This guidance is for research office staff at all levels to help you understand:
- how the Funding Service works for you
- how you can support applicants when using the Funding Service
- the timeline for developing and enhancing research office functionality in the service
We will continue to keep you updated in advance of any changes.
Sign in to the UKRI Funding Service
You’ll need the email address and password used to set up your research office account.
Create a research office account
Research offices need to set up their own accounts to access the Funding Service.
You should prepare an approved list of individuals who will need administrator account status to support and submit applications for your organisation.
When requesting administrator account status, include ‘Research Administrator Account’ in the subject line of the email, and send to support@funding-service.ukri.org with the following details:
- first name
- last name
- organisation name
- email address (only individual addresses, not group or mailbox addresses)
- phone number
Following a brief verification process, you will receive an invitation to create an account.
All applications created by your organisation for the opportunities being run on the new Funding Service will then be viewable.
You should ensure that anyone whose details you provide are aware that these will be shared with other members of, and applicants from, your organisation.
Research offices are responsible for managing their Funding Service accounts, including how many you have.
Changes to your administrator account permissions in the UKRI Funding Service
From late July 2025, the Funding Service will have more flexible account permissions for research office administrators.
How permissions will work
All administrators will be able to view applications and awards. Additional permissions can then be assigned based on what you need to do in your role.
If you’re a lead administrator
You will be able to assign specific permissions to your team members. This means you can:
- give people permission to action only what they need for their role
- reduce the risk of mistakes or unauthorised actions
- add more administrators to your team with
- give this permission to other trusted team members
To be able to receive these new permissions, you need a research office champion account in the Funding Service.
If you’re already an administrator but not a lead
Your lead administrator controls what permissions you have. You keep any access you currently have, but you may need to ask your lead administrator for additional permissions as needed.
Available permissions
Beyond viewing applications and awards, these permissions can be assigned:
- edit applications: help support applicants by editing applications but not submit them
- submit applications: submit applications on your organisation’s behalf
- accept or decline awards: formally respond to award offers
- manage awards: submit start confirmations and expenditure statements
- create change requests: request changes to existing awards
- view change requests: see change requests for awards
- manage admin permissions: lead administrators will be able to assign or change permissions for other administrators
Administrator accounts created before 19 May 2025 will:
- keep all your current permissions
- not be able to control access for others unless your lead administrator gives you this permission
New administrators added on or after 19 May 2025:
- you start with viewing access only
- your lead administrator can then give you the specific permissions you need
To add a new administrator to the Funding Service, the lead administrator must contact the Funding Service help desk to initiate the verification process. Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org
Getting ready for the changes
What happens next
When the feature is live, you will see a new ‘Admins and permissions’ section on your Funding Service home page.
Set up notification groups
Research offices have the option to set up groups on the Funding Service. This allows them to manage the way the Funding Service notifies them throughout the opportunity application process.
Key features of groups
Research officers can create a set of groups which will most likely mirror their department, school or faculty structure (for example, finance or mathematics).
Research officers can add relevant research support staff to each group. If someone supports multiple departments, they can sit in multiple groups.
When applicants start a new application, they can choose a group to assign that application to. This will dictate which groups receive notifications about their application.
Only the staff in the allocated group will receive notifications as the application progresses.
If an application is in the wrong group, research office staff can change it. They can also add an application to additional groups.
If you create a group by mistake, you can rename it and reallocate members. The ability to delete groups will be available in an upcoming release.
When an applicant is unsure which group to choose, they will have the option of selecting ‘I cannot choose a suitable group’. Notifications for those applications will go to all staff who have administrator status.
Notification groups will be managed entirely by research offices. Any staff member with an administration access account for their organisation can change the groups and the staff assigned to them at any time.
If you have an administrator status account, you will continue to be able to view or edit any application.
There is no deadline for setting these up, each organisation can wait until it is ready. It’s best to create most, if not all, groups upfront within a short space of time, because once groups start being created, any applicant who begins an application will be selecting from the groups that are available.
Research offices can prepare for setting up groups by:
- making a list of potential groups
- making a list of staff who’ll require administrator access to support and submit applications (noting all those with administrator status will be able to view, edit and submit all applications for their organisation)
- assigning each staff member to the groups they are responsible for
There are no limits to the number of groups you can include staff in.
When organisations have decided on the groups they need, they can set them up in the Funding Service themselves.
Once the first group is created for an organisation, applicants will be able to assign their application.
Once organisations have set their groups up, they may want to advise colleagues of the additional group functionality. Applicants will be prompted to pick the most appropriate group(s) when they start a new application. Administrators then have the option to allocate applications to groups once they are in progress.
Research offices can request additional Funding Service administrator status accounts if required. To do this you will need to:
- send the staff member’s name and email address to support@funding-service.ukri.org
- include ‘Research Administrator Account’ in the email subject line
There are no limits to the number of accounts that can be requested in this email to the helpdesk.
Please allow time for the verification process and registration.
Supporting applicants using your account
If you have a Funding Service account with administrator status you will be notified when an applicant from your organisation creates an application.
This will help you to support the applicant and point them towards important information they may need.
Research office staff with an administration status Funding Service account can view and edit all applications from your organisation (including draft applications).
Applicants will continue to send the application to their research office for approval and submission once the application is marked as complete, to allow for final editing and completion.
The ability to either return an application to the applicant or submit to UKRI remains unchanged.
Once the application is ready, research office users can confirm applicants, authorise and submit the application to UKRI.
It is important that you check the application before submission, to ensure it is completed correctly and that all necessary documents have been provided.
We have added new roles for project team members.
We have also added functionality to help research officers:
- filter by application status
- sort applications by ‘recently started’ and ‘ending soon’
- search for applications
For multi-institutional applications the project lead can give visibility to collaborators, including supporting staff at the non-lead organisation.
Co-edit features
Applicants and members of their organisation with administrator account status can edit any section of the application before submission for final approval and submission to UKRI.
You should coordinate with any potential applicants to avoid any issues with simultaneous co-editing.
If you find another user has saved a newer version of the application while you are working in the Funding Service, an error message will appear with a red banner notifying you that your changes have not been saved.
If this happens, the amended information will still appear in the relevant text box in the Funding Service. You will then need to:
- copy the changes to a separate document
- return to the application overview screen
- reopen the section you were working in
- add your changes back into the section, checking for accuracy, particularly in relation to attachments, images, tables or financial details
- select save and return
There is an edit log in each section of the application so applicants and administrators can see who has made an edit and when.
Video demonstrations of the Funding Service
Watch a demonstration of: