AHRC: Responsive Mode Update

During the transition to UKRI’s new Funding Service AHRC has been running its Responsive Mode schemes in a round based structure. We are pleased to inform you that from what would have been Round 7 of 3 of our Responsive Mode schemes (Research Grants, Catalyst and Curiosity) we will now be moving into an “always open” setting. This means that there will not be a deadline for applications and applicants can submit an application at any point in the year. We will hold a number of panels throughout the year and budget will be allocated proportionately across panels to ensure that we can continue to fund the highest quality of applications no matter when they reach us.

Alongside this move to “always open” we have been focussing efforts internally on ways in which we can create efficiencies to help achieve quicker outcomes for applicants and to reduce the burden on our Peer Review College. From the point of returning “always open” we will be implementing a new approach to enable us to sift more applications ahead of panel meetings. Applications that receive an average review score of 4.5 or below across the three sets of reviewers’ comments will be sifted out before the applicant response stage and will not proceed to panel. The only exception to this is if an application receives an average review score of 4.5 or below but has two out of three review scores averaging 5.5 or above (for example, two scores of 6, 6 or 6, 5). In this case, the application will proceed to panel, and the applicant will be given the opportunity to respond.

This process is being applied as default to our Responsive Mode schemes. We may apply this rule to our strategic opportunities however this will be done on a case by case basis and details will be included within the Funding Finder text for specific Funding Opportunities. We will shortly be updating our funding guide as well to provide clarity on this process for applicants.

This change of approach brings us more in line with ESRC’s well established policy and we hope will provide greater consistency as we strive to become more harmonised across the councils within UKRI.