The Isaac Newton Trust (INT) exists to champion research excellence across the Collegiate University, responding with agility and purpose to the evolving needs of scholars, disciplines, and institutions. The ability to adapt to changes in the funding landscape remains a core priority of the Trust. As such, the Trust has recently undertaken an evidence‑driven Strategic Review.
Following discussions with all Schools at the University, it became apparent that there was strong appreciation for the Trust’s longstanding partnership and its ability to deliver flexible, timely, and strategically targeted support. School leaders and research strategy coordinators were asked what the key funding priorities were for their departments, faculties, and the institutions under their leadership. A number of needs were shared across the Schools:
- Support for Early-Career Researchers - All Schools stressed the importance of targeted support for early-career academics, especially where national schemes are limited.
- Seed Funding to Leverage External Grants - Schools reported excellent returns from INT seed funding, enabling pilot data and collaborations essential for major bids, many of which had been successful.
- Bridging and Emergency Funding - Urgent bridging awards were very much valued. It was suggested that applications needed rapid, sometimes out-of-cycle, decisions.
- Autonomy and Local Flexibility - Schools prefer decentralised delivery of specific funds, allowing them to tailor schemes to disciplinary needs with lower administrative burden.
- Improved Visibility and Communication - There is appetite for clearer promotion of available funding schemes, greater visibility of outcomes, and shared efforts to highlight the impact of INT investment.
All points have been factored into the future of the Trust’s operational approach and available funding opportunities. The Trustees remain fully supportive of the Emergency Bridge and Underwriting scheme, recognising its vital role for early career researchers. Trustees will continue to assess and award bridging and emergency research grant funding at their three meetings a year, and the Trust will be considering how to respond with increased agility to between cycle research related emergency funding needs.
The Trust’s former project start-up and emergency fellowship grant schemes have been discontinued, and replaced with a research partnership with the Schools to deliver small scale start-up funding. Further information about the new joint initiative between the Trust and the Schools of the University, the INT School Research Enabling Grants, will be published shortly.
The Strategic Research Projects Grants scheme will continue to deliver significant transformational research funding for the University. INT’s Early Career Fellowship programmes remain highly valued. Our budgets for Academic Career Development Fellowships and Junior Research Fellowships will rise modestly to keep pace with rising costs, ensuring continued support for early career academics. The Trust will also maintain its highly valued matched funding scheme for the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship.
Trust governance, risk management, online processes, and operational resilience will also be further strengthened as the Trust consolidates its status as an independent charity.
Together, these changes strengthen the Trust’s ability to respond flexibly, support researchers at critical moments, and maximise the overall impact of the Trust’s funding across Cambridge.
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