Flexi-Grant account details.

Can I update my profile details in Flexi-Grant?

Yes, you can update your email address and other contact details directly in your Flexi-Grant account. When logging in to the system, select ‘My contact details’ from the list of options on the left hand-side and you will see a link in red underneath your surname that says, ‘Update your name/email’. Once the changes have been made hit ‘Save’. Any changes made will only appear once you have logged off the system and logged back in again.

If you are an award holder and are updating your email address, please email us to let us know of this change so we can ensure all award-based correspondence is managed accordingly. This is especially important where you are transferring your award to another Organisation.

Post Award Queries

I can't access my annual or final report to complete it, what do I do?

Login to Flexi-Grant® and select the Application Portal where you will see the list of your applications and awards. Click on the Reporting tab which is adjacent to the award you are being asked to submit a report against. You will see there are three bullet style buttons visible on the right-hand side. Click on these and select 'Complete Reporting form'. You will then be able to view and complete your annual or final report as required.

Who should I contact for further information?

Any queries can be directed to the grants team by contacting us via email, grants@royalsociety.org, or phone, +44(0)20 7451 2666. For queries regarding specific grant schemes, contact the relevant team directly.