Research Incentive Grants

Research Incentive Grants enable Early Career Researchers to develop their independent research career.

Following an interruption of over two years, the Trust is pleased to announce that the Research Incentive Grant Scheme will open to new applications in academic year 2022-23.

As the Trust’s income remains below its pre-Covid level, there will only be one Call for Proposals in 2022-23, with a closing date of 30th November 2022, for projects to start from 1st June 2023 onwards. With limited funding available, the Trust expects to fund only 40-50 projects in this round.

The Research Incentive Grants (RIG) scheme allows an Early Career Researcher to undertake, as the Principal Investigator, a short research project, either of a stand-alone nature or in the form of an initial study leading to a more extensive project.

The principal criteria for the award of a RIG are that the planned research is of excellent quality, will enable the principal investigator to develop a new project or line of research, and will lead to high quality outputs and outcomes.

Key Facts:

• Career stage:Early Career Researchers . Eligible organisations:The 15 Scottish universities, Glasgow School of Art and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland . Grant value:min £1,500 to max £15,000 . Project duration:Up to 12 months . Next deadline:30th November 2022, for projects starting from 1st June 2023

To be eligible, the applicant must:

• meet the Trust’s definition of an Early Career Researcher at the time of applying (e.g. the closing date for applications), and must be either:
• Within 7 years of successfully completing their PhD (measured from the date of submission), OR
• Within 7 years of starting their independent research career (pro-rata for part-time staff and excluding breaks such as parental leave, extended sick leave, secondments outwith academia or periods of unemployment)
• be employed by one of the following organisations:
• Scottish universities: Aberdeen, Abertay, Dundee, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier, Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian, Heriot-Watt, --Highlands & Islands, Queen Margaret, Robert Gordon, St Andrews, Stirling, Strathclyde or West of Scotland;
• Glasgow School of Art;
• Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
• be on an employment contract which includes time and access to resources to conduct independent research as part of their employment, and
• hold an employment contract which covers the entire duration of the proposed research project plus three months.
• Individuals employed full-time on another Principal Investigator’s grant must demonstrate they have time, as part of their employment, to undertake additional research activities. To this end, they must seek permission from the PI and the grant giving body that is funding their salary before applying for a Research Incentive Grant to fund their own research.
• Collaborators from anywhere in the world and any organisation can be included in the application as co-investigators but not as joint applicants.