The INT currently supports four main categories of research grants. Details for each type of grant can be found below.
If you are uncertain into which category your application may fall, please contact us.
You may also wish to consult the on costs section of University Salary Scales when initially budgeting your project. Please note that Apprenticeship Levy must be removed from your salary costs as this is not an eligible cost for any funding received from the INT. The finance section of any application should be completed with the assistance of your departmental Research Grants Administrator.
Other research grants funded partly by the Trust
- Joint Schools' programmes - The Isaac Newton Trust funds research in collaboration with the Schools of the University – these competitions are run by the Schools, not INT.
- Early Career Research Fellowships - INT partners with external institutions (the Leverhulme Trust and the Humboldt Foundation) and with Faculties and Colleges (INT Academic Career Development Fellowships and INT/College JRFs).
Please refer to our How to Apply page for the current deadlines
Summary |
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Up to £30k For Bridging / Underwriting projects, please note that the INT expects future funding to have either have been secured or applied for at the time of application. |
The purpose of this this funding call is to help provide cover for emergent needs and opportunities:
- Short bridging funds for an existing PDRA and/or to sustain a project to the start of a new grant (the INT is not able to bridge the salary of recent PhDs to their first PDRA post)
- Underwriting for a portion of a grant already applied
- Proof-of-concept/preparatory research in preparation for a larger external grant application
Eligible costs:
- PDRA salary costs up to pt 44
- Technician or other support costs only if specifically required by the subject of the project
- For Start Up projects, small contributions to the purchase or hire costs of new equipment if essential, integral and dedicated to this specific research project, access costs for equipment within the University or Cambridge or elsewhere.
Who can apply:
- The named applicant should be a PI or independent researcher; where a researcher seeks a contribution to his/her own salary, the applicant should be the Head of institution.
- The application is submitted by the applicant’s Head of Department or Faculty.
What we are looking for:
- Quality of the project
- If relevant, the importance to the project or group of retention of a particular RA
- If relevant, the importance of continuity to the RA’s career development and prospects
- A clear plan and time-scale for obtaining further funding for the project and/or RA.
- Future funding must have either have been secured or applied for at time of application.
Applicants must be aware that these grants cannot be renewed if the application for future funding is unsuccessful. Therefore, Trustees will want to know that the project can be brought to a satisfactory conclusion if the intended further funding is not secured.
Summary |
| Up to £30k ≤3 years 3 calls per annum |
INT supports Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships and Humboldt Foundation Feodor Lynen Fellowships under a separate programme - see Early Career Fellowships.
For other external, competitively-awarded Early Career Fellowships for tenure in the University of Cambridge, Fellowship Support Grants from the INT may provide:
- Salary support where the Early Career Fellowship does not cover the whole salary, to bring the salary up to the minimum PDRA salary (ie pt 41) Applicants must be clear about the net salary they are receiving from the other funder and whether or not National Insurance or pension contributions are being made. The INT will consult with the host department about any contribution to these on-costs that might be appropriate.
- A contribution to consumables where an external fellowship (as above) explicitly excludes such provision (NB: INT does not cover bench fees)
Note that the INT will not replace funds:
- Already promised by host department as part of the application to the external funder;
- Implicitly included in a Department’s acceptance of a College JRF (Trustees expect that the College will have assured themselves that the resources are available to allow the JRF to conduct their research in Cambridge);
- That must, under terms agreed by the University, be met by the Department.
Who can apply:
Departmental host PIs may apply on the behalf of early-career researchers who either:
- Hold an offer of an externally funded, competitively-awarded Early Career Fellowship for which the salary offered falls short of the University’s basic salary, or for which a modest contribution to consumables costs is required (but not bench fees) – and these costs cannot be provided by the host institution; or
- Are applying for such a fellowship and need evidence of contributory funds as above.
Summary |
| Up to £30k ≤3 years 1 call in the Michaelmas Term |
The purposes of this this funding call:
- New projects, perhaps developing existing work in a new direction
- High quality and visionary projects that have already attracted (or are likely to attract) funding from other sources
- Innovative research and scholarship unlikely to be funded from standard sources (for example topics falling between the remit of two Research Councils; interdisciplinary research)
- Seed-corn funding, start-up costs.
Research must be carried out in Cambridge, (or if not in Cambridge, should be ancillary or complementary to research in Cambridge e.g. fieldwork)
Eligible costs:
- PDRA salary costs up to pt 44
- Technician or other support costs only if specifically required by the subject of the project
- Small contributions to the purchase or hire costs of new equipment if essential, integral and dedicated to this specific research project
- Access costs for equipment within the University or Cambridge or elsewhere where usage is charged at the 'internal' rate (where such exists); such costs are excluded from the applicant's grant funding; and the applicant's Head of Department makes a strong case as to why the usage cannot be subsidised in full by the Department
Who can apply:
- The named applicant should be a PI or independent researcher; where a researcher seeks a contribution to his/her own salary, the applicant should be the Head of institution.
- Established CTOs may apply for research support for a sabbatical term or terms
- The application is submitted by the applicant’s Head of Department or Faculty.
- In the case of a CTO applying for research support, the application should come jointly from the College and the relevant Faculty.
- Priority will be given to applicants who are early career researchers
- Research-active recent retirees may also apply
What we are looking for:
- Quality of the project
- Relevant expertise of the researchers involved
- Likelihood of attaining the results in the time available
- Referees’ opinions
Summary |
| Up to £500k ≤5 years There is one call per annum, in Lent Term, for a preliminary round; selected applications are asked to submit a full application in Easter Term |
The purposes of this this funding call:
- Institutional, perhaps interdisciplinary, programmes and projects of strategic value to the University for the promotion of education or research and supported a Pro-Vice-Chancellor or Chair of School
- Normally aiming to secure a major grant from an external funding body, but may also enable significant University funding
- The INT grant should demonstrably secure intellectual and/or financial capital by unlocking an opportunity that would otherwise not be available to the University.
Eligible costs:
- PDRA salary costs up to pt 44
- Technician or other support costs only if specifically required by the subject of the project
- Small contributions to the purchase or hire costs of new equipment if essential, integral and dedicated to this specific research project
Who can apply:
- The named applicant should be a Head of Department or Chair of School.
If you are considering making an application in this category please contact the Director in the first instance.
Examples of the Trust’s recent Strategic Grants:
- Seed-corn funding for Cambridge Zero
- Support for a new Research Centre in Ethics, Economy and Social Change in collaboration with the Max-Planck Institut;
- Start-up funding for major educational/research initiatives, such as the Brain Regenerative Therapy Centre, Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences, Carbon Neutral Future Initiative;
- Development funding for Centre for the Study of Existential Risk; Millennium Mathematics Project; CRASSH.