Flexible Funding

3rd Call for Flexible Fund Applications

The DARe Hub’s third flexible funding competition is now CLOSED.

Through a series of calls between 2024 and 2026, DARe is funding additional research projects to complement its existing research programme using a Flexible Fund worth £2 million in total.

The DARe Flexible Fund Call #3 is structured around two distinct funding opportunities:

Research Projects (£300,000 total)
- Funding to support three partner‑co‑created research projects, each worth up to a maximum value of £100,000 (100% FEC).
- Projects address priority challenges identified by DARe and its partners (National Highways, Network Rail, and HS2 Ltd) and are focused on delivering actionable outputs for policy, planning, and asset management.
DARe Impact Fellowships (£360,000 total)
- Funding to support up to six academics, for up to six months and a maximum value of £60,000 (100% FEC).
- Impact Fellowships will focus on skills development, knowledge exchange, and support for the integration of DARe’s Transport Performance & Risk Analysis Framework (TPRAF) for selected partner organisations.

Those eligible to apply must:

Be employed at a UK academic institution which is eligible to receive UKRI funding;
Have an employment contract which ends no earlier that the proposed timeframe of the research project or Impact Fellowship;
Not be a DARe Hub’s team member from Newcastle University, University of Cambridge, University of Glasgow, Heriot-Watt University, or Anglia Ruskin University.

Important Documents

Please read the Call Guidance for the flexible fund call before applying: DARe FF3 Call Guidance (updated 2026_05_01)

To apply for a Research Project, please complete: DARe FF3 Submission Form – Research 2026_05_01_3.1

To apply for a DARe Impact Fellowship, please complete DARe FF3 Submission Form – Impact 2026_05_01_3.1, and also provide a CV (max 2 pages) and Personal Statement (max 500 words).

If you do not meet EPSRC eligibility criteria to act as a Principal Investigator, you may still apply for a DARe Impact Fellowship if you are supported by an eligible academic who will act as your PI. In such cases, the PI will hold the grant contractually and provide oversight and supervision of the fellowship. You must complete the DARe FF3 Submission Form – Impact (PI Details) and submit it alongside your application so that eligibility and governance requirements can be confirmed.

Questions and answers:

Relevant for the Research Projects – from the first and second Flexible Funding calls in 2024 and 2025 are provided here: DARe Flex Fund – Previous Questions and Answers

All applications must be emailed (in Word format) to dareflexfund@newcastle.ac.uk by 10.00 am (BST) on Monday 8^th June 2026. Any applications received after this date will not be considered.

Changes to Call Guidance

DARe Impact Fellowships:

If you do not meet EPSRC eligibility criteria to act as a Principal Investigator, you may still apply for a DARe Impact Fellowship if you are supported by an eligible academic who will act as your PI. In such cases, the PI will hold the grant contractually and provide oversight and supervision of the fellowship. You must complete the DARe FF3 Submission Form – Impact (PI Details) and submit it alongside your application so that eligibility and governance requirements can be confirmed.

Questions and Answers

If you have any questions, please email dareflexfund@newcastle.ac.uk – please check this webpage – and the supplementary Previous Questions and Answers PDF – before sending your query by email. Queries submitted after Wednesday 1st June may not receive a response due to the call timeline.

Questions and answers that may be relevant to other applicants will be added to the DARe Flex Fund webpage under the Q&A Section for all to access. (Questions posted will not be attributed to those that submitted them.)

Research Projects:

What level of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) are you expecting? (added 14.05.26)

There are no specific TRL requirements for this call, as it is focused on research rather than technology development. Applicants should therefore not frame their proposals in terms of TRLs. Instead, proposals should clearly demonstrate how the work will fulfil the aims of the call and deliver actionable, practical, and impactful outcomes for the partner organisations.

Do you need a Letter of Support from the DARe partner organisations? (i.e. National Highways, Network Rail, HS2 Ltd) (added 14.05.26)

No, this is not required. If you have worked with any of these organisations before, feel free to include this information in your application.

Do proposals need to include stakeholder partners / industry engagement? (added 14.05.26)

Applicants may submit proposals that include their own partners (e.g. from industry, local or regional government bodies, and/or third sector organisations) but this is not a mandatory requirement. (N.B. non-academic partners are not eligible to receive funding, based on UKRI funding rules.) Irrespective of whether applicants include their own stakeholder partners, the successful applicants will be required to engage with DARe’s partners as well (i.e. National Highways, or Network Rail and HS2 Ltd).

Are the projects expected to use or extend the outputs that DARe is developing? (added 14.05.26)

No, these projects will complement what DARe’s is already developing and delivering; successful applicants’ will be expected to engage and collaborate with the DARe team. If the successful applicants do require access to DARe’s outputs to support their projects, this can be discussed after projects have started.

Within the application form there is a question about engagement with the DARe Hub; are there any specific expectations or activities? (added 14.05.26)

Successful applicants will be assigned a named contact within the DARe Hub, who will coordinate engagement activities throughout the project. In your proposal, you may wish to outline which elements of the project would most benefit from knowledge exchange with the Hub. This should go beyond the logistical aspects of engagement (e.g. regular meetings) and instead focus on where collaboration, feedback, or knowledge sharing could add the most value to the project.

Will the successful applicants’ be provided with access to relevant datasets from the partner organisations (e.g. National Highways, Network Rail and HS2 Ltd)? (added 14.05.26)

Applicants should not design proposals that are dependent on access to data from the partners. Proposals should include methodologies that can be delivered using publicly available data, data already held, or data that can be reasonably obtained. Where partner data could enhance the work, this can be identified and may be supported, but it should not be a critical dependency for the feasibility or success of the project.

Do you expect proposals to comprise team members from multiple universities? (added 14.05.26)

Whether teams comprise of one or multiple (eligible) institutions is up to you.

Can the team include Post-Doctoral Research Associates and/or Early Career Researchers? (added 14.05.26)

Yes.

Should projects utilise existing PDRA team members or is there an opportunity to hire new PDRAs? (added 14.05.26)

It is up to you but given that projects can only run up to a maximum of six months, it may be difficult to recruit new team members within this timeframe, therefore using existing team members as resource would be recommended.

Will be projects be funded at 100% FEC or 80& FEC? (added 14.05.26)

Awarded projects will be funded at 80% FEC.

Can equipment costs be included within proposals? (added 14.05.26)

The Flex Fund Call will not fund any equipment costs.

Can consumable costs be included within proposals? (added 14.05.26)

Yes, applicants can include the cost of consumables within their proposals, e.g. Directly Incurred Other Costs. Applicants can include additional information regarding how the funds will be used within the submission form within the Allocation of Funding section.

Could you please confirm whether cybersecurity falls under themes within this call? (added 19.05.26)

To confirm, cybersecurity is not included as a theme within this funding call and is therefore out of scope.

What is the intended duration of the Research Project? (added 21.05.26)

Research Projects may run up to a maximum of 6 months, and must start by 4th August.

Is the call open to a broader Nature-based Solutions framing, or would the panel prefer proposals to remain tightly focused on the named examples? (added 21.05.26)

Yes it is open to other suggestions but the examples specifically named in the Topic are of particular interest.

The call refers to both adaptation and mitigation performance of green infrastructure. We are reading “mitigation” in the dual sense the rail sector uses in practice: both climate-change mitigation and hazard mitigation. Please can you confirm if the panel intended only one of these or both. (added 21.05.26)

The priority is hazard mitigation for railways.

I understand [sector partners] would not receive any funding through the project, but would a formal letter of support from them still be required as part of the application?(added 21.05.26)

A Letter of Support is not required, however please feel free to provide one as part of your application if you wish to.

Could you please clarify whether the call covers maritime? (added 21.05.26)

The DARe Hub is focused on ground transport (road, rail and active travel). In the case of aviation and maritime, proposals should be looking at the related land-based aspects of transport infrastructure.

Can we add a schematic in the proposal document? (added 21.05.26)

Inclusion of tables must respect the maximum word count limited stated, but inclusion of one or two diagrams to help explain/support the proposal will be allowed.

Do we have to submit a Letter of Support in addition to the form? (added 21.05.26)

Letters of Support may be provided but are not required.

Will DARe provide initial contact details for National Highways/Network Rail/HS2? (added 21.05.26)

To confirm, the DARe team will facilitate introductions with the relevant partner contacts for successful applicants at the start of the project.

DARe Impact Fellowships:

Can PDRAs apply? Can Professors apply? (added 19.05.26)

Yes, academics that meet the eligibility criteria can apply.

Are you looking for the successful applicants to propose a project, or are you looking for individuals who can be matched with existing projects? (added 19.05.26)

The latter – the Hub is seeking individuals with expertise and capabilities that will be well suited to specific, pre-defined projects focused on the integration of TPRAF for partner organisations.

Is there an expectation that the Impact Fellow will make contact with the organisation or does it happen through the DARe team after selection? (added 19.05.26)

The DARe team will facilitate introductions and connections for successful applicants at the start of the Impact Fellowships. If applicants already have relevant or active relationships with transport sector organisations, they are free to highlight these within their application.

Will successful applicants be working with specific teams or individuals from the partner organisations? (added 19.05.26)

Yes, the DARe Hub already has contacts with individuals and teams within the partner organisations and will facilitate the introductions for the Impact Fellows.

Will successful applicants be embedded within those partner organisations? And will there be a need to accommodate travel costs accordingly? (added 19.05.26)

The Impact Fellows will not be embedded or seconded to partner organisations. However, travel costs should be included within applications in order to facilitate travel to meetings with the DARe team, and with the partner organisations, as required during the fellowship.

Can you provide access to the Transport Performance & Risk Assessment Framework (TPRAF)? (added 19.05.26)

No, applicants do not require access to the TPRAF during the open call. The framework is currently under development and the DARe team are currently preparing academic journal publications relating to this work, so it is not publicly available. Applicants can refer to the TPRAF news article, which provides high-level information to support their understanding of the framework. Successful applicants will be provided with access to the TPRAF details at the start of their fellowships.

What are the expected outcomes that the Impact Fellows would be responsible for? (added 19.05.26)

The DARe Impact Fellows will be responsible for delivering the outputs set out in the Call Guidance (see page 5). Through the delivery of these outputs, Fellows will contribute to the Hub’s outcomes and impact, particularly through the development of adoption pathways for the Transport Performance & Risk Assessment Framework (TPRAF).

Hypothetically, can the part-time be 25% for the first three months and 100% for the remaining three months? (That is 50% on average.) (added 19.05.26)

Applicants may propose working arrangements of this nature. If doing so, they are encouraged to explain how their arrangement will be managed effectively in practice. The DARe Hub may consider these alternative FTE arrangements during the review process, taking into account the feasibility of the proposed working pattern and its alignment with the fellowship objectives.

Can I use the budget to cover directly incurred staff costs for my commitments between 0.5 and 1.0 FTE based on my salary and the project duration? (added 21.05.26)

Yes, the budget is intended to cover staffing costs to accommodate the successful applicants’ DARe Impact Fellowship, based upon their salary, proposed Fellowship FTE, and the duration of the Fellowship (six months).

What types of travel can be considered for the fellowship? (added 21.05.26)

The budgeted travel and subsistence are to support engagement with the DARe Hub and its partner organisations. This includes travel to attend meetings, workshops and other collaborative activities with key stakeholders.

DARe's 1st and 2nd Rounds of Flexible Funding

The Hub’s first round of Flexible Funding (launched in July 2024) sought proposals from UK academic institutions that address one of three topics:

Topic 1: The Impact of Disruption on Business Models
Topic 2: The Gamification of Climate Resilience and Mitigation
Topic 3: Resilience and Adaptation Transferability Across Critical Infrastructures

The competition, which closed in September 2024, offered successful projects up to £50,000 in funding – a list of the winners of DARe’s first Flexible Funding competition is available here.

The Hub’s second round of Flexible Funding (launched in March 2025) sought proposals from UK academic institutions that address one of three topics:

Topic 1: Understanding the Economic Impact of Transitioning to Adaptable and Resilient UK Transport Infrastructure
Topic 2: Developing A Cost Appraisal Tool for Transport Decarbonisation, Adaptation and Resilience
Topic 3: Exploring Value Associated with Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation and Resilience of Transport Infrastructure

The competition, which closed in May 2025, offered successful projects between £50,000 and £350,000 – a list of the winners of DARe’s second Flexible Funding competition is available here.

The next call for proposals will be launched in early 2026.

Queries relating to the DARe Flex Fund can be sent to: dareflexfund@newcastle.ac.uk.