Commissioning Fund

No, once an application has been submitted, it cannot be revised. Ensure all documents are complete and accurate before submission.

Yes, feedback may be provided on request.

Yes, project costs should be submitted as VAT-inclusive amounts. Organisations not registered for VAT can include VAT incurred within their costs. Academic participants and industry partners can claim irrecoverable VAT incurred as part of their costs. 

Yes, if the person is not yet in post, a job description can be included in place of a CV. 

Directly Incurred (DI) costs are expenditure that is to be directly incurred for a project and only that project and is supported by an auditable record. 

Directly Allocated (DA) costs are the costs of resources including services used by a project that are shared by other activities. The project’s use of the resource or service will be estimated and not based on direct usage.     

It is reasonably expected that most project costs to be requested in the relevant budget builder template may fall under one or more DI categories, but only if they are expenditure that is to be directly incurred for a project and only that project and is supported by an auditable record. Therefore, the DI section will likely be the default section for entering requested costs such as ‘staff time’ in a project budget builder template for most FORTH2O Partner organisations provided they are to be directly incurred for a project and only that project and is supported by an auditable record.  Except perhaps where there is key involvement of HEIs/Research Institutes (upon which the financial model for FORTH2O budget builder templates is based) and DA costs are factored into the overall budget. For example, the payroll costs (e.g. rate x hours) of all staff, full or part-time, who work on the project, and whose time can be supported by a full audit trail may be included under the ‘DI Staff costs’ header, which can be broken down for the eligible Lead Applicant organisation (combining different departments) and/or per Partner co-applicant organisation as required on the project. The project need for such staff should be justified in the relevant attachment.  

It is reasonably expected that some project costs to be requested in the relevant budget builder template may fall under one or more DA categories, but only if they are the costs of resources including services used by a project that are shared by other activities. For example, ‘DA Other costs’ comprise all other direct allocated costs calculated on the basis of estimates of use when the project is running. Items that can be included within this heading are e.g. research and technical staff whose time is shared across several projects (such as pooled technicians) and is not supported by an audit record.  

The “DA Investigator costs” header is typically reserved for primary use in the Academic sector context such as for principal investigators and/or co-investigators based at HEIs/Research Institutes who may be Lead Applicants or Partner Co-Applicants on CF applications. This “DA Investigator costs” heading provides for the costs of all principal and co-investigators working directly on a project, but only if their time charged to the grant will be based on estimates rather than actual costs. However, where costs are actual, auditable and verifiable, they should also be included under the Directly Incurred i.e. DI Staff costs heading. The project need for such Investigators should be justified in the required attachment. To be clear, any Lead Applicants and/or Partner co-applicants from public/private/third sector organisations eligible to request staff time on a project themselves or on behalf of key partners and stakeholders should refrain from referring to themselves as ‘Investigators’ and can therefore reasonably ignore the “DA Investigator costs” header for requesting staff time on a project wherever the “DI Staff costs” heading can be applied (i.e. provided it is expenditure that is to be directly incurred for a project and only that project and is supported by an auditable record), but they may decide to include project budget for research collaborators e.g. as Investigators under DA Investigator costs (i.e. if the project's use of a resource or service will be estimated and not based on direct usage). 

Please note that applicants should carefully check each organisation type’s eligible costs to make sure that only allowable costs are requested (refer to Table 1 under eligible costs in: Inclusion of business, third sector or government body Co-Is on ESRC proposals).  

After we have been through phase 1 of the CF small/large awards application process, we will reflect on whether the budget builder templates will need any additional modifications/comments for enabling Partner clarity and confidence in budgeting projects, in both the applied and research-based contexts, during future phases. 

Funding is paid through University of Stirling. This will normally be in arrears upon completion of project milestones and evidence of a successful project delivery. However, payment terms may be adapted to suit needs of the project and organisation on a case-by-case basis. Please be aware that any Partner requests for upfront payments are considered non-standard practice and will require to go through key governance review/approval processes which may delay proposed project start/end dates. Final invoices must be submitted no later than 30th September 2026. 

Extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and must be formally requested with a clear justification.

Yes, subcontracting is allowed if justified in the application and if it contributes to project delivery. Any subcontractors must comply with the funding terms.

We encourage applicants to plan starting projects promptly after funding is confirmed.
However, realistically projects may have complex arrangements, irrespective of size and scale, which may include staff appointments, ethics approvals, and so on. Applicants should consider these aspects carefully to avoid significant delays.

The schedule for CF delivery is tight with less than two years remaining on the overall FORTH2O project lifespan. All successfully awarded projects will need to have performed as expected and be delivered no later than 31 August 2026. Please ensure to note the earliest possible start dates for projects across phases 1, 2, 3 and 4. It would be good project management practice to build in a reasonable buffer for processing successful awards and try to anticipate minor delays in the process (e.g. up to a 2-week grace period).  

We will do our best to manage the process effectively and efficiently within the University’s systems and by proactively engaging key departments who are providing resources to help support the FORTH2O team checking, onboarding and awarding process. Whilst also developing good lines of communications and working relationships with Partners to be as flexible as reasonably possible as we move through the CF award mobilisation process together, particularly for the first time as there may be key learning by doing opportunities that can be applied to future phases.  

We will aim to liaise closely with lead applicants should there be an unforeseen notable delay (e.g. of more than a 2-week grace period) at the University’s end. For example, to help mutually agree a reasonable start/end date, if there will be a direct knock-on delay in getting the project started and when it is forecasted to be completed provided that it does not extend project activity beyond the end August 2026 cut-off deadline.  

Similarly, we reasonably expect reciprocal communication and adaptability from Partners if there are issues encountered at the awardee’s end which will impact on project progress and achieving key milestones etc. Finally, please factor in sufficient timescales for key legal frameworks/governance processes (e.g. award letter signing, collaborative agreements, ethical procedures etc) to ensure that your proposed project activity will be able to commence and complete on schedule.  

• The FORTH2O website (https://forth2o.ac.uk/commissioning-fund/) provides full guidance and updates.
• Information webinars for Phase 5 will take place on Tuesday 17 March 2026 from 12:00 to 13:00. FORTH2O Partners will be automatically sent an invitation to the webinars. If you haven’t received an invitation, or are not a FORTH2O Partner, but interested in applying to the Commissioning Fund, please email us at forth2o@stir.ac.uk to ask for an invitation to be sent to you.

Slides and video from webinars from Phase 1 and 2 have now been uploaded to the FORTH2O website now.

That would be great! Please highlight that at least one FORTH2O Partner would have  to be part of the application to avoid dissappointment.