The Simpler and Better Funding (SBF) programme will deliver a single, consistent, user-centred service that reduces the burden of finding, applying for and managing research funding for all users.
We have already started to make improvements in the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service (TFS). You will see more positive changes as we continue to develop the service throughout the life of the programme.
Key programme stages and milestones:
Since our first pilot in the summer of 2020, the SBF programme has collaborated with each of the research councils to launch further pilots on the new platform. We will continue to run pilots in the new service to test how different funding types and new, improved functionality and processes work.
During this phase, the UKRI Funding Service will run in parallel to UKRI’s current online systems for managing funding, such as the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
From January 2024, research council opportunities will be launched and managed in the new UKRI Funding Service.
In preparation for this, we will gradually introduce more significant changes from early 2023:
We will integrate Research England’s funding processes into the new service and work with Innovate UK (IUK) to support applications to IUK opportunities.
The SBF programme will run until early 2025. As we make changes to improve the research funding journey for our users, we will listen to feedback and if needed revisit those earlier changes to consolidate improvements.
We are taking an agile and iterative approach, learning from external and internal users to continuously refine and enhance the service.
Email: sbf@ukri.org
