Researcher Collaborations Grants

Our Researcher Collaborations Grant enables researchers to establish and develop national, international, interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaborations and networks.

RSC members can apply for funding to participate in or organise activities which bring together researchers, including:

research visits to potential or current collaborator’s institutions (applicants can now apply to visit up to 3 collaborators as well as to host them on a reciprocal visit)
organising meetings/workshops

Who can apply?

The grant is aimed at researchers wanting to foster/develop collaborations. Applicants can be PhD students or researchers at any career stage, working in any sector or location.

Applicants must be at least an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (either an Associate Member (AMRSC), Member (MRSC) or Fellow (FRSC). Undergraduate Student Members (AFU) and Affiliate (AFF) are not eligible to apply).

Please ensure you read our Guidance for Applicants fully before you begin your application. Our Frequently Asked Questions document also provides further information and responses to common questions about this scheme.

Applicants may also be interested in our Guide to Writing Applications for the Researcher Collaborations Grant. Our guide provides grant-writing tips for those new to grants or wanting to learn some good practice in order to strengthening their applications.

For more information about RSC membership, please see our membership page.

What can I request funding for?

Expenses to participate in research visits include:

Eligible

✓

All aspects of travel and commuting (including visas and insurance)
Subsistence
Accommodation
(Up to £500) Any other essential expenses and can include, for example, chemicals or consumables, access charges or specialist software licences

Ineligible

✕

Salary contributions, including consultant fees
Costs for general-purpose hardware, apparatus, or equipment
Costs for the dissemination of work, including conference attendance and publication costs
Social excursions
Personal items, such as clothing, toiletries or entertainment/leisure expenses
Expenses not related to the grant applicant (e.g. costs relating to accompanying family members). Although, depending on your circumstances, you may also be interested in our Grants for Carers and Accessibility Grants
Computers, phones, tablets or other personal gadgets/electronics

Expenses to host meetings/workshops include:

Eligible

✓

Venue hire
Essential participant expenses
Essential catering, including networking dinner
AV equipment hire
Essential costs for accessibility (e.g. sign language interpreter)

Ineligible

✕

Salary contributions, including consultant fees (e.g. for professional event organisers)
Costs for general-purpose hardware, apparatus, or equipment
Social excursions
Personal items, such as clothing, toiletries or entertainment/leisure expenses
Computers, phones, tablets or other personal gadgets/electronics
Dissemination costs

It is not intended that the grant will support existing conferences and meeting series or those hosted on behalf of organisations. Rather small workshops/discussion-style type meetings to facilitate potential and existing collaborations/networks.

Application timelines

Please note for fairness and transparency to all applicants, we must apply our rules consistently. This means that we do not allow late applications. You are welcome to apply in the next application round providing you meet all
eligibility criteria of that round.

Round 1 2025

Activities starting within 12 months from	1 August 2025
Applications open	3 March 2025
Application close	7 April 2025 1400 UK time (BST)
Initial eligibility decisions	Week commencing 22 April 2025
Funding decisions	Week commencing 23 June 2025

Round 2 2025

Activities starting within 12 months from	1 February 2026
Applications open	26 August 2025
Application close	29 September 2025 1400 UK time (BST)
Initial eligibility decisions	Week commencing 13 October 2025
Funding decisions	By 15 December 2025

Assessment criteria

All applications will be checked by RSC staff. Your application will not proceed to peer review if:

You do not meet our eligibility criteria (please see above)
Your application is incomplete
Your application does not adhere to the length limits instructed in the application system
Your funding request exceeds the £5000 limit

All remaining applications will undergo peer review by members of our Researcher Grants Peer Review Group and final funding decisions will then be overseen by:

Professor Alison Hulme, University of Edinburgh
Dr Charles O’Hara, University of Strathclyde
Dr Petra Szilagyi, University of Oslo
Professor Ben Xu, Northumbria University

Our reviewers will assess applications on:

Case for collaboration	Applicants should give thoughtful consideration to why they chose their respective collaborator(s) for the activity. It should be clear how each party contributes to the project or research problem. There should also be clear scope for sustained partnership(s) beyond the conclusion of this grant application.
Scientific quality	The scientific proposal must be novel and achievable in the specified timeframe. Applications should include a timely research problem that merits the proposed activity. Applications should also have impactful expected outcomes and plans for “next steps”.
Case for RSC funding	Applicants should demonstrate why RSC funding would be enabling. They should place their funding request in the context of other sources of funding available to them.
Inclusion & Diversity (meetings only)	Applicants must demonstrate actions to be taken to ensure an inclusive meeting.