Gambling harms research grants (Grant)

Apply for funding that deepens understanding or supports solutions for the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. To lead an application, you must be based at a research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding. This funding opportunity is open to research communities across all UKRI research councils. Interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approaches are encouraged. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £2 million, for up to three years. UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC. Demand management Demand management is not currently being applied to this funding opportunity. UKRI encourages organisations to support applicants in preparing well-planned, high-quality applications that are competitive for funding relative to the funding opportunity. See AHRC funding guide for further information on submission rules. Scope Context In April 2023, the Department for Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) published a white paper setting out the government’s plans for modernising regulation of the gambling sector . One of the key proposals in the white paper is the introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators. Following a public consultation , which ran from 17 October 2023 to 14 December 2023, and an analysis of the responses to the consultation, the government has introduced a statutory levy charged to all licenced gambling activity. This is at varying levels depending on the sector and nature of the gambling activity to ensure impacts are proportionate. The statutory levy was introduced via secondary legislation and commenced in April 2025 with funding flowing later that year. The levy will be collected and administered by the Gambling Commission under the strategic direction of the government, replacing the current system of voluntary industry contributions. Levy funding will be directed in specific proportions for the purposes of research, prevention, and treatment. Each stream of the levy system will also have a central commissioner. The streams are: • research (20% of funding to UKRI and the Gambling Commission for the establishment of a bespoke research programme) • prevention (30% of funding to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to create a co-ordinated GB-wide approach to prevention) • treatment (50% of funding to the NHS in England, Scotland, and Wales to commission treatment and support services) Within the stream of funding allocated to UKRI for the new Research Programme on Gambling (RPG), UKRI have commissioned a multi-disciplinary Gambling Harms Research UK (GHR-UK) Evidence Centre . This will coordinate a cohort of GHR-UK Innovation Partnerships that have been funded to fill gaps in the existing evidence base and assist us in developing a research agenda following the introduction of the levy. For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section. Gambling harms research grants This funding opportunity aims to deliver high-quality research projects and build capacity in the research ecosystem. We welcome applications addressing any question or challenge that deepens understanding or supports solutions for the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. This funding opportunity is open to the research and innovation communities across all UKRI research councils, and interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approaches are encouraged. We will take a managed portfolio approach to ensure a balance of research topics and geographic regions are represented across the programme. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches We encourage research projects to bring together different disciplines to address a challenge or question in gambling harms research, either through an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approach. Single discipline projects will also be considered. Definitions Interdisciplinary research combines distinct components of two or more disciplines through the integration of separate disciplinary data, methods, tools, concepts or theories in order to address a complex issue, question or problem. Interdisciplinary projects will be co-created or co-designed with input from all disciplines involved and the disciplines genuinely integrated with each discipline gaining something significant by being part of the project. Multidisciplinary research involves different disciplines working towards the same challenge. The work packages do not require integration and remain largely separate and independent of each other, with the outputs of each combining to address the research challenge. Whether your project uses an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary or single discipline approach, you should clearly articulate throughout your application how the challenge can only be addressed through your chosen approach. You should include the appropriate measures for team management and project governance to ensure a successful outcome. Guidance Strong interdisciplinary projects

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Project leads must be based at a UK research institution eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding. Check if your organisation is eligible . Teams may involve single or multiple institutions. The lead organisation will be responsible for submitting the grant application. Researchers may submit one application to this funding opportunity as project lead but may be involved in other applications as a project co-lead. Who is eligible to apply This funding opportunity is open to research communities across all UKRI research councils. It is a UKRI funding opportunity, delivered by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). To lead the award, your organisation must have standard eligibility for UKRI funding, which include: • UK higher education providers (HEPs) • UKRI institutes • independent research organisations approved by UKRI • public sector research establishments or NHS bodies approved by UKRI This funding opportunity is also open to the following organisations with non-standard eligibility to apply as a project co-lead, provided they can demonstrate the capacity to co-lead and manage a significant research and innovation project: • international research organisations • other educational establishments • charities and third sector organisations • government departments and non-governmental organisations • social enterprises and UK registered businesses Further guidance for including UK project co-leads from organisations with non-standard eligibility is provided in the ESRC Project co-leads from UK business, third sector or government organisations policy . These organisations will need to go through due diligence checks before being awarded funding. Further details can be found on how to apply to be an eligible organisation . It is the responsibility of the lead research organisation to check eligibility of all collaborating organisations (UK and international) and the eligibility of individuals for their proposed roles. Applications submitted with ineligible applicants will be rejected by the UKRI office. See AHRC’s funding guide for further information on institutional and individual contractual eligibility requirements for applicants. These organisations can also contribute as project partners if they are not a project co-lead. For more information see the Collaborators section. Further eligibility requirements Applications must be team based and must bring together diverse people, expertise, experiences, places and wider stakeholders. This includes people with lived and learned experience from gambling and gambling related harms. By lived experience, we mean people with direct experience of gambling related harms. Partnerships with non-academic higher education institutions and people across the third sector, community groups, industry, the public sector, people with lived experience and the public are important. These kinds of collaborations can strengthen the diversity, innovation and potential for impact from research activities. By ‘industry’ we mean any enterprise that places goods or services on a market and whose commercial activities constitute more than 20% of its annual operations. This definition applies across all sectors and is not limited to organisations within the gambling industry. However, there are sensitivities with respect to partnerships with businesses, the gambling industry or otherwise, meaning additional care should be taken to manage risks and potential conflicts of interest. Any engagement with industry partners, especially those from the gambling sector, must be demonstrably independent, evidence-based and research-led. Engagement must align with the programme’s public interest objectives to further understanding of gambling-related harms and should be discussed with UKRI prior to submission of an application via the UKRI RPG inbox: RPGinfo@ahrc.ukri.org All applications will be subject to robust scrutiny through our expert review and governance processes. Particular attention will be paid to the independence and integrity of the research, the source and independence of the findings and the potential for real-world impact in understanding gambling behaviour and reducing gambling harms. We wish to clarify that, as well as not being permitted to host awards, under the Research Programme on Gambling, UKRI does not permit funding to be provided to Gambling Commission licence holders who are subject to the levy. Co-funding from Gambling Commission license holder is not permitted. Furthermore, we would not expect individual researchers to concurrently hold funding from licence holders subject to the levy while receiving funding from the Research Programme on Gambling. We do not permit engagement with industries whose core business can be associated with harm to public health or societal wellbeing, in line with our ethical standards and harms-based exclusion principles. This includes the gamblin

Click https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1313/apply/1342 on the UKRI Funding Service to apply. We are running this funding opportunity on the new UKRI Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions system. The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application. Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI. To apply Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page. • Confirm you are the project lead. • Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. • Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page. • Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office. • Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing. • Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI. Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant. Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. When including images, you must: • provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit) • insert each new image on a new line • use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include: • sentences or paragraphs of text • tables • excessive quantities of images A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column. For more guidance on the Funding Service, see: • how applicants use the Funding Service • how research offices use the Funding Service • how reviewers use the Funding Service References References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application. Hyperlinks can be used in reference informa