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.

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Code 3 - award is withdrawn from the reporting cycle as no more outcomes are expected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

 

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.