These pages provide background to the charity research support funds (CRSF) which were introduced in 2006/07 to support charity-funded research in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

The information below, along with the list of eligible AMRC member charities, aims to assist universities in applying the criteria to other charities supporting research in their institutions in order to determine their eligibility for CRSF support.

What are the Charity Research Support Funds? 

Q&A: Charity Research Support Funds

When the CRSF was introduced, the government was explicit about the type of research in universities that should qualify for underpinning support from public funding, and recommended that the following principles be used:

• Research should demonstrably contribute to the enhancement of the research base or in some other way provide a public scientific good.



• The sponsor should have a published research strategy.



• Research supported should be only of the highest quality, and funders should demonstrate that they have appraisal systems in place which ensure that only high quality research is funded.

AMRC member charities

In order to become a member of AMRC, charities must meet a number of criteria, which AMRC considers will enable almost all its member organisations to meet the qualifying criteria for the CRSF.  AMRC membership criteria require that:

• Charities are registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales or otherwise recognised as charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Non-UK charities should have, as a principle purpose, the funding of research in the UK.



• In order to ensure that research of the highest quality and priority is supported, charities must show that they meet AMRC's requirements for the use of peer review in the allocation of research funding. AMRC's peer review criteria require charities to follow an open and transparent process that includes independent and impartial advice from an advisory committee, as well as from external referees. Members of advisory panels should not have tenure but serve for a set period and procedures should be in place to ensure that decisions are impartial. Where charities support research in a single institute or on a rolling basis, an independent review of the research programme must be undertaken every three to five years. A link to AMRC's peer review requirements is provided.



• AMRC member charities are required to have a research strategy in place.



• AMRC member charities are expected to make details of their grants and awards, as well as their modus operandi for peer review, available publicly.

AMRC has provided a list of its member charities that it is confident will meet the eligibility criteria for the CRSF and which should assist universities seeking clarification about which sources of charity income are eligible for support. The list excludes those AMRC members that are tied to a single institution with no flexibility to fund elsewhere because it is considered that these charities may not meet the criterion of open competition in the allocation of grants.

The list refers to AMRC members only. Many other charities fund research in universities. To determine whether a charity is registered in the UK, universities may find it helpful to refer to the Charity Commission (which lists registered charities in England and Wales) or the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.  If a charity is registered and it meets AMRC’s membership criteria, as described above, it is likely to be eligible for the CRSF.

Updated October 2009