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“Many people were affected” ahead of multiple application deadlines, says Newcastle University academic
UK Research and Innovation’s Funding Service website went down overnight, causing researchers stress ahead of multiple grant application deadlines today.
Researchers were unable to view their applications on the national funder’s service from around 5.30pm on 15 July until 8.30am on 16 July, several people who were affected told Research Professional News.
Alistair Ford, a lecturer in geospatial data analytics at Newcastle University, is one researcher whose grant application was affected by the technical glitch. He told RPN that there were a “number of UKRI deadlines due in at 4pm on 16 July, so I am sure many people were affected”.
Ford was unable to log in to the system, whereas other researchers said they could log in but could not view their applications.
Too late for some
This morning, after the platform had been restored following around 15 hours of downtime, UKRI apologised on the social media website X. It said: “Sorry for earlier issues accessing applications on the Funding Service. This is now fixed and your applications are secure.”
While it assured researchers that applications would not be affected and offered them the chance to request a 48-hour extension, for Ford it was too late because he had already submitted his application before the extension was offered.
The situation “obviously caused a lot of stress the day before submission”, he said. “It delayed the final checks and meant that the submission today was much more rushed than I would have liked. This obviously impacts on the quality of the submission.”
Draft proposals ‘disappeared’
Kelsey Byers, a group leader at the John Innes Centre, also had a funding deadline today.
Byers told RPN that her previous applications and draft proposals had all “disappeared” when she logged in last night and early this morning, and that UKRI did not seem to be aware of the issue yesterday. It told her just after 6pm: “We’re not aware of any known issues with the platform, but if you’re still experiencing this please contact the Funding Service helpdesk (phone line will be open from 8.30am tomorrow).”
This, she said, “was not terribly helpful, particularly the lack of helpdesk support with extended hours for the days leading up to a major submission deadline”.
“The service is now up and running correctly and my support request ticket has been replied to with a message giving me the option to request a 48-hour extension if the downtime has prevented me from submitting my application in a timely fashion,” she said.
New system
The Funding Service recently largely replaced Je-S, the Joint Electronic Submission system, as part of the funder’s Simpler and Better Funding programme. In the first three months of 2024, some 85 per cent of applications were made on the new system. The plan is to completely phase out Je-S, which many saw as being creaky.
But Byers added that “the lack of technical detail” and repeated problems with the Funding Service make her “seriously concerned about the choice of moving from Je-S, which was older but reliable, to a not well-developed or deployed system that clearly has not been adequately stress-tested”.
A spokesperson for UKRI told RPN: “Our Funding Service was down for a short time overnight last night. The issue is now fixed and all applications are secure. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and any applicants whose deadline was affected will be offered a 48-hour extension.
“We are continually working to improve the resilience of the Funding Service to minimise such events.”