FUND NOW OPEN

Submission deadlines: April 15th 2026 and then every second month

APPLY HERE

Purpose

CHARTED’s “Fund 2” is designed to support a wide range of community activities within the project’s remit. CHARTED is focused on making the digital Research Technical Professionals (dRTP) ecosystem easier to navigate for both new and experienced members of the community, to improve the understanding of skills and roles within the space and improve visibility and accessibility of training resources.

Fund 2 is intended to support a variety of events and activities that can help to enable the development of skills, and an improved understanding of roles and technical career pathways, within the dRTP and related communities. Our target audience represents a vitally important part of the modern research ecosystem, but engaging the community, understanding the technical and professional skills that they need and supporting both new and existing roles is not straightforward.

Some of the many ways these challenges can be addressed include community events, hackathons, working meetings and networking opportunities. We are also keen to support alternative approaches to knowledge exchange and career support, such as peer networking and mentoring schemes and training activities that specifically address current gaps in the skills ecosystem.

To maximise the effectiveness of this opportunity, the fund will be administered on a rolling basis, with review of submissions taking place approximately every two months.

The total value of this fund is £150k to be administered throughout the duration of the CHARTED project, with the maximum award per activity being £5k (event series will also be considered). The eligibility criteria and the review process are described below.

The fund is designed to support specific community activities by reimbursing costs such as room/venue hire and catering. Requests for funding to cover staff time or the purchase of equipment are not eligible. Applicants should therefore gain approval from their home institution to cover the time spent on the activities for which they seek support.

Who can apply This fund is aimed at UK-based researchers and dRTPs involved with research software, research data and research computing infrastructure, or supporting other dRTPs. Applicants can be based at UK universities or UK-based non-profit organisations. Note that it is possible to apply for funds to support non-UK based collaborators to come to the UK. Individuals who operate principally as freelance trainers, educators or community managers in this sector are also eligible to apply for Fund 2.

This fund will cover 100% of the Full Economic Costs (FEC) of the proposed activity.
What we're looking for Fund 2 will support community-wide activities including but not limited to:
  • Creation and support of local dRTP networks;
  • Working meetings/events/workshops focused e.g. on career development, supporting local communities and knowledge exchange;
  • Events focused on capturing career profiles or supporting specific roles;
  • Events engaging with other stakeholders e.g. industry, policy makers, international guest/collaborators, etc.;
  • Training events focused on skills (both technical and non-technical) that are not covered/available anywhere else.
  • Hackathons covering different tools or frameworks that are relevant to CHARTED i.e. supports the community
  • Online, synchronous frameworks and events to strengthen and support the community
  • Mentoring programmes;
Applicants are expected to include the following in their application:
  • Description of the event or activity for which the support is being requested, including the scope, target audience, expected outcomes, institutions and/or organisations involved.
  • Expected number of attendees and a detailed plan for event dissemination
  • Well-formed plans on how this activity will support the dRTP community in terms of expected benefit and impact.
  • Details of how the proposed activity will help to support the aims and remit of the CHARTED project.
  • Details of other funding sources explored.
  • Detailed breakdown for the expected costs and justification for the requested funds.
Dissemination and reporting The goal of this fund is to support community activities and this includes sharing outputs with the wider community.

All funded projects will be expected to contribute to the CHARTED HUB through:
  • Providing a description of the project;
  • Contributing blog posts featuring the work being done (each project will be required to provide at least one post - more if the projects are longer or larger in scope);
  • Sharing the final outputs - either directly on the HUB or linked (as appropriate);
  • Participating and contributing to occasional community events.

Additionally, the funded projects may be asked to share relevant statistical data that was collected during the projects’ duration and directly contributes to CHARTED’s goal of better understanding and improving the dRTP landscape e.g. statistics related to dRTP roles.

CHARTED is subject to the UKRI reporting requirements and, as a result, all projects funded from the CHARTED’s flexible fund are expected to report their progress regularly. All funded projects will be required to provide an end-of-project report and may be asked to demonstrate good financial management. Additionally, longer projects may be required to provide a mid-point report.

We are also hoping to organise a series of community calls to facilitate knowledge sharing between the funded projects.

The template for the reporting document will be made available SOON!
How to apply Applications are being managed through the Good Grants Platform. You will need to register on the platform and sign in to access and complete the online form to submit an application to fund 2. Apply via Good Grants.

Click here to download a sample application form.

Please note that you cannot use this sample form to make an application - all applications must be completed online within the Good Grants platform.
Review process Applications will be assessed using a light-touch review process to ensure timeliness of the awards. The review committee will consist of two external reviewers, and two representatives from the projects.

Applications will be ranked according to the benefits to the individuals and their local community. Please see the previous section for details on what should be included in the applications.

The number of applications funded in each round will depend on the quality of the applications and the amount of funds requested.

If you have any questions about the application or review process please get in touch with us at: charted@drtp-skills.ac.uk