Royal Society International Exchanges

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What are Royal Society International Exchanges grant?

Royal Society International Exchanges are awarded for 3 months, 1 year or 2 years and are intended for the formation of new collaborations between a UK-based researcher (and his/her team) and an overseas researcher (and his/her team). For more details see RS International Exchanges Summary 2025  .

Who can apply for the Royal Society International Exchanges grant?

The scheme is for a UK-based applicant and an overseas-based co-applicant. The lead applicant must be a UK based scientist and/or project leader with a Ph.D. (senior group leader, junior group leader, postdoc) or extensive experience at equivalent level. The co-applicant is a scientist from any non-UK country, with a Ph.D. or extensive experience at equivalent level. Members of the applicant’s and co-applicant’s teams (postdocs, Ph.D. students, other research staff) can be included in the proposal, in fact the Royal Society encourages this.

Why apply for the Royal Society International Exchanges grant?

• It is an opportunity to establish a new collaboration with a UK based researcher and his/her team
• It is an opportunity for yourself and your team members to learn new techniques in a different laboratory
• The length of the research visit(s) is flexible and can be adjusted accordingly, with an option to apply for a one-off visit of up to 3 months (up to L3,000 available) or multiple visits within a period of either 1 year (up to L6,000 available) or 2 years (up to L12,000 available)

When to apply for the Royal Society International Exchanges grant?

There are two application rounds each year, with the next deadline on Wed 12 Mar 2025 15:00 UK time for Round 1 (R1) and then on Wed 04 Jun 2025 for Round 2 (R2).

  Please inform the Project Office about your intention to apply.  
  Do not hesitate to contact us anytime for consulting, discussion or help.  

How to apply for the Royal Society International Exchanges grant?

1. Find and read programme guidelines:
   • Royal Society International Exchanges
   • 2025-RS-International Exchanges-Summary  
   • 2025-RS-International Exchanges-Guidelines  
   • 2025-RS-International Exchanges-Standard conditions of award (March 2024)  
2. Contact a potential UK collaborator with whom you would like to apply for a joint project and agree on project details.
3. The UK applicant must establish or login to the Royal Society’s Grants management system (Flexi-Grant®), both applicant and co-applicant must register for an ORCID ID.
4. Negotiate agreement from the IOCB director and your lead applicant’s Head of Department with the proposed collaborative project.
5. Request authorisation to submit the proposal via the internal electronic IOCB Project Proposal Approval System (PPAS). You must be either connected to the IOCB network or via the IOCB Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access this system.
6. The UK applicant must invite the Heads of Department, a Research Support Role person from the UK host organisation (optional) and a UK Host Organisation.
7. Together with your lead applicant, complete your online application form in the Flexi-Grant® system.

   The application form includes:

   1. Summary Page: here you will find instructions for submission of your application for approval from the UK Host Organisation (approval only once all other parts are complete) and you can invite participants (i.e. Heads of Department or Research Support Role).
   2. Eligibility criteria: applicants must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
   3. Applicant personal details: title, names, address, organisation, country, e-mail address (this must be the one used to register a user account on FlexiGrant). Also amend which type of contact your application participants are (e.g. Head of Department).
   4. Applicant [and co-applicant] career summary:
      1. Full name, incl. title [co-applicant only]
      2. Title of current position
      3. Current employer (official name)
      4. Current department
      5. Country/territory where your current employer is based [co-applicant only]
      6. Current position start date
      7. Current position end date (enter when expected to finish)
      8. Field of specialisation (max 20 words)
      9. Summary of your current research (include brief note on strength of your organisation) (max 200 words)
      10. Ph.D. award date (date when you received formal notification of your Ph.D. thesis being accepted in its final form)
      11. Ph.D. institution
      12. Ph.D. country/territory [lead applicant only]
      13. Applicant career history (full list of appointments since Ph.D. in reverse chronological order, stating if part-time; depth of information you provide is up to you, but this will represent you under assessment and so it is worth including as much good evidence for your academic merit as possible)
      14. Impact of covid19 (max 500 words)
      15. Applicant qualifications (listed in reverse chronological order)
      16. List of key and/or relevant publications (details of authors, titles and references of best publications and those most relevant to proposed application, marking with asterisk (*) up to 5 most significant; place in two lists – a) refereed and published in primary journals, b) contributions to symposia and compiled volumes; for large collaborative publications, specify role and contribution)
      17. Applicant research funding (listed in reverse chronological order; all current and previous research funding)
   5. Research proposal:
      1. Project title
      2. ii) Start date: no earlier than 4 months after the deadline and no later than: for R1 30 Sep 2025, for R2: 31 Dec 2025
      3. End date: 3 months, 1 year or 2 years after the start date
      4. UK Host organisation
      5. Subject Group/Area: enables allocation of the application to the most appropriate assessment panel
      6. Abstract (max 400 words)
      7. Lay summary: your research understandable to a lay person, why you chose to work in this area and what is exciting, interesting or important about the project, possible impact to wider society (max 250 words)
      8. Research proposal: details of research proposal, including an outline of the nature and purpose of the research project, experimental methods and techniques to be used (max 500 words)
      9. Participants: other project participants from both teams (Ph.D. students, post-doctoral researchers and any other research staff members), their current academic role/post and why you wish to include them on the project (max 200 words)
      10. Benefits to individuals/institutions: planned outcomes and potential benefits of collaboration for applicant, co-applicant and organisations; plans for longer term continuation of collaboration (max 200 words)
      11. Benefits to UK (max 200 words)
      12. Benefits to overseas country (max 200 words)
   6. Data management and data sharing:
      1. Outline of data management and data sharing plan (max 200 words)
      2. Will you be conducting fieldwork as part of your research? Yes/No. Provide details of location, duration and justification if yes
      3. Overseas field research upload (upload documents related to permissions and collections of specimens)
   7. Use of animal research: Does your proposal involve the use of animals or animal tissues? If yes, you will need to answer further questions.
   8. Use of human participants and tissue: Does your proposal involve the use of human participants, patients or tissue? If yes, you must provide a certificate or letter to show that ethical permission has been or will be obtained
   9. Financial details:
      1. Duration: specify the duration of your project
      2. Budget table
      3. Justification for consumable (including fieldwork)
      4. Justification for travel (including subsistence): must complete a provisional visit plan for the duration of the award presenting the details
   10. Applicant declaration: declaration that Terms and Conditions of the award have been read and will be adhered to, that you have access to the necessary facilities to carry out your research and that Heads of Department will provide you with sufficient time and resources to carry out the research
   11. UK and overseas Head of Department Support: the applicant/co-applicant need to invite both Heads of Department from the overseas and UK organisation under the participants tab (Summary page) to provide their support. The HoDs supply their contact details and tick ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the following statement: “The applicant/co-applicant will be provided with adequate space and access to resources within my department.”
   12. Diversity monitoring: for internal purposes of the Royal Society, seen only by the applicant. Both applicant and co-applicant must fill this in separately.
8. Ensure that Heads of Department provide their support, that you/lead applicant submit your application, and that you/lead applicant ensure that it is approved by the UK Host organisation Approver by Wed 12 Mar 2025 15:00 UK time for R1 and 04 June for R2).

If funding is approved, you can start your project between:
12 July 2025 – 30September 2025 for Round 1;
4 October 2025- 31 December 2025 for Round 2.

The start of the project is any activity undertaken to progress the project, which includes booking flights or planning a schedule of activities to be undertaken in the initial stages; it is not necessarily the date when exchange visits must have commenced. Award holders can apply for up to one-year no-cost extension.

The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG, UK
international.exchanges@royalsociety.org, ☎: +44 (0) 207 451 2532

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IOCB participation (0) in Royal Society International Exchanges scheme: