Guidance

Announcement of opportunity – 2024 Exploration Science

Updated 28 March 2024

After community feedback, we amended parts of the call on 28 March 2024.

Please note the following changes:

• change of the final deadline to 9 May 2024
• change of the science overview deadline to 18 April 2024 and clarification of requirements
• clarification regarding eligibility of mission preparation activities
• clarification regarding award duration and end date
• changes regarding number of applications applicants can submit
• changes regarding suggested reviewers
• removal of the requirement to have post doctoral research associates (PDRAs) as co-investigators on PDRA grants
• changes regarding eligibility of resubmissions in the 2025 Exploration Science call

1. Scope of call

Exploration covers the regions where humans do, or may in the near future, live and work, namely low-Earth orbit (LEO), the Moon, and Mars. The UK has made a major investment into ESA’s Exploration Programme and the UK Space Agency National Exploration Science programme seeks to maximise the value of our investment in ESA and ensure that the UK research community is best placed to achieve our horizon goal of human presence on the Moon and Mars in the coming decades.

This year, the UK Space Agency is looking to support projects which contribute knowledge relevant to future human and robotic exploration missions. The funding can be used for studentships, post doctoral research associates and fellowships (including fellowship extensions) which:

• utilise data from existing Mars and lunar exploration missions to expand scientific knowledge critical to enabling future exploration of the Moon and Mars only
• prepare for the data exploitation of the ExoMars - Rosalind Franklin mission
• conduct scientific research necessary to prepare for future human and robotic exploration activities on the Moon and Mars, including but not limited to utilising lunar surface science to inform future Moon and Mars exploration

We particularly welcome proposals which focus on:

• landing site characterisation and reconnaissance studies necessary for future exploration missions
• science which enables prospecting/in-situ resource utilisation which will support future exploration missions
• environmental monitoring of the target location (ie, Moon or Mars)

Please note that standard grants and studentships will be assessed separately.

Out of scope

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to reject proposals without reference to panel review if they do not fit the call remit, do not meet Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and UK Space Agency criteria, or do not contain all the required information. Prospective applicants may discuss with the Agency prior to submission if they are uncertain about whether their proposal fits this call. 

The following areas are out of the scope of this call:

• research covered by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding remit. This includes but is not limited to lunar science where the science does not support or enable future exploration of the Moon and Mars, and astronomy (including astronomy from the lunar surface, and exploitation of astronomical data)
• exploitation of data collected using ESA SciSpacE microgravity and space environment research platforms such as the International Space Station (ISS) or ground-based facilities (eg, drop towers, parabolic flights)
• support for researchers who have secured facility access to microgravity and space environments research platforms through the ESA SciSpacE Programmes research announcements. This is covered annually by the UK Space Agency SciSpacE support announcement of opportunity (AO)
• working groups, including those which define future astronomy-focused missions on the lunar surface
• development of fundamental engineering technology which may involve the Moon
• mission preparation activities for Mars missions beyond ExoMars - Rosalind Franklin (for example, Mars Sample Return), if they pertain to sample measurement definition and analysis, sample-containment facility access, and data exploitation
• proposals for instrument development, feasibility studies and TRL raising activities

Academics requesting funding for participation in working groups, science teams, campaign science groups and other definition work relating to named exploration missions can apply to the separate exploration science working groups support call.

Guidance on working with Russia

We will not fund any new collaborative projects with Russia.

This includes any project with a Russian dimension, for example projects building on existing work with Russian collaborators (as co-investigators, project partners, laboratory facilities, or co-authors) or which use Russian data sources (where the data cannot be sourced through other means). If you require any further clarity on this, please contact SpaceExploration@ukspaceagency.gov.uk.

The UK Space Agency follow policy set by the department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS, now called the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, DSIT) in accordance with guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).

As of March 2022, BEIS (now DSIT) have set a firm policy on Russian collaboration. Please read the guidance on Russian collaboration as it may affect your application.

2. Award duration and start date

Please note, no firm commitment will be made by the UK Space Agency to fund anything in this call beyond December 2028. Please ensure the costings you submit do not cover the period beyond December 2028.

The UK Space Agency cannot guarantee any no-cost extensions on projects accepted in this call.

To receive funding for the full length of the project:

• post doctoral research associates (PDRA) and fellowship projects must start no later than 1 February 2025 (but may start before) for a maximum duration of 36 months
• studentships must start no later than 1 August 2025 (but may start before) for a maximum duration of 42 months

If a project starts after the dates indicated, the UK Space Agency cannot guarantee funding beyond December 2028.

3. Award value

Studentships

• maintenance (at UKRI base levels for 2024-25)
• tuition fees (at UKRI base levels for 2024-25)
• up to £10,000 for research and training expenses (awarded at 80% of the full economic cost, fEC)

Post doctoral research associates and fellowships

• eligible costs
• funding will be awarded at 80% of the fEC requested
• there is no limit for how much overall funding can be applied for, but proposals will be assessed on value for money
• up to £10,000 over 4 publications can be charged to the grant for publishing costs

All costings should be at current prices, with no allowance for inflation. An allowance for inflation may be included if a grant is awarded.

Reasonable costs will be permitted, but it should be noted that all costs must be justified and that the appropriateness and justification of sums requested will form part of the assessment criteria.

4. STFC criteria

Funding is provided by the UK Space Agency but administered by UKRI-STFC. Awards will therefore be made in line with standard UKRI-STFC criteria in accordance with their financial rules, including the standard fEC application and for the length of the grant. Please make sure you and your institution are fully aware of these rules prior to application.

More information can be found here:

• UKRI-STFC guidance for applicants
• UKRI guidance on meeting terms and conditions for funding

5. Additional UK Space Agency criteria

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to reject proposals without reference to panel review if they do not fit the call remit or STFC and UK Space Agency criteria, or do not contain all the required information. Prospective applicants may discuss with the Agency prior to submission if they are uncertain about whether their proposal fits this call.

Proposals must meet the following criteria:

• the proposal will be reviewed and assessed as it is upon receipt by the deadline indicated in this call text. There will not be an opportunity to amend the proposal after this date
• (for studentships only) applicants may submit only 1 application as the principal investigator, but there is no limitation on the number of applications as co-investigator
• (for PDRAs and fellowships only) applicants may submit up to 2 applications. Only 1 of the applications can be as the principal investigator
• All PDRA and fellowship proposals must have 3 named suggested reviewers who have expertise in the field the proposal is in and who do not have a conflict of interest in reviewing. These reviewers will join a pool of reviewers for this call and may be contacted by the UK Space Agency to review any proposal submitted in this call
• proposals submitted and reviewed in this call will not be accepted in the 2025 Exploration Science call, unless you have been explicitly invited to resubmit that proposal

6. Grant payment 

Payments will be made to the research organisation quarterly and the first payment will be made once the formal offer letter has been accepted by the research organisation.

The final payment will be made after the submission of the final reconciliation report at the end of the grant. There processes are administered by STFC, but please note that the UK Space Agency remains the funder.

7. Call timeline*

	Standard grants	Studentships
AO opening	11 March 2024	11 March 2024
Science overview deadline	4pm on 18 April 2024	N/A
AO closing	4pm on 9 May 2024	4pm on 9 May 2024
Peer reviews collected	May to June	N/A
Rebuttal commissioned	July	N/A
Rebuttal due	August	N/A
Panel meeting	September	June
Outcome	October	July
Grants to start	No later than 1 February 2025 for a maximum duration of 36 months	No later than 1 August 2025 for a maximum duration of 42 months

*These are indicative times and actual times may differ.

8. Grant terms and conditions 

All awards will be subject to UKRI standard grant terms and conditions, with the addition of the following specific clauses from the UK Space Agency as grant funder:  

• the UK Space Agency reserves the right to cancel or reduce the award in the event of the project being cancelled or descoped
• the UK Space Agency reserves the right to terminate the grant within a 6 month notice period should it be deemed programmatically or strategically advisable to do so
• the grant holder agrees that as a condition of receiving any funds they shall provide the UK Space Agency with all information, reports, statistics, study results and data reasonably requested by the UK Space Agency to track and assess progress and performance of the project
• the grant recipient shall not publish any material referring to the funds or this agreement without the prior written agreement of the UK Space Agency
• the grant recipient shall acknowledge the role of the UK Space Agency as grant funder in any materials that refer to the project and in any written or spoken public presentations about the project as it relates to this agreement. Such acknowledgements (where appropriate and with the UK Space Agency’s written consent) shall include the UK Space Agency’s name and logo (or any future name or logo adopted by the grant funder)
• in using the UK Space Agency’s name and logo, the grant recipient shall comply with all reasonable branding guidelines issued by the UK Space Agency from time to time
• the grant recipient shall agree to all reasonable peer review requests issued by the UK Space Agency from time to time for the duration of the grant
• the UK Space Agency cannot guarantee any no-cost extensions that will see the new end date going beyond December 2028

9. Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting

All grants awarded will require the awardee to report on impacts and outcomes annually through the ResearchFish process as per UKRI grant terms and conditions, both during the grant period and for 5 years afterwards.

During the grant period, the UK Space Agency may from time to time request written reports detailing the activity carried out within the scope of the grant. Regular progress meetings may also be held between the grant holder and the UK Space Agency to monitor and evaluate progress for the length of the grant.

10. Assessment criteria

In considering the proposal, reviewers will use the following criteria:

Science excellence of the proposal (40%)

• the quality of the science proposed
• to what extent will the research advance scientific knowledge?
• how likely are they to deliver the stated scientific goals of the proposal?
• does the researcher employ a variety of techniques or address a number of objectives?
• is the proposal innovative, employing novel techniques or new methods of analysis and interpretation?

Relevance to and priority within the UK Space Agency Exploration Programme (15%)

• relevance to the outlined aims of the UK Space Agency funding call (see call text)
• relevance to existing Mars and lunar Exploration Missions with UK Space Agency participation
• relevance to the National Space Strategy
• relevance to the UK Space Agency Corporate Plan

Necessity and timeliness of requested funding (15%)

• criticality of the proposal to the area of research
• does this proposal fit within the given timeframe of the call?
• is the proposal of relevance to a range of fields and disciplines, and likely to be of interest to many other researchers?
• are the outputs likely to be achievable within the timeframe proposed?
• what consequences could you or do you foresee if this proposal is not selected?
• does this proposal need to be started in the next 12 months?

Value for money (10%)

• requested costs are justified, appropriate, and reasonable
• value of any leveraged funding (including in-kind and financial)
• (for studentships) the degree to which this studentship would result in a capable PDRA

Research environment and team membership (15%)

• suitability of the proposed research team to successfully undertake the work covered by this proposal
• do the team members listed show within their CVs relevant experience to the project activities described?
• (for fellowships) the potential of the individual including the capability to perform the wider responsibilities of an academic career
• (for PDRAs) the degree to with a PDRA would enhance the project
• (for studentships) are there processes in place to monitor the PhD student’s progression and training opportunities?

Impact and outreach plan (5%)

• use of the research and activities to inspire others
• plans to communicate the results of the project

Summary

The table below summarises the assessment criteria and includes who will assess and moderate each of the criteria, split by grant type, along with the criteria’s weighting.

		Fellowships and PDRAs	Fellowships and PDRAs	Studentships
Criteria	Weight	Assessed by	Moderated by	Assessed and moderated by
Science excellence	40%	Peer Reviewers	Panel	Panel
Relevance to and priority within the UK Space Agency Exploration Programme	15%	UK Space Agency and panel	Panel	Panel
Necessity and timeliness	15%	Panel	Panel	Panel
Value for money	10%	UK Space Agency and panel	Panel	Panel
Research environment and team membership	15%	Panel	Panel	Panel
Impact and outreach plan	5%	UK Space Agency and panel	Panel	Panel

11. Review process and how to apply

Please read all of the guidance carefully. Contact the UK Space Agency by email at SpaceExploration@ukspaceagency.gov.uk if you have any questions regarding your application. 

Please note, it is the responsibility of the proposal principal investigator to clear their submission with the relevant finance and research offices of their institution. Such clearance must be obtained prior to submission.

It may take up to 6 months for the UK Space Agency to complete the evaluation process.

Studentships

Studentship proposals will go through a single stage, fast-track panel assessment process.

Please send the full proposal by email to SpaceExploration@ukspaceagency.gov.uk by 4pm on 9 May 2024 with the filename ExSci_24PHD[PISurname].

Please note that the UK Space Agency does not accept applications directly from graduates wishing to pursue doctoral study.

Your full proposal should include the following components submitted as a merged A4 PDF in the specified order:

1. the completed application form (attachment called ExSci 2024 application template, found on the main page). Please note this is for information only and will not be assessed
2. case for support. Must be no more than 4 sides (excluding references) in 11pt text, A4 paper, with minimum 2cm margins, containing the following information:
   • description of the project
   • objectives
   • academic beneficiaries
   • management plan: proposed management of both the project and resources, identifying the training and career development opportunities for personnel working on the project
   • the relationship to any earlier or current work of the applicant(s) and/or collaborating organisation(s) and any relevant work elsewhere
   • impact and outreach statement/plan
   • justification of resources requested
3. summary of the costs requested (your institution’s research office can help with this), clearly divided into full economic costing fund headings. Please also ensure any travel and subsistence and other costs are clearly set out
4. current funding list of the principle investigator (including title, funder, value, duration and level of applicant’s time spent on the project. If the title is not self-explanatory include a sentence to explain what the project is about)

The review panel, made up of UK Space Agency experts and independent academic reviewers across a broad range of science disciplines with programmatic support from the UK Space Agency, will consider the proposals against all the evaluation criteria. Applications will be fully assessed by the expert panel and will not be sent to peer reviewers. Therefore, applicants will not receive review comments, and there will be no principle investigator rebuttal stage. The panel will recommend a final assessment and ranking of proposals to the UK Space Agency. The panel and the UK Space Agency, in finalising the awards to be made, may take account of the distribution of awards in terms of subject, type of award and institution. 

Feedback will be provided to all applicants within 3 months of being notified of the panel’s decision.

PDRAs and fellowships

Please send in the following components by email to SpaceExploration@ukspaceagency.gov.uk by the specified dates and times:

The science overview must be submitted by 4pm on 18 April 2024, with the following file name: ExSci_24SC[PISurname]

To enable the Agency to identify appropriate peer reviewers, a science overview must be submitted no later than 4pm on 18 April 2024. The science overview will not be assessed, but should give the UK Space Agency sufficient information on the science that is proposed to allow peer reviewers to be found, in addition to the ones suggested at application. The science overview should be no more than 1 page in length (including any optional diagrams and tables) (minimum font size 11pt Arial, minimum 2cm margins all round) and include:

• the name of the principle investigator and any co-investigators already known
• a brief overview of the background to the experiment
• a brief overview of the experiment proposed
• a brief overview of the expected results/outcomes

Please note that if you do not submit a science overview by 4pm on 18 April 2024, you will not be eligible to submit a full proposal to this call. However, you do not need to be ‘invited’ to submit a full proposal after submitting the science overview.

The full proposal must be submitted by 4pm on 9 May 2024, with the following file name: ExSci_24FP[PISurname]

Your full proposal should comprise the following documents merged into a single A4 PDF, in the specified order:

1. the completed application form (attachment called ExSci 2024 application template, found on the main page). Please note this is for information only and will not be assessed by peer reviewers
2. case for support. Must be no more than 6 sides (excluding references) in 11pt Arial text, A4 paper, with minimum 2cm margins, containing the following information:
   • description of the project
   • objectives
   • academic beneficiaries
   • management plan: proposed management of both the project and resources, identifying the training and career development opportunities for personnel working on the project
   • the relationship to any earlier or current work of the applicant(s) and/or collaborating organisation(s) and any relevant work elsewhere
   • impact and outreach statement/plan
   • justification of resources requested
3. CV for the principle investigator (no more than 2 sides of A4)
4. publication list of the principle investigator
5. summary of the costs requested (your institution’s research office can help with this), clearly divided into full economic costing fund headings. Please also ensure any travel and subsistence and other costs are clearly set out
6. current funding list of the principle investigator (including title, funder, value, duration and level of applicant’s time spent on the project. If the title is not self-explanatory include a sentence to explain what the project is about)
7. data management plan (no more than 2 sides of A4)
8. (fellowships and fellowship extensions only) a statement from the head of department of the host institution in support of the application (no more than 1 side of A4)
9. (fellowships and fellowship extensions only) two references in support of your application (no more than 1 side of A4 each). One must be from the host institution, and the other must be from elsewhere. The reference from the host institution must provide an explicit statement outlining the advantages gained from hosting the fellowship

After the deadline

Once the full proposal has been received, the UK Space Agency will seek up to 3 reviews from UK and international experts in the field of your proposed to research to review your case for support. You will then have 2 weeks to respond with a 1-page rebuttal to the reviews, which will be used by the panel along with the reviews to assess the proposal.

The panel, made up of UK Space Agency experts and independent academic reviewers across a broad range of science disciplines with programmatic support from the UK Space Agency, will consider the proposals against all the evaluation criteria. The panel will recommend a final assessment and ranking of proposals to the UK Space Agency. The panel and the UK Space Agency, in finalising the awards to be made, may take account of the distribution of awards in terms of subject, type of award and institution. 

Feedback will be provided to all applicants within 3 months of being notified of the panel’s decision.

The studentships and standard grant panels will not consist of the same individuals.

13. Confidentiality  

The UK Space Agency is subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It may therefore become necessary for UK Space Agency to release information in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

For those bids not recommended for funding, documentation will be retained by the UK Space Agency for reference. The proposals will not be visible to any others, and the names of any unsuccessful applicants will not be published.

Information submitted for those projects selected for funding will be retained by the UK Space Agency but remain confidential.

Summary information about the proposals selected for funding may be published on the UK Space Agency website and/or UK Space Agency social media accounts.

The contact details you provide will only be used for the purposes of this funding call. The UK Space Agency will not share your information with anyone else.

Please read the UK Space Agency UK GDPR Privacy Notice for more information.