UK Research and Innovation (AHRC, MRC and ESRC)

Gambling harms research grants

UKRI research grants, funded from the statutory gambling levy through the UKRI Research Programme on Gambling, for projects addressing any question or challenge that deepens understanding or supports solutions for the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. Open to research communities across all UKRI councils; the project lead must be at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding, and teams must include people with lived experience of gambling harms. Projects can cost up to £2 million full economic cost, of which UKRI pays 80%, over three years, with awards expected in April 2027. Strict independence rules apply: no funding or co-funding from Gambling Commission licence holders, and any engagement with the gambling industry needs prior approval.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £1 – £2,000,000
Deadline: 51 days left; 8 December
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

Open to organisations with standard UKRI eligibility
The project lead must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding: UK higher education providers, UKRI institutes, independent research organisations approved by UKRI, and public sector research establishments or NHS bodies approved by UKRI
The lead organisation submits the application; teams can be single or multi-institution
Each researcher can submit only one application as project lead but can be project co-lead on others
Organisations with non-standard eligibility can be project co-leads if they can show the capacity to co-lead and manage a significant project, after due diligence: international research organisations, other educational establishments, charities and third sector organisations, government departments and NGOs, social enterprises and UK registered businesses (UK co-leads follow the ESRC policy for co-leads from business, third sector or government organisations)
They can otherwise take part as project partners
Applications must be team based and bring together diverse people, expertise and places, including people with lived experience of gambling harms; partnerships with the third sector, community groups, industry, the public sector and the public are important
Gambling Commission licence holders subject to the levy cannot host or receive funding, and individual researchers should not hold funding from such licence holders at the same time
Any engagement with industry partners, especially from the gambling sector, must be discussed with UKRI before applying
No institutional matched funding is required beyond the standard 20% FEC

What it funds

High-quality research projects that build capacity in the research ecosystem, addressing any question or challenge that deepens understanding or supports solutions for the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms:

Interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approaches (single discipline projects will also be considered)
Contributions to the salary of the project lead and co-leads
Staff costs
Equipment
Travel and subsistence
Other directly incurred costs
Estates and indirect costs
Justified costs of project co-leads from organisations with non-standard eligibility (UK or international), funded at 100% FEC, up to 30% of the overall project cost at 100% FEC

UKRI will take a managed portfolio approach to balance research topics and geographic regions. Applications must be team based and include people with lived and learned experience of gambling and gambling-related harms. An indication of required datasets or sources must be included. Reasonable adjustment costs may exceed the funding limit.

What it will not fund

Doctoral students and PhD studentships
Funding to Gambling Commission licence holders who are subject to the levy, including hosting awards
Co-funding from Gambling Commission licence holders
Engagement with industries whose core business can be associated with harm to public health or societal wellbeing, including the gambling industry, except time-limited, purpose-specific interactions (for example access to proprietary datasets) approved in advance, with no direct funding or co-authorship from the excluded entity
Project partners claiming funds from UKRI (partners are expected to contribute in cash or in kind)

How to apply

Make sure your research organisation is registered on the UKRI Funding Service (Je-S is not used)
If you plan any engagement with industry partners, especially from the gambling sector, discuss it with UKRI before submitting via RPGinfo@ahrc.ukri.org; exceptions for interactions with the gambling industry must be approved in advance
Where access to data has been established or agreed in principle, get letters of support from the relevant data controllers or data services
Start an application on the UKRI Funding Service (https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1313/apply/1342) and confirm you are the project lead
Answer the questions in the text boxes: summary (550 words), core team, vision (500), approach (2,500), applicant and team capability (1,650, R4RI format), ethics and RRI, resources and cost justification (1,000), declaration of interests, project partners, intellectual property management (800), data management and sharing (800), facilities (250), clinical research using NHS resources, and Trusted Research and Innovation
Upload the Declaration of Interests form for the project lead and each project co-lead, and project partner letters of support as a single PDF
Send the application to your research office for checking; they submit it to UKRI by 4pm on 8 December 2026

the declaration must cover all current and past funding or roles linked to gambling operators, industry-linked charities or advocacy groups, with specific mitigations; omissions may lead to funding being revoked. Applications with ineligible applicants are rejected. Applications are shared with DCMS for assessment.

Have ready

Declaration of Interests Form (DOCX template from the funding page), completed by the project lead and each project co-lead
Project partner letters or emails of support: a single PDF, in English or Welsh, one side of A4 per partner, confirming commitment, value to the partner and what they add
Letters of support from relevant data controllers or data services, where data access has been established or agreed in principle
SoECAT funder export (study information and summary pages, with the AcoRD specialist name and date) as a single PDF, if the project is clinical research using NHS resources

most of the application is answered in Funding Service text boxes; images are allowed but not text or tables in images. Animal and genetic technology questions may require extra forms if they apply.

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