School Grant Application Processes 

Key steps in your Research Grant Development

  1. Notify your CRSO Research Facilitator of your interest in a funding opportunity by the internal cut-off shown on our Research Grant Funding Calls and Demand Managed Calls pages, or by the general timescales in the table below.
  2. Obtain departmental approvals to proceed with a research grant application
  3. Write your grant application. CRSO will send you a tailored bid submission timeline of key milestones to help keep you on track. 

Grant Application Processes for each School including approvals and peer review

Birmingham Business School Grant Application Processes 

1. PI/Co-I obtains approval for application

Principal / Co-Applicant(s) to obtain email approval from their Head of Department (Cc. School Director of Research and Departmental Research Lead). Note: City REDI staff obtain approval from Simon Collinson instead of HoD. 

The following information should be contained in your email:

  • Funder name and scheme;

  • Proposed time commitment on the project (% FTE), start date and duration;

  • Any other information you consider relevant to the making of an informed decision.

2. PI/Co-I seeks internal peer review

  • All bids require at least two internal peer reviews.

  • A more robust or second round of peer review may be required for very large-scale bids. 

  • Bids on which staff are Co-I (PI based in another college/external organisation) do not require peer review (reviews organised by PI and their College/organisation).

3 CRSO seek Head of School approval for non-standard items

Once CRSO has established call requirements and generated costings, they will seek authorisation of any non-standard items, such as sub-fEC or match/ in-kind contributions, from Head of School. 

4. CRSO obtains final approval(s) for application 

At least one week before the external deadline CRSO will obtain final approvals (where required) on submissions. These may include:

  • Financial sign off;

  • Head of Department/School approvals on funder portal;

  • Head of Department/School/College written support for match funded/non-standard budget (if not already obtained).

5. CRSO provide final approval and input application into Worktribe 

  • CRSO to provide final approval either by email or via funder portal.

  • CRSO to add application to Worktribe.

School of Education Grant Application Processes

1. PI/Co-I obtains approval for application

Principal / Co-Applicant(s) to obtain email approval from their Head of Department (Cc. School Director of Research).

The following information should be contained in your email:

  • Funder name and scheme;

  • Proposed time commitment on the project (% FTE), start date and duration;

  • Any other information you consider relevant to the making of an informed decision.

2. PI/Co-I seeks internal peer review

  • All bids require at least two internal peer reviews.

  • A more robust or second round of peer review may be required for very large-scale bids. 

  • Bids on which staff are Co-I (PI based in another college/external organisation) do not require peer review (reviews organised by PI and their College/organisation).

3 CRSO seek Head of School approval for non-standard items

Once CRSO has established call requirements and generated costings, they will seek authorisation of any non-standard items, such as sub-fEC or match/ in-kind contributions, from Head of School. 

4. CRSO obtains final approval(s) for application 

At least one week before the external deadline CRSO will obtain final approvals (where required) on submissions. These may include:

  • Financial sign off;

  • Head of Department/School approvals on funder portal;

  • Head of Department/School/College written support for match funded/non-standard budget (if not already obtained).

5. CRSO provide final approval and input application into Worktribe 

  • CRSO to provide final approval either by email or via funder portal.

  • CRSO to add application to Worktribe.

School of Government Grant Application Processes

1. PI/Co-I obtains approval for application

Principal / Co-Applicant(s) to obtain email approval from their Head of Department (Cc. School Head of Research). 

The following information should be contained in your email:

  • Funder name and scheme;

  • Proposed time commitment on the project (% FTE), start date and duration;

  • Any other information you consider relevant to the making of an informed decision.

2. PI/Co-I seeks internal peer review

  • All bids require at least two internal peer reviews.

  • A more robust or second round of peer review may be required for very large-scale bids. 

  • Bids on which staff are Co-I (PI based in another college/external organisation) do not require peer review (reviews organised by PI and their College/organisation).

3 CRSO seek Head of School approval for non-standard items

Once CRSO has established call requirements and generated costings, they will seek authorisation of any non-standard items, such as sub-fEC or match/ in-kind contributions, from Head of School. 

4. CRSO obtains final approval(s) for application 

At least one week before the external deadline CRSO will obtain final approvals (where required) on submissions. These may include:

  • Financial sign off;

  • Head of Department/School approvals on funder portal;

  • Head of Department/School/College written support for match funded/non-standard budget (if not already obtained).

5. CRSO provide final approval and input application into Worktribe 

  • CRSO to provide final approval either by email or via funder portal.

  • CRSO to add application to Worktribe.

School of Social Policy Grant Application Processes

1. PI/Co-I obtains approval for application

Principal / Co-Applicant(s) to obtain email approval from the School Head of Research (Cc. Head of Department). 

The following information should be contained in your email:

  • Funder name and scheme;

  • Proposed time commitment on the project (% FTE), start date and duration;

  • Any other information you consider relevant to the making of an informed decision.

2. PI/Co-I seeks internal peer review

  • All bids require at least two internal peer reviews.

  • A more robust or second round of peer review may be required for very large-scale bids. 

  • Bids on which staff are Co-I (PI based in another college/external organisation) do not require peer review (reviews organised by PI and their College/organisation).

3 CRSO seek Head of School approval for non-standard items

Once CRSO has established call requirements and generated costings, they will seek authorisation of any non-standard items, such as sub-fEC or match/ in-kind contributions, from Head of School. 

4. CRSO obtains final approval(s) for application 

At least one week before the external deadline CRSO will obtain final approvals (where required) on submissions. These may include:

  • Financial sign off;

  • Head of Department/School approvals on funder portal;

  • Head of Department/School/College written support for match funded/non-standard budget (if not already obtained).

5. CRSO provide final approval and input application into Worktribe 

  • CRSO to provide final approval either by email or via funder portal.

  • CRSO to add application to Worktribe.

You can also view the Grant Application Processes for each School in CoSS in Sharepoint.

General timescales for advising CRSO of your interest in applying

For bids led by CoSS

  • 4 weeks for small grants or tenders 
  • 6 weeks for mid-range applications 
  • 12 weeks for large-scale applications
  

 For Co-I costings (externally-led)

  • 3 working days to provide costs to external Lead Organisation, after obtaining HoD and DoR approval.

For an externally-led grant, please discuss the collaboration with your DoR and HoD and send them the information below by email for their formal approval. Please send this information, including the approval confirmation to your Research Facilitator:

    • start date for each person (named or unnamed) and role (e.g. Research Assistant, Fellow or Co-applicant)
    • duration of post
    • level of involvement (e.g. full time, 2 days per week, etc...)
    • Funder and specific call(Working)
    • title of the research project

Writing your grant application - indicative bid timeline

Once you inform CRSO that you're interested in applying for a funding opportunity, we'll draw up a tailored bid submission timeline to help keep you on track. The indicative timeline below illustrates the key steps involved and example timescales, although these will be adapted to the size and complexity of the call (i.e. larger bids will take longer to prepare).

12 weeks before submission: Talk to your Head of Department and CRSO

  • Discuss your project idea and intention to apply for funding with your Head of Department (HoD).

  • Agree your FTE commitment to the project the relevant heads of in writing (please see the Grant Application Processes for your School).

  • Discuss funding options with your Research Facilitator at this point for guidance. We will help you to identify a funder and grant suitable for your project and the resources required.

Timescales for approvals

  • For standard grants or open calls with no deadline, you should aim to engage in early planning around 10-12 weeks before submission.

  • Directed calls usually have around 8 weeks between opening and submission. Please obtain approval to apply as soon as the call guidance is published, and ideally no less than 6 weeks before the deadline. Discuss plans with CRSO at the same time.

8 weeks before submission: Plan the Application with your Research Facilitator

  • Contact CRSO by emailing researchbids@contacts.bham.ac.uk or email your Facilitator directly. You can find individual contact details on our Research Grant Support page.

  • Please talk to CRSO as soon as you have approval to bid, and forward the approval email from your HoD (School Head of Research for Social Policy based applicants) for our records. See the Grant Application Processes for your School to know whom to seek approval from and copy in to the approval request.

  • Your Research Facilitator will guide you through funder options (if not already decided) and indicate key aspects of the chosen funder and grant to be aware of.

7 weeks prior to deadline: Drafting Application

Timeline: We will send you a personalised timeline for you to help keep you on track.

Guidance: Familiarise yourself with the application process and call guidance, particularly for directed calls.

Draft Application: write the first draft of your grant proposal according to the call guidance. You may find our guidance for drafting a strong application useful.

Portal: Register an account on the application portal (if relevant)

Links to frequently used portals:

5 weeks prior to deadline: Internal peer review

Arrange for two internal academic colleagues to read your detailed project proposal and provide comments.

Share feedback with CRSO and act on comments received.

The Director of Research and Peer Review stage may vary according to your School. Your Research Facilitator will provide details of what is required. 

This stage will take around 2 weeks for the review, plus 1 week to incorporate feedback into your revised draft.

5 weeks prior to deadline: Due Diligence

You should by now have identified and secured your team of co-applicants, collaborators and partners.

CRSO will ask you to provide a list and will undertake checks to ensure compliance with the Funder's rules and the UK government's requirements such as ODA compliance.

More information available on the Research Support Services Due Diligence pages.

4 weeks prior to deadline: Budget

Send list of budget items including staff time to Research Office to prepare costings.

Please alert CRSO if external co-applicants are involved and indicate FTE commitments at least 4 weeks before deadline, in order for CRSO to have time to obtain external costings.

See our Budget planning resources in the budget accordian and guidance on FEC.

We aim to have a completed budget 10 working days before the external deadline. This enables CRSO to input the budget to the grant portal and check for consistency with the resource justification.

5 working days prior to deadline: Internal Deadline

Full and final version of the application form, including all attachments to be completed 5 working days before the deadline.

CRSO Office Check: Non-technical checks conducted on the Full Application by CRSO. Returned to applicant if corrections are needed.

Application is shared with DoR (depending on School) for final confirmation of time commitments and internal statements of support, and budget.

Submission 

Submission to Funder by PI or CRSO Research Facilitator.

Colleges

Professional Services