Exploring the frontiers of environmental research 2026

What the assessor looks for

• is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
• has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
• is timely given current trends, context, and needs
• impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment
• introduce the topic of research and explain its wider relevance, including sufficient references to explain the context of your proposed work within your field of research to generalist reviewers
• provide clearly defined aims and objectives, typically as a small number of bullet points
• describe the potential of your proposed work to deliver a genuine, distinctive advancement or added value via its outcomes, and who the beneficiaries might be
• justify why your proposed work requires an exploring the frontiers award (and cannot, therefore, be supported by more traditional funding routes) and how it fits the scope of the funding opportunity

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
• is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
• uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
• summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
• will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
• describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
• identify and explain the particularly innovative, unconventional methodologies or approaches that will be explored
• identify key milestones where you may need to make decisions, track, or evaluate progress
• identify alternative approaches, or the learning potential, in the event of unexpected results
• provide a basic project plan detailing team responsibilities
• provide brief evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have the right balance of skills and expertise to deliver the proposed work

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project
• the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, while minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm
• how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project
• any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data)
• formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with
• human participants
• genetically modified organisms

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• you can use this response to note any linked work submitted to a previous UKRI opportunity
• add the text ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in the textbox.

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.