Before the submission of proposals for both RCUK and non-RCUK calls, few steps must be done:

1. Departmental contacts (Research Operation Managers)

Departments have a contact to advise and ensure that research funding applications are prepared in accordance with sponsors’ terms and conditions and with College and Departmental procedures and policies and also that once awarded grants are managed in the same way. Below are the contacts to the research operations managers from each department:

Centre for Environmental Policy

3. For EU funders you will need to have access to the European Commission's main authentication service (ECAS)

The European Commission’s main mechanism for funding research and innovation in Europe is through Horizon 2020 which started in January 2014 and will run for seven years until the end of December 2020.  Horizon 2020 has a budget of nearly €80 billion and offers a range of funding opportunities to UK HEIs.  Details of the programme can be found at the EU Team's Horizon 2020 page. Horizon 2020 calls which are currently open to applications can be found on the Participant Portal.

Writing a proposal  can be challenging and stressful, but it is also a matter of experience. The following documents aims to help our researchers with the proposal writing:

• A helfpul list with Do and Don't of proposal writing writing has been compilied by the Faculty Research Committee.
• A checklist to help academic staff evaluate their grant proposal prior to submission ensuring that they have the best chance of success. This checklist is based on good practice outlined by the Research Councils and guidance notes identified within the College.
• Demystifying EPSRC Peer Review: this is a guidance to the process an EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) grant proposal goes through from submission to funding decision. It highlights important aspects that applicants may be unaware of and explores commonly held myths about the peer review process.
• Outline Business Case template (requires staff login) to guide and support FoNS applicants who wish to apply for  EPSRC Strategic Equipment funding.
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• Letters of Support are also an important part of a proposal. The Funding Strategy team in the Research Office will provide institutional statements where required and appropriate to the bid. 
• The Faculty encourages and supports staff to work with industry, due to the range of benefits this can bring to our academic community. Please read Working with Industry at Imperial: Faculty of Natural Sciences Guide. You should also‌ download the College guide to working with industry and commercialising your research here (requires staff login)­.

Complementary information about preparing and costing a proposal can be found at the Research office's website.

Also note that many funders require you to submit a data management plan (DMP) as part of the funding application. This can be challenging, especially if you have never written one before, but support is available from the Research Data Management team within Library Services. We recommend using DMPOnline or email us directly.

If you would like to have some support towards your grant proposal writing, please complete the FoNS Research Grant Proposal Support Form.  This will allow the strategic research team to understand the type of support you need before they contact you.

The Principal Investigator has overall responsibility for the technical and financial management of their research award. This includes the management of the project within the terms and conditions of funding, adherence to reporting requirements and timely communication of significant project changes. The College’s Research Office provides a central portal for support.

Research office provides all information towards budget management and contracts.

Below are the contacts to the research operations managers from each department:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) issues are addressed and managed across the College community and at various levels, from College leadership to local Departments and groups.

Get help writing an EDI statement (staff login required)

Read about equality, diversity and inclusion in the Faculty of Natural Sciences.