FAQ

Yes, as long as you are based in either a UK University or not-for-profit research organisation for at least the duration of the project and you hold an established academic position, then you are eligible to apply.

If you are an engineer with specific questions regarding your eligibility or the remit of the scheme you can contact the Royal Academy of Engineering ([email protected]) as well as the dedicated enquiries inbox [email protected] 

Yes, as long as you are based in either a UK University or not-for-profit research organisation for at least the duration of the project and you hold an established academic position, then you are eligible to apply.

If you work in the humanities and/or social sciences and have specific questions regarding your eligibility or the remit of the scheme you can contact the British Academy ([email protected]) as well as the dedicated enquiries inbox [email protected]

No, applications should be within the remit of more than one of the Academies. As social science and humanities fall within the remit of the British Academy this would not be eligible.

Yes. If you are able to make a case that your career experience is equivalent to that of holding a PhD (i.e. publication record etc.), and if you are in an established academic post at a UK institution, then you would be eligible to apply. You should make reference to this under the ‘Personal Statement’ part of the application form.

No, there is no minimum or maximum number of years’ experience an applicant must have but the scheme is open to established researchers.

Applications are accepted from researchers currently employed on both full and part-time contracts (i.e. anything less than 1.0 FTE). As the grant covers the cost of providing a teaching replacement, you can apply to cover the time that is specified on your contract.

If you are employed on an hourly contract, you can still apply. You can apply for costs to provide a teaching replacement for the time you are employed to spend on teaching and administrative duties.

Yes. However, it is essential that the length of your contract covers the whole proposed period of the grant. The purpose of the scheme is to allow the successful applicant to obtain time freed from their normal teaching and administrative commitments. If your current contract ends during the proposed grant period, or before it starts, but there is a commitment from the University to renew the contract, then yes, you would be eligible to apply.

It would not be a high priority to support someone whose time was not being largely devoted to this grant. The aim of the scheme is to allow the successful applicant to be free to focus on their research by relieving them of their teaching and administrative duties. You would need to fully explain in your application those duties and commitments from which you cannot be released.

The co-applicant is an individual who is making a significant contribution to the research project and is essential for delivering the proposed work. They may or may not request teaching relief and/or research expenses. Collaborators are individuals whose contribution is important to the proposed research but do not play a major role in the project.

No, both the applicant and co-applicant must be based at a UK University or not-for-profit research organisation. There is no restriction on the location of collaborators, as they play a smaller role in the project.

The co-applicant must be based at a UK University or not-for-profit research organisation. However, there is no restriction for the collaborators, who can be based in Industry.

There can be up-to 3 co-applicants on an application, but we would expect their inclusion to be appropriately justified and for their work on the proposed research to be essential.

Yes, you can reapply as long as you are still eligible under the new round guidelines and have addressed the feedback from the independent referees. Your new application will be treated separately from the previous one.

No, you can only apply as lead applicant or co-applicant within the same round.

Yes, you may apply to the scheme if you currently hold research funding for another project.

Please bear in mind the panel will be assessing the feasibility of the proposed project and therefore will consider the amount of time you can devote to the project. Please explain and justify the amount of time you will dedicate to the award as part of the application. Applicants are expected to devote at least 100% of the time which they have requested to be bought out, to the project.

No, all applicants must have a UK host organisation.

Yes. The grant can be transferred to another institution. This change will require the Society’s approval, please contact the team for further information.

The grant is not intended to supplement current projects or research that can be supported through other source of funding; therefore, it is important that you describe the novelty of your proposal and clarify to what extent you have already developed the research included in your APEX application. The Panel will look for innovative research ideas and development of new research directions resulting from the combination of different disciplines.

Yes, in your proposal you can apply for public engagement costs, up to the value of £10,000, to support public engagement activities linked to their APEX awards. If public engagement costs are requested, then these will need to be fully justified within the application form. This justification will be assessed independently by a member of the Public Engagement Panel.

Yes, applicants can apply for costs to provide a teaching replacement for either themselves and/or the co-applicant. It is between the applicant’s and co-applicant’s respective universities to decide how the award will be divided up between them (to cover their respective teaching replacements). This should be clearly stated in the need for teaching relief field within the proposal tab of the application.

Additionally, a supporting statement from the head of department of the co-applicant will need to be uploaded in the event that this is requested. If successful, it is recommended that the organisations involved have a collaboration agreement in place.

Funds are normally used to appoint one lecturer who can provide teaching relief to the main applicant, thus giving an opportunity to a younger researcher and avoiding the need to ask the award-holder to fill in any gaps in the teaching arrangements. However, if your institution felt that was the more feasible option then that would be fine.

No, if you do not have teaching and administrative duties then you are not eligible to apply for this scheme.

No. Currently the position is that publication costs are not eligible costs.

Recipients of APEX awards are encouraged to publish in open access journals. More information on our publication policy can be found on the the Royal Society website here.

Yes, any applicant proposing to work with human participants is expected to clarify the requirement for the ethical approval. If your research does not require acquiring ethical approval you will still need to explain why it is not needed. Please make sure you provide detail on how your experiment will be conducted.

No, Apex funds cannot be used to supplement a project funded through another grant.