Applying to the GEF

Follow the links below to determine which type of application you need to make to the GEF.

Standard Applications

The GEF Steering Committee meet twice a year (usually May and November) to consider loan application requests for equipment. The next deadline for these application is 1st November 2024. The committee meet approximately 5 weeks after this deadline, so you should expect to hear the outcome of your application shortly after this time. Please note that the Facility is currently experiencing high demand for certain equipment types and we therefore recommend that you apply in plenty of time before your fieldwork is due to start, ideally at least one meeting in advance (i.e. 6 months).

Smaller GNSS Applications

Requests will be considered outwith the normal committee meetings and can be made throughout the year (normally no more than 3 months before the loan is due to start).

Urgency Applications

Occasionally there is a need to consider urgent applications when an unforseen scientific event occurs. Urgent applications will be considered when meeting the specified critera.

Applying for a NERC grant with GEF support

If you are applying to NERC for a research grant and intend on making use of GEF equipment, it is now a requirement that you :-

• Tick the "facilities" box and select GEF as the facility
• Enter our notional cost in the box in the facilities section
• Add our notional cost into the "Other Directly Incurred costs"
• Attach our quotation document (please contact us to obtain your quotation)

Facility costs must be included in grant applications to schemes where there is a maximum amount that can be applied for (i.e. standard grants and large grants rounds in responsive mode and some research programme proposal calls). An upper limit of £800k has been introduced for standard grants. This could be problematic for some projects where there are large facility costs. It has been agreed that exceptions can be made in these cases providing the facility usage has been justified, the research is not on the scale and complexity of a large grant and the costs are under the standard grant funding limit without the facility cost.

In order to submit a grant proposal exceeding the maximum funding limit, please email researchgrants[at]nerc [dot] ukri [dot] org at least 2 months before the closing date (as detailed in the NERC Grants Handbook).

Please contact us in good time before your grant deadline and we can discuss your requirements and provide the necessary quotation document. Further information is available in the NERC Grants Handbook and the NERC Scientific support and Facilities (S&F) Policy & Processes Manual.