Costed grant extensions

Applications are now closed. For queries relating to the costed grant extensions, please contact grants@royalsociety.org.

At the end of June 2020, the UK Government, through the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), announced a package of financial support to ease the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on certain researchers funded through UKRI and the National Academies. 

All researchers who are eligible for this funding have been contacted via email using the email address associated with the researcher’s Flexi-Grant account. 

If you have any questions about applying for a costed grant extension, please contact the Grants team via email or phone on +44 (0)20 7451 2666. 

Eligibility

Who is eligible to apply for a costed grant extension?

Researchers whose end dates fall in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2022) and are supported through the following programmes: 

• University Research Fellowship including Royal Society – Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellowship (GCRF-funded University Research Fellows are ineligible for these extensions.)
• Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (GCRF-funded Dorothy Hodgkin Fellows are ineligible for these extensions.) 
• Newton International Fellowship (Newton Fund-funded Newton International Fellows are ineligible for these extensions.) 
• Research Professorship
• Industry Fellowship 
• Short Industry Fellowship
• PhD students or PDRAs either fully or partially funded by the Royal Society through:
  • Wolfson Fellowships
  • Enhancement Awards, Research Grants for Research Fellows or research expenses from University Research Fellowships, Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships or Research Professorships

The Society is still in discussions about providing costed grant extensions to the following programmes:

• APEX Award 
• Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship 
• Royal Society – Leverhulme Africa Postdoctoral Fellowships 
• Royal Society – DFID Africa Capacity Building Initiative 

Sir Henry Dale Fellows in need of additional financial support should contact the Wellcome Trust to enquire about additional funding. 

I am funded via the Newton Fund or Global Challenges Research Fund, am I eligible to apply for a costed grant extension? 

We are unfortunately unable to provide costed grant extensions to researchers who are supported through the UK Government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) via the Newton Fund or Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). The allocation of funding from BEIS to the Society stipulates that it cannot be used to support ODA-funded research. If you are currently funded through the Newton Fund or GCRF and have an urgent and genuine requirement for additional assistance, please contact the Grants team via email. 

Value and duration

What costs am I able to request as part of the costed grant extension? 

The Society will support requests to extend grants at currently funded (i.e. 2020-21) levels for: 

• 80% of PI salary and on-costs
• Where the Society entirely funds a PhD studentship, 100% of PhD stipend for Royal Society-funded PhD students in the final two years of their project.
• Where the Society partially funds a PhD studentship, 100% of the agreed contribution to the PhD stipend for Royal Society-funded PhD students in the final two years of their project. 
• 80% of salary of Royal Society-funded PDRAs in the final two years of their contract. 

• Newton International Fellows only: 
• 100% of stipend for the Newton International Fellow. 
• 100% of visa renewal and immigration health surcharge costs for the Newton International Fellow and their dependents. 

Where posts are being currently supported on a part time basis, costs must be prorated on the same basis (e.g. a post held at 0.6FTE can request maximum costs equivalent to 0.6FTE).   

Awards that will be extended into 2021-22 and 2022-23 will have annual indexation applied to salaries as part of the standard annual cycle. 

Where justified, we will also provide additional research expenses needed to replace resources critical to the research that were lost due to lockdown (for example, animal purchase and maintenance). However, we encourage award holders to utilise underspends that may be identified, for example from lower than expected travel costs incurred.   

Ineligible costs include other materials and consumable costs, equipment, travel, indirect and estate costs and other overheads, other directly allocated costs, and access costs. 

I need additional funding to cover costs which have been classed as ineligible. What can I do? 

Any research, travel or events costs that can no longer be used for their original purpose can be used for other research expenses on the basis that the change in expenditure remains within the funded aims and objectives of the research, and remains eligible in the context of the scheme. 

Where there are specific limits on consumable spend, these will be removed temporarily. You do not need our consent to make these changes. 

For programmes such as International Exchanges and Newton Mobility Grants where we have previously limited the amount that can be spent on research, we are currently waiving these limits as long as the funds are being used to support the original research aims outlined in your proposal. You do not need our consent to make these changes. 

Limits on the award holder's salaries, indirect costs, estate costs, management costs and equipment remain in place and changes may only be made with the Society's written agreement. 

How long can I request a costed grant extension for? 

A maximum of six months in additional costs will be provided for PIs, Newton International Fellows and PDRAs, however a further six months of no-cost extension may also be requested to provide a total of 12 months additional time.  

Costed extensions of more than six months may be considered in exceptional circumstances where lockdown and Covid-19 can be proven to have exceptionally impacted the researcher and their work. 

A maximum of 12 months in additional costs will be provided for eligible PhD students. 

Applying

How do I apply for a costed grant extension? 

All researchers who are eligible for this funding have been contacted via email using the email address associated with the researcher’s Flexi-Grant account. If you believe you are eligible for this funding based on the eligibility criteria stated above, yet have not received an email, please contact the Grants team via email. 

All applications will have to be signed off by your institution’s research office. We have contacted all research offices with eligible researchers to make them aware of the process and we encourage you to reach out to them as soon as possible to make them aware of your intention to apply. 

What will the application form entail? 

The application form has been designed to be to be as light touch as possible, recognising the challenges and pressures bought on by the pandemic for many individuals, whilst still ensuring we meet our duties as a funder to carry out our due diligence as necessary and to report back to BEIS. 

The application form will ask you to reflect on the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on you, your research and your research group (if applicable).