Opportunity status:
Upcoming
Funders:
Funding type:
Grant
Publication date:
7 April 2026
Opening date:
11 May 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
9 July 2026 4:00pm UK time
Apply for funding to receive support for particle physics experiment research.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funding and a member of the UK particle physics community.
This is an extension to the Particle physics experiment consolidated grants 2024 funding opportunity and will provide funding for 24 months.
The grant period will be 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2029.
STFC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC).
Proposals for research must fall within the particle physics experiment remit and applications must have been considered under the .
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Before applying .
Who is eligible to apply
Individuals are eligible to apply if they are:
* from eligible research organisations, as specified above
* part of a consortium from different research organisations working collaboratively, unchanged from the 2024 round
Who is not eligible to apply
Individuals are not eligible to apply if they are:
* involved in more than one application in their subject area
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are 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
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) can offer during the application and assessment process.
Demand management
Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.
Scope
The particle physics experiment (PPE) consolidated grants round takes place every four years to support particle physics experiment research. However, in 2024 the PPE consolidated grants could exceptionally only be awarded for two years.
The 2026 PPE consolidated grants round will therefore award funding for the remaining two years, from 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2029.
You are asked to submit an update to your 2024 application, outlining how this award will contribute to continuing and achieving the objectives of the original bid. The update should focus on any changes since the 2024 application.
This grant round will consider consolidated grant requests in the particle physics experiment subject area. Where more than one department, or group at a university is involved in the same subject area, a single consolidated grant proposal should be submitted.
Groups from different institutions working collaboratively in the same well-defined research area may apply for a consolidated research grant as a consortium, as they did in 2024.
As in previous funding opportunities, you must submit two additional forms: Form X and a financial details form.
Experiment proposals
Requests for Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and common fund funding for the following experiments will be accepted:
* ATLAS
* CMS
* COMET
* LHCb
* Lux Zeplin
* NA62
* SNO+
* Mu3e
* MicroBooNE/SBND
* Darkside
* NOvA
* Mu2e/g-2
* FASER
* LEGEND
* T2K/Super-K
* Hyper-K
The submission deadline for Form X, the financial information form, and M&O and common fund funding is 9 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.
For more information on how to request M&O and common fund funding, Form X and the financial details form, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.
Duration
The duration of the award is two years.
Grants must start on 1 October 2027.
Funding available
STFC will fund 80% of the FEC.
As this is a continuation of the 2024 awards, your funding request should be in line with the 2024 award. Funding for additional or new activities and areas can only be requested in exceptional circumstances.
In addition to the information provided in the ‘Resources and cost justification’ section, you must submit Form X and a financial details form by the funding opportunity deadline. The information in the ‘Resources and cost justification’ section must match the information on the financial details form.
Project leads and project co-leads are expected to request a maximum of 0.6 FTE per post. You cannot receive more than one FTE per post.
Non staff costs
For information purposes, we have provided figures that the Grants Panel used during the last grants round to arrive at the non-staff cost awards. Please note that these are only indicative and will not necessarily be the figures used in this round. The total amount awarded for two years per FTE was:
* travel and subsistence: £1,200 per year
* computing/tier 3: £250 per year
* consumables (ODI): £1,950 per year
* computing support: one FTE per 30 persons per year
* administrative support: one FTE per 60 persons per year
Experiment proposals
Funding for M&O can be requested for experiments listed in the ‘Scope’ section. The submission for the M&O requests is the same as the funding opportunity deadline. Please see the ‘Additional information’ section for details on M&O requests.
What we will fund
We will fund:
* requests based on the 2024 PPE awards
* M&O for experiments listed in this guidance
What we will not fund
We will not fund:
* additional or new activities unless in exceptional circumstances
* M&O for experiments not listed in this guidance
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 applicants can find additional support.
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.
Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.
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 will 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 .
Deadline
STFC must receive your application by 9 July 2026 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 this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. 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 .
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 reviewer or panel participant selection
* the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read .
Institutional matched funding
There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.
This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.
Publication of outcomes
STFC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at .
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
* be concise
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* specialist
* grant manager
* professional enabling staff
* research and innovation associate
* technician
* visiting researcher
* researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead.
The above roles are specific to the funding system and do not refer to the “core” posts in the Consolidated Grant.
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.