Collaboration and innovation

Scheme at a glance

Opportunity status: Closed
Funders: Population Research UK
Funding type: Grant
Maximum individual award: £100,000
Total fund: £625,000
Funding duration: Up to 12 months
Opening date: 9 June 2026 10:00am UK time
Closing date: 9 September 2026 4:00pm UK time

Last updated: 9 September 2026

This funding call aims to fund innovative and/or collaborative projects that will enhance the Longitudinal Population Studies (LPS) data infrastructure in order to enable greater and more efficient use of LPS data, or to generate greater impact. It provides an opportunity to initiate new work or strengthen existing initiatives which address community need.

This is a UKRI flexible funding award administered by Population Research UK (PRUK).

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £100,000. PRUK will fund 80% (up to a maximum of £80,000) of the FEC.

Your project must start by 1 March 2027.

To apply, please submit your funding application form (Word, 79 kB) to info@pruk.ac.uk by 4:00pm UK time on 9 September 2026.

Who can apply?

Standard UKRI eligibility criteria apply. Proposals are invited from eligible UK-based organisations, in accordance with standard UKRI practice. Before applying for funding, check eligibility of your organisation and eligibility as an individual.

Who is eligible to apply

To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must:

be a researcher or specialist employed by an eligible research organisation
show that you will lead the project and be actively engaged in the work
have the relevant expertise and experience to lead or contribute to the proposed activities

For applicants who do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting an application the research organisation is confirming, if it is successful:

contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project
all necessary support for you and the project will be provided, including mentorship and career development for early career researchers

Individuals may be project lead on only one application. However, individuals can act as project co-leads on any number of applications.

Host research organisations

Applications can be from a single eligible organisation or a partnership of organisations. When there are two or more eligible organisations involved, for administrative purposes it is necessary to identify a single lead researcher or specialist as activity lead who must be affiliated with the lead research organisation.

However, the balance of activity and leadership across the participants and partner organisations can be equally shared if desirable. What is critical is for the approach to leadership and decision making across multiple organisations to be clearly specified where applicable.

A research organisation may lead or partner on more than one application.

International applicants

PRUK will consider the inclusion of international applicants as activity co-leads if they provide expertise not available in the UK and make a major intellectual contribution to the design or conduct of the activity.

You must justify in your application why their expertise is required (within the applicant and team capability to deliver section of the application form) and provide clear indicators of commitment to delivering innovative policy engagement mechanisms within the UK. If you wish to include funding for international applicants, you should seek guidance from the PRUK hub team in advance of submitting the application.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

career breaks
support for people with caring responsibilities
flexible working
alternative working patterns

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

You are encouraged to leverage the full strengths of the UK’s diverse research and innovation community from the earliest stages of assembling your teams through to the delivery of awarded activities.

Consideration of equality, diversity and inclusion is important for all applications to PRUK for funding, but particular care should be taken for activities taking a team approach involving multiple co-applicants.

What we are looking for

Aim and scope

PRUK is an initiative that aims to maximise the use and impact of UK LPS across biomedical and social sciences. We are an initiative co-developed by the University of Bristol, University College London, and Swansea University. Our leadership team includes both CLOSER and UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration, who provide specialised services that support and strengthen the LPS research community. Collectively the PRUK team is balanced across social, economic, and biomedical research expertise and representation.

Over the past year, Population Research UK (PRUK) has initiated a set of major infrastructure-building activities that were set out in the PRUK delivery plan, as part of our commitment to support the UK’s longitudinal research ecosystem. Projects supported through this funding opportunity will complement this PRUK work programme.

This funding call aims to fund innovative and collaborative projects that will enhance the LPS data infrastructure in order to enable greater and more efficient use of LPS data, or to generate greater impact. It provides an opportunity to initiate new work or strengthen existing initiatives which address community need and support the delivery of PRUK’s five key objectives, which are to:

Coordinate and advocate for the LPS community
Enhance discovery capabilities for LPS
Streamline data access processes and systems
Facilitate linked data use across LPS
Build capacity and skills within the LPS community

We may exceptionally support projects that do not fit into the five key PRUK objectives: please speak to us first.

At PRUK, our vision is to foster a simplified and interconnected data landscape where data users benefit from a more seamless journey from data discovery to analysis and to translating those research findings into meaningful societal impact, while policymakers can apply robust evidence from LPS in decision-making, LPS studies are supported to maximise the visibility and longevity of their data, and skills are enhanced by training across the sector.

Proposals are expected to align to this vision, and to:

Be innovative, demonstrating novelty, and complementing (not duplicating) existing work
Respond to emerging needs and opportunities
Enhance the use and benefits of a broad range of LPS of different types and sizes, rather than serving a single study or narrowly defined researcher group
Be inclusive, engaging stakeholders across different sectors, academic disciplines, study sizes, career types and stages, wherever possible
Be generalisable, delivering value beyond the immediate project

For example, scaling up an approach or tool you are applying to one LPS, to a wider set of studies, or data users could form a good basis for a proposal.

We anticipate funding at least six awards to support a portfolio of work that will benefit both biomedical and social science researchers. You are encouraged to apply for the funding you require rather than applying for the maximum amount. Your application will be assessed relative to the resources requested.

Evidencing community need

Your project should provide evidence of the need for the proposed work. You may wish to refer to the PRUK prospectus, PRUK’s consultation report, findings from the ESRC Future Data Services report or any other relevant strategies, consultations, or recommendations.

Innovation

This funding opportunity aims to support exciting, innovative approaches to enhance LPS data use and impact. The funding panel will be encouraged to support riskier proposals where there is strong potential for innovation recognising that such applications may carry a greater degree of uncertainty than more conventional projects. If proposing pilot work, the application should include clear metrics to measure the success of the project.

Collaboration

We encourage projects that are collaborative in their nature or will foster greater collaboration (e.g. between studies, services, researchers) in their aims. Given the funding limit, collaboration does not require a large number of applicants to be involved in your project but it should be clear how the project will work with others in a collaborative spirit to deliver its aims.

Alignment to PRUK activities

Our delivery plan sets out in detail the work we’ll do to support and strengthen the UK’s longitudinal research ecosystem. Building on the PRUK prospectus, and developed following extensive consultation with a broad community of LPS study teams, researchers, service providers and non-academic users, our plan sets out the practical steps we’ll take through to 2028. You can find out about the latest PRUK updates in our newsletter. Your project should not duplicate ongoing work being supported by PRUK or within the data infrastructure landscape.

PRUK is funded by the UKRI Infrastructure Fund. This funding opportunity is to support infrastructure projects. Research projects or primary data collection are not eligible.

Who Should Apply

Applications are particularly encouraged from early-mid career researchers/professionals working within or alongside the LPS community.

Applicants should consider the following requirements as part of their approach and its justification.

Connecting stakeholders

Applicants should describe how they will work with relevant stakeholders in the LPS community to meet their specific needs.

Applicants should be able to explain how their application is distinctive to existing work and how it adds value without being duplicative or increasing complexity for stakeholders.

Governance

Applicants should set out their proposed project governance, including approaches to decision making during the course of the project. Applicants should also describe if the PRUK Hub Leadership Group will be involved in any decisions.

PRUK activity integration

Applicants should describe how the proposed work will complement the wider PRUK work programme and to look for opportunities to add value to and engage with the other funded activities set out in its delivery plan.

Sustainability

Applicants should make reference to the sustainability and future development of the proposed work beyond the period of funding proposed here.

Development

Successful applicants will deliver their proposed work for PRUK and the benefit of the UK LPS community. It is a requirement of the award that outputs are shared with PRUK as an outcome of the project, in order to support future developments in this area.

Public, patient and practitioner involvement and engagement

Applications should adhere to best practice in public, patient, and practitioner involvement and engagement. Applicants may wish to consider UKRI guidance on engaging the public.

Duration

The duration of the award is up to 12 months (and can be less than this). You should ensure that when completing the project details section of your application, you indicate a start date of no later than 1 March 2027 (it can be earlier) and duration of up to 12 months. We anticipate issuing award letters by November 2026. All PRUK projects must end by 31 December 2028.

Funding available

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £100,000. PRUK will fund 80% (up to a maximum of £80,000) of the FEC. Find out more about full economic costing.

What we will fund

You can request funding for costs such as:

a contribution to the salary of the project lead and co-leads
support for other posts such as research, administrative and specialist staff
flexible funding to support the time of individuals outside of the project team
data preparation, provision, preservation and sharing
travel costs
knowledge transfer and dissemination costs
external stakeholder activities including public engagement and involvement
technology or equipment to provide accessible facilities and capability essential to the mission and to promote open science when not available elsewhere
costs for innovative training and capacity building when not available elsewhere
costs to improve environmental sustainability of Digital Research Infrastructures
we recognise that some project partners may be employed by a government-funded organisation. You must therefore avoid the double counting of public funds in costings
where justified, we will fund the time of project partners at 100% FEC. The combined costs for project partners must not exceed 30% of the overall cost of the grant at 100% of FEC, and would normally be lower than this
directly incurred costs for international partners as co-leads (an exception funded at 100%) may be requested, although we expect most costs to be incurred by UK organisations

The leadership team will have flexibility over use of the directly incurred funding within the total awarded, as long as these are proportionate to associated directly allocated funding and still permit delivery of the activity. There are constraints on the use of directly allocated funding.

The total costs requested for international applicants from developed countries (those not on the OECD DAC List of ODA Recipients), India and China must not exceed 30% of the total resources requested. There is no cap on costs requested for international applicants from DAC list countries.

What we will not fund

We will not fund:

work that is duplicative of existing funded activities
any kind of studentships including stipends
publication costs
data collection or research
funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants

Team project partner

Where appropriate, one or more project partners can be included in your application, including from academia, industry, charities or the wider third sector.

You may include team project partners that will support your application through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:

staff time
access to equipment
sites or facilities
the provision of data
software or materials

Each project partner must provide a statement of support. This should be included as an annex as part of your application. If your application involves industry partners, they must provide additional information if the team activity partner falls within the industry collaboration framework. This should be included as an annex as part of your application.

Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles.

Who cannot be included as a team project partner

Any individual included in your application within a core team cannot also be a project partner.

Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation, this includes other departments within the same organisation.

If you are collaborating with someone in your organisation, consider including them in the core team as activity co-lead or specialist. They cannot be a project partner.

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

International collaboration

PRUK is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. PRUK is therefore aligned with UKRI principles relating to Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I), a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. UKRI’s TR&I Principles set out expectations of organisations in receipt of UKRI-derived funding in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity via submission of an application form to the PRUK Hub team (University of Bristol as lead institution for PRUK operations).

The activity lead is responsible for completing the application process and submitting the application form, but we expect all team members and activity partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit the application to PRUK.

Application form

Please complete the funding application form (Word 79kB).

Completed application forms should be submitted to PRUK via email as a single PDF attachment, to: info@pruk.ac.uk. Please use the subject line ‘PRUK Collaboration and Innovation’. You will receive confirmation of your submitted application within 2 working days.

References

Applications should be self-contained, and hyperlinks should only be used to provide links directly to reference information. To ensure the information’s integrity is maintained, where possible, persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers should be used. Assessors are not required to access links to carry out assessment or recommend a funding decision. Applicants should use their discretion when including reference and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

Reference should be included in the appropriate question section of the application and be easily identifiable by the assessors for example, (Smith, Research Paper, 2019).

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

Deadline

PRUK must receive your application by 9 September 2026 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Personal data

Processing personal data

PRUK will need to collect some personal information to manage your application and the registration of your funding application. This will entail personnel from the University of Bristol, University College London, Swansea University, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University of Edinburgh and University of Stirling (each part of the PRUK Coordination Hub) having access to your application to facilitate the formal panel assessment.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

PRUK will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with the nominated members of the assessment panel, who will include external personnel to the PRUK Coordination Hub, so that they can participate in the assessment process and post-award management.

Publication of outcomes

PRUK will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity on its website.

Application form guidance

Applicants will be asked to address the following questions in the application form – drawing from the description of the planned and PRUK Board approved focus of work outlined above. The application form must not exceed 4 pages, plus permitted annexes (see details below).

Vision

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

Explain how your proposed work:

presents advantages over current practice
is novel and demonstrates innovation
complements and does not duplicate existing work
builds on evidence of LPS community need and opportunity
serves a broad user base rather than a single study or narrowly defined group.

Approach

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

detail the methods, objectives, tasks and milestones for the activity and make the case that they are realistic and achievable
provide a project plan including milestones and timelines, in the form of a Gantt chart or similar. This should be included as a 1-page annex at the end of your application
provide details of how the work will be managed including how decisions will be made and progress monitored
describe how the approach is inclusive, engaging stakeholders across different sectors, academic disciplines, study sizes, career types and stages wherever possible
describe how the project will produce outputs and outcomes which are generalisable, delivering value beyond the immediate project
provide a data management plan which should clearly detail how you comply with UKRI published data management and sharing policies. Include your Data Management Plan as an annex (up to 5 pages) at the end of your application
demonstrate how the requested resources are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified.

Deliverability

Why are you the right individual and team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format (attached as an annex - up to 4 pages) to provide evidence of how the PI and team have:

the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
the right balance of skills and expertise (including the appropriate leadership and management skills)
contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community.

Use space in the application form to demonstrate how the team resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

are comprehensive, appropriate and justified (providing full time equivalent (FTE) of all staff roles)
represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
maximise potential outcomes and impacts.

Please include details of any project partners here. Project partner statements of support should be included as an annex (up to 1 page per project partner). If your application involves industry partners, provide details here and include the industry collaboration framework letter of support as an annex (up to 2 pages per industry partner).

Sustainability and scalability

How will your proposed work continues to meet the needs of the LPS community beyond the life of the funding?

Explain how your proposed work and its outputs:

will be sustained beyond the life of the funding to meet its ultimate aims
will be scaled to meet the needs of a broad user base and/or to a broader set of UK LPS data resources.

Costing

Using the costing template, provide the full economic cost (FEC) and PRUK contribution requested (80% or justified exception). Expand the costing template as much as needed across each field and provide justifications for any exceptional costs in the approach section.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Examination of applications

Following the close of the funding opportunity, all submitted applications will be examined by the PRUK Hub team to ensure the proposed application meets standard UKRI eligibility criteria and is within scope of the funding opportunity.

Following our completion of the application examination process, all those with an application outside of the scope of the funding opportunity, will be advised their application has been rejected by the end of September 2026.

Applications within scope of this funding opportunity will be taken forward to the expert review panel meeting planned for October 2026.

Expert review panel

The review panel will be comprised of members of the PRUK Hub and invited individuals with expertise in maximising the potential of LPS. The panel will collectively review your application against the criteria of this funding opportunity. Applications will rank alongside other applications after which the panel will make a funding recommendation. The panel will be empowered to support the strongest overall portfolio work that will benefit both biomedical and social science researchers. The expert review panel will use the following criteria to assess your application:

Vision

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

to what extent does the proposal describe a novel approach/solution which demonstrates innovation?
to what extent does the proposal describe the advantage over current practice/solutions?
to what extent does the proposal describe a project which complements and does not duplicate existing work?
to what extent does the application provide evidence of building on emerging community need and opportunity?
to what extent does the application demonstrate that the work will serve a broad user base rather than a single study or narrowly defined group?

Approach

How are you going to deliver the proposed work?

to what extent are the methods, objectives, tasks, and milestones for the project realistic and achievable?
to what extent does the application demonstrate that the processes for making decisions and monitoring progress are robust and effective?
to what extent does the data management plan demonstrate that appropriate and realistic consideration has been given to data management requirements to maximise data sharing?
to what extent is the approach inclusive, engaging stakeholders across different sectors, academic disciplines, study sizes, career types and stages wherever possible?
to what extent does the application demonstrate that the project will produce outputs and outcomes which are generalisable, delivering value beyond the immediate project?

Deliverability

Do you have the capacity and capability to deliver your proposed work?

to what extent do the team and any partners included in the application have the experience, capabilities and resources to conduct the planned work?
to what extent are the resource required to deliver the proposed work justified?

Sustainability and scalability

How will your proposed work be sustained beyond the life of the funding to meet its ultimate goals?

to what extent does the proposal provide sufficient evidence that the project is sustainable beyond the life of the funding to meet LPS community needs?
to what extent is the proposed solution scalable to a broad user base, and/or to a broader set of UK LPS data resources?

Principles of assessment

PRUK supports the San Francisco declaration on research assessment (DORA) and recognises the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

PRUK is aligned to the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

Using generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in peer review

Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.

PRUK is aligned to the UKRI policy on the use of generative AI.

Timescale

The expert review panel meeting will take place approximately 10 weeks after the closing date.

Get help with developing your proposal

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

Ask about this funding opportunity

Population Research UK Hub team

Email: info@pruk.ac.uk

We aim to respond within three working days.

Additional info

PRUK Hub team hosted a webinar on 9 June 2026 to provide more details on this funding opportunity and to take questions from the community. View the webinar slides and recording on YouTube.

Why a collaboration and innovation fund?

Our delivery plan sets out in detail the work we will do to support and strengthen the UK’s longitudinal research ecosystem. Developed in close collaboration with the LPS community, our plan sets out the practical steps that we will take over the next years. It reflects extensive engagement across the sector, with insight and input from researchers, data managers, funders and infrastructure partners. This funding opportunity is to support innovative, collaborative projects that respond to emerging opportunities and needs within the Longitudinal Population Studies (LPS) community.

Conditions of award

Start date

Awards must start by 1 March 2027 (they can start earlier) and must end by 31 December 2028. Please note: No extensions will be considered.