Within the context of the financial challenges facing universities in the UK, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC)  has launched the R&I Shared Services Collaboration Fund to catalyse activity in Scottish universities supporting sector efficiencies and long-term financial sustainability. The Fund will allow Scottish universities to apply for funding to develop sustainable models and steps to implement sharing services, including but not limited to sharing tech transfer offices (TTOs) and research offices. The SFC’s intention is to precipitate and fund a different way of working, investing in change which will enable the change to carry on. The Fund will allow:

• The consolidation of existing distinct functions by replacing them with a single shared function.
• Institutions with smaller research portfolios to work with larger institutions to gain access to expertise and capability that they don’t currently have.
• The creation of shared capacity between groups of institutions where limited functions currently exist but new shared capability would drive efficiencies.

The Fund will kick-start longer-term collaboration by supporting the initial costs of change, enabling institutions to navigate the difficult proof of concept stage and de-risk the exploration of new approaches in a financially constrained environment. Ultimately, the Fund will support the sector to work differently and create efficiencies through the sharing of essential research and innovation back office services.

The Fund is open to groups of a minimum of  two Scottish universities, either with at least one partner with relevant and effective services and/or functions to be shared, or clear foundations and/or rationale for building new collaborative functions.

A total of £3 million is available over academic years 2025–26 and 2026–27, with grants of between £250,000 and £750,000.

Applications should be submitted by the deadline of 29 August 2025 (12:00).