Science and Technology Facilities Council
STFC
Funds particle physics, astronomy, nuclear physics and space science, and operates the UK large-scale facilities including Diamond Light Source, the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source and the Rutherford Appleton and Daresbury laboratories. Peer-reviewed facility access is itself a substantial in-kind award.
- Kind of funder
- Research council
- Where it funds
- UK-wide
- Indicative award size
- £50k – £5m
- Approx. annual research spend
- £600m
- Who can apply
- Universities, Research institutes, SMEs, Large businesses
- Career stages
- PhD / doctoral, Postdoctoral, Early career, Established researcher
Includes free-at-point-of-use access to national facilities for peer-reviewed proposals.
Research areas
Named schemes (1)
Public Engagement Spark Awards 2026B ↗
Apply for funding to engage the public with Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) supported science. Applicant organisations must: be UK-based produce annual accounts certified by an accountant Proposals must include an appropriate STFC subject matter expert (SME).
Open10 Dec 2026£100k total fundpulled from UKRI 2026-10-08