Research outcomes and Researchfish

What is Researchfish?

Researchfish is a web-based system used by UKRI and several charitable and public funding bodies to collect the research outcomes and outputs of its award holders. 

Outcomes and outputs submitted to Researchfish are made publicly available through Gateway to Research which helps to communicate the benefits of research to a wider audience. Therefore, please avoid submitting any confidential information.

When to submit?

From Monday 2nd February to Thursday 12th March 2026 at 4pm. Log in to Researchfish and complete your submission by 12th March, 4pm.

Which Funders expect a submission?

The larger funders including UK Research Councils, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK & National Institute for Health and Care Research expect a submission in 2026. Many other smaller public and charitable funders also use Researchfish to collect research outcomes. 

For a complete list of funders, go to the Our Community section on the Researchfish website. 

Who needs to submit? 

Returns are usually expected from PIs

  • who have active grant awards
  • for 5 years after the award end date

Response code meaning:

Code 1 - a submission is expected

Code 2 - a one year exemption has been agreed, no submission required

Code 3 - award is withdrawn from the reporting cycle as no more outcomes are expected

Code 4 - a submission is expected - the award holder is not employed by the funded organisation

Code 5 - submission is optional

 

Students

  • For the 2026 submission period, UKRI is pausing the collection of studentship data and will not be adding any new students to Researchfish. UKRI studentships already on Researchfish will remain on the system with a Response Code 5, meaning that submission is optional.

  • CRUK students have a Response Code 1 - mandatory, but are not sanctioned.

     

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) 

If you’re required to submit outcomes during the upcoming submission period, UKRI will email you to confirm this. Further details about what UKRI expect you to report are available on their website.

If the submission is not made on time, the following sanctions policy will apply:

  • The researcher will lose their eligibility to be named as Principal or Co-Investigator on further UKRI awards, regardless of the UKRI Council applied to for those further awards. The researcher will remain ineligible until such time as they have made all of their expected UKRI submissions on Researchfish.
  • If the award is current, payments for that award will be withheld until such time as an up-to date record of outcomes attributed to that award has been submitted on Researchfish

The full sanctions policy is available on the UKRI website.

 

Changes to UKRI's Question Set 2026

As part of UKRI's drive to minimise undue burden when reporting outcomes, the following changes have been made for the 2026 submission period.

 

Removal of ‘Awards and Recognition’, ‘Use of Facilities & Resources’, ‘Engagement Activities’ and ‘Public and Patient Involvement’

  • UKRI research award holders are not required to provide information on these sections of the question set. It is optional to submit this data, but UKRI will no longer make systematic use of it. 
  • ‘Engagement Activities’ is replaced by ‘Public Engagement and Involvement’ (PE&I), details below.  

  • Data already provided by researchers in previous submission periods will continue to be available within the system.

     

Enhancements to IP & Licensing and Spinouts sections

  • The definition of spinouts will now be aligned with the UK Spinout Register.
  • Researchers will also be able to report a wider range of IP types, including Design Rights and Plant Variety Rights/Plant Breeders Rights.

 

UKRI’s “Public Engagement & Involvement” Additional Funder Question

This new UKRI-specific section applies to all UKRI awards and is designed to capture information about public engagement and involvement activity across the lifetime of an award. 

The questions are aligned with UKRI’s Public Engagement strategy and will improve the consistency of data across disciplines. 

 

New UKRI ‘Public Engagement and Involvement’ section 

  • Captures the full breadth of public engagement—from dissemination and dialogue to involvement and co-production—ensuring all types of activity are recognised.
  • There are 10 questions - two mandatory and eight optional.
  • Collects only a single summary of public engagement and involvement activity at the end of the award (for most awards), rather than an activity-by-activity breakdown.

 

For those who hold awards with multiple funders:

  • In previous submissions, several medical funders (e.g. NIHR, CRUK, BHF, AUK among others), and UKRI on a subset of awards, have asked for information related to ‘Patient and Public Involvement’ activity via an additional section. 

     

  • UKRI will stop using this section and instead capture outcomes related to Public Engagement and Involvement in one section that will be specific to UKRI. This means there will be some divergence from how other funders collect this data.

 

  • For co-funded awards (one award funded by multiple funders), where UKRI is the award administrator, the UKRI Public Engagement & Involvement Additional Funder Questions will apply. When another funder administers an award, they will decide which question set to use.

 

British Heart Foundation (BHF)

BHF have produced a guide for all common outcome questions in Researchfish related to BHF awards.

 

Wellcome Trust (WT) 

  • WT Grant holders whose grants end between 1st October 2025 - 30th September 2026 will be asked to submit in Researchfish if the grant type is on the WT list of awards.
  • If an award is not due, WT will code the award with a 2 'no submission is expected this year'.
  • Sanctions - if grantholders don’t submit their Researchfish report, WT won't award any more grants to the PI until they do submit a report.

 

Need help?

Researchfish help

Funder help

Contact your Node administrator or Departmental Administrator

If you are unable to comply and submit a return during the collection period because you’re on maternity/paternity leave, sick leave, you’ve left the University or any other personal circumstances, please contact your Node administrator or Departmental Administrator.