Particle Physics Experiment Consolidated Grants 2026

Particle Physics Experiment Consolidated Grants 2026

The official UKRI Funding Finder page lists Particle Physics Experiment Consolidated Grants 2026 as Closed. This page is therefore a historical reference to the 2026 round, not an invitation to submit a new application. The official closing date was 9 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time, and the page says that applications could not be made after that time. No later cycle is announced on the official opportunity page.

The funder was the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The round was published on 1 May 2026 and opened on 11 May 2026 at 9:00am UK time. It was designed to provide the remaining two years of support after the 2024 particle physics experiment consolidated grants could exceptionally be awarded for only two years. The 2026 awards were intended to cover 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2029.

Key details

Purpose and scope

This was a continuation round, not an open call for an unrelated new particle physics project. The official scope required proposals to sit within the particle physics experiment remit and to have been considered under the Particle physics consolidated grants 2024 opportunity. Applicants were asked to update their 2024 application and explain how the continuation award would help achieve the original bid’s objectives, with attention to changes since 2024.

The four-year consolidated-grants pattern was the reason for this unusual timing. The 2024 round had provided only two years of awards, so the 2026 round was intended to cover the remaining two years from 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2029. A strong submission therefore needed a traceable link to the 2024 award: the continuing objectives, changes in the work or staffing, updated costs, and a clear account of how the requested period would complete or advance the original programme.

The official page said that where more than one department or group at a university was involved in the same subject area, a single consolidated grant proposal should be submitted. Groups from different institutions could apply as a consortium when working collaboratively in the same well-defined research area, as in 2024. The round did not apply demand management.

Eligibility

The lead applicant had to be based at a UK research organisation eligible for STFC funding and be a member of the UK particle physics community. The research proposal had to fall within the particle physics experiment remit and had to have been considered under the 2024 consolidated grants opportunity. The official page directed applicants to check their organisation’s standard eligibility before applying.

Consortium participation was allowed for people from different eligible research organisations working collaboratively in the same well-defined research area. The guidance also imposed an individual participation limit: a person was not eligible to be involved in more than one application in their subject area. That restriction made internal coordination important for departments, universities, and collaborating institutions preparing overlapping proposals.

The call was not intended to create a separate entry route for a new group with no 2024 application context. Nor was it a general equipment-only scheme or a flexible portfolio for adding unrelated research. The official funding language said that requests should be based on the 2024 PPE awards and that additional or new activities and areas could be requested only in exceptional circumstances.

Funding and accepted experiment requests

STFC stated that it would fund 80% of the full economic cost. The official page does not state a single competition budget, a fixed cash pot, or a maximum award per application. The amount field on this archive entry therefore records the published funding rate rather than inventing a monetary ceiling.

Funding requests were expected to remain in line with the 2024 award. The call accepted Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and common fund requests for these experiments:

• ATLAS
• CMS
• COMET
• LHCb
• Lux Zeplin
• NA62
• SNO+
• Mu3e
• MicroBooNE/SBND
• Darkside
• NOvA
• Mu2e/g-2
• FASER
• LEGEND
• T2K/Super-K
• Hyper-K

The official page drew a firm boundary around that list. It said that M&O would be funded for the listed experiments, but not for experiments outside the guidance. It also said that additional or new activities would not be funded unless exceptional circumstances applied. Requests for M&O and common fund support had the same 9 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time deadline as the main application.

For planning context, the page included indicative non-staff figures used by the Grants Panel during the previous grants round: travel and subsistence of £1,200 per year, computing/tier 3 of £250 per year, and consumables (ODI) of £1,950 per year. These figures were explicitly indicative and were not guaranteed award rates for the 2026 round. The page also described computing support as one FTE per 30 people per year and administrative support as one FTE per 60 people per year.

Historical application process

The 2026 round used the UKRI Funding Service. Je-S was not available for this opportunity. The project lead was responsible for completing the application, while team members and project partners were expected to contribute. Only the lead research organisation could submit an application to UKRI.

The official submission sequence was:

1. Select “Start application” on the Funding Finder page.
2. Confirm that you are the project lead.
3. Sign in or create a Funding Service account, select the organisation, verify the email address, and set a password.
4. Answer the questions in the service, saving progress or working offline before copying answers into the service. Upload documents when instructed.
5. Check the completed application in read-only view.
6. Send it to the research office for checking.
7. The research office submits the checked application to UKRI.

The final deadline was 9 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time. The official page states that an application could not be submitted after that time and could not be changed after submission. It also advised applicants to follow their institution’s internal deadlines and noted that research office and finance teams would check hosting arrangements and financial eligibility.

Two additional forms were required: Form X, describing the FTE for all requested posts, and a financial details form, providing the requested funding details. The information in those forms had to align with the rest of the application. For experiment requests, applicants also had to provide the relevant M&O or common fund material. The supporting-document instructions said that STFC supplied the forms and that applicants had to submit them by email to [email protected] with the application number by 9 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.

What the application needed to explain

The application was an update to the 2024 submission, so the narrative needed to distinguish unchanged core work from material changes. In the Vision response, applicants were asked to describe updates to the current 2024 consolidated grant, the importance of the funding, and the added value to work carried out under the current award. The Approach response asked for the overall case for core effort and expected it to be based on the 2024 submission unless the group’s focus had completely changed.

The guidance called for a 20% descope scenario. Applicants were expected to explain which reductions would be made if the panel could not support the full request, and to describe the balance between core and non-core effort. Cost consistency was essential: the Resources and cost justification response had to match the financial details form, and staffing names had to remain consistent across the application and supporting documents.

Project leads and project co-leads were expected to request no more than 0.6 FTE per post, and no post could receive more than one FTE. Directly incurred non-responsive posts needed a name that was consistent throughout the application. The guidance said that most non-core cases were expected to be unchanged from the 2024 award and that new cases could not be added in addition to the current award; a significant change could be described in one updated case.

Other Funding Service sections covered the research environment, organisational support, project partners, facilities, ethics and responsible research, and Trusted Research and Innovation. An organisational support statement needed approval from an appropriate institutional authority. Project partner records needed the organisation, contact details, contribution type, and monetary value. TR&I questions could address collaboration, the National Security and Investment Act, and export-control licensing.

Assessment and timeline

The Particle Physics Grants Panel (Experiment) was scheduled to review the proposals against the assessment criteria, rank them, and make recommendations. STFC would make the final funding decision. The official assessment areas were vision, approach, applicant and team capability to deliver, ethics and responsible research and innovation, and resources and cost justification.

The published timeline for the closed round was:

• 11 May 2026 at 9:00am — opening date.
• 9 July 2026 at 4:00pm — deadline for the application, Form X, financial details form, experiment M&O, and closing of the opportunity.
• 4 September 2026 — deadline for changes since submission.
• September to October 2026 — panel meetings.
• January 2027 (expected) — outcomes announced.
• 1 October 2027 — grants commence.

The official page says the assessment process was intended to finish within six months of receiving an application and that panel feedback would be provided with the outcome. The later dates describe the planned administration of the closed round; they do not reopen applications.

Archive guidance

This opportunity has ended. Keep 9 July 2026 in the deadline field because it is the real closing date, and use the historicalReference flag to show that the page is an archive entry. Do not read the date as a live application deadline. There is no confirmed next cycle on the official page, so this record does not supply an invented replacement date.

For the authoritative record, consult the official UKRI opportunity page. During the closed round, STFC listed [email protected] for questions about this opportunity, the applicant’s research office for costings and institutional submission advice, and [email protected] for Funding Service issues. The official page remains the source for any later update to the archived guidance, outcomes, or future funding round.