Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Funding type:
Other
Publication date:
30 June 2025
Opening date:
3 July 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
18 September 2025 4:00pm UK time
Last updated: 2 July 2025 -
Apply for computing resources on the STFC DiRAC High Performance Computing (HPC) facility: Resource Allocation Committee (RAC) 18th opportunity.
DiRAC offers computing resources on the following systems:
* Data Intensive Service at Cambridge
* Data Intensive Service at Leicester
* Extreme Scaling Service at Edinburgh
* Memory Intensive Service at Durham
You must be based at a UK research organisation to be eligible to apply.
Successful awards will begin on 1 April 2026.
Short proposals can be for up to one year.
Thematic proposals can be for up to three years.
You may apply for up to 80% of the available resources, including storage.
Who can apply
To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. .
Who is eligible to apply
The 18th facility time opportunity for proposals is open to members of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) theory community to support research that addresses the in areas areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics, astronomy, cosmology, solar system physics, and particle astrophysics.
You must be either resident in the UK or be employed by an overseas research organisation approved by STFC as eligible to apply for research grant funding. .
We welcome applications from early careers researchers, including postdocs and PhD students, who are eligible to be project lead on a DiRAC RAC award as long as they satisfy the eligibility criteria except for the requirement to be an academic member of staff (lecturer or equivalent), or hold a fellowship.
It is strongly recommended that you have assurance from the submitting organisation that if the proposal is successful, the contract of employment, or formal commitment to provide support if not employed at the organisation, will extend to beyond the end date of the allocation. If however this is not possible, you should provide details explaining why and how you will be able to make full use of your allocation (for example if your contract gets extended or you get a position elsewhere which still enables you to make full use of the DiRAC allocation).
It is acceptable to be a project lead or project co-lead on multiple RAC proposals (to this facility time opportunity and previous facility time opportunities), if you can demonstrate the amount of time dedicated to each proposal and how you will manage conflicting responsibilities.
Please note that if you hold an existing STFC grant this does not automatically guarantee that you will be allocated computing time on DiRAC facilities.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
* career breaks
* support for people with caring responsibilities
* flexible working
* alternative working patterns
for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
What we're looking for
Scope
The Resource Allocation Committee (RAC) accepts the following proposal types:
* short proposals (up to 12 months)
* thematic proposals (up to three years)
* research software engineer (RSE) support (for three months or more)
A short proposal is a self-contained research project typically lasting three to six months, or up to a maximum of 12 months. This is for proposals intending to develop exploratory study by users new to HPC or DiRAC.
A thematic proposal is a clearly defined research programme of outstanding scientific merit which requires significant HPC resources over a period longer than 12 months and up to 36 months. The proposed research should be world-leading, with the expectation of making step changes in knowledge by using DiRAC resources. You must demonstrate a track record of productive use of HPC. Thematic projects must be centred on a singular scientific theme but can contain a small number of sub-projects and activities as long as they are clearly linked and must be within the same scientific theme, rather than a collection of different projects across multiple scientific themes.
Please read the DiRAC RAC facility time opportunity RAC18 applicant guidance notes in the ‘Additional information’ section for full details.
Discretionary and seedcorn proposals may be submitted at any time direct to DiRAC. RSE requests of less than three months may also be submitted at any time direct to DiRAC. Please see the RSE guidance notes in the ‘Additional information’ section for full details.
Duration
The duration of this award is up to 12 months for short proposals and up to three years for thematic proposals.
Projects may start by 1 April 2026, but later start dates can be requested.
Computing resources available
Please note the availability figures are provisional. You may apply for computing resources and storage up to 80% of the availability of the requested system. However, please note that the resources which are allocated may be lower depending on confirmation of the levels of systems availability. Please refer to annex one of the applicant guidance notes for the availability figures.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the and the .
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See, including where you can find additional support.
International collaboration
We welcome proposals that represent the UK’s contribution to an international research programme. However, it is expected the proposed research programme will enhance the UK’s research outputs. If any projects are heavily led by international collaborators, full reasons for this must be provided. If you are aware of any restrictions on your ability to acknowledge the use of DiRAC resources in your publications, for example because of rules within an international collaboration, you should indicate these in your proposal. Note that this will not affect the assessment of the proposal but will ensure that appropriate reporting mechanisms can be agreed with the project lead if the proposal is successful.
How to apply
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
* provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
* insert each new image on a new line
* use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:
* sentences or paragraphs of text
* tables
* excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
* * *
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
* references are easily identifiable by the assessors
* references are formatted as appropriate to your research
* persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the .
Deadline
STFC must receive your application by 18 September 2025 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to the opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
STFC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our .
Completion of this form implies permission for user details to be stored in the DiRAC service providers’ and research councils’ databases and to be used for mailing, accounting, reporting and other administrative purposes. The DiRAC HPC service providers are the Universities of Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh and Leicester and the DiRAC Project Office is hosted by University College London. The Community Development Director is based at the University of Liverpool.
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
* individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
* declaration of interest
* additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
* conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in panel participant selection
* the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read .
Publication of outcomes
STFC, as part of UKRI, will publish .
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
* opinion-formers
* policymakers
* the public
* the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
* context
* the challenge the project addresses
* aims and objectives
* potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
* specialist
* grant manager
* professional enabling staff
* doctoral student
* research and innovation associate
* technician
* visiting researcher
* researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead.
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.