LO
Policy mandateCognitive automation2024-09-23
Applicants must not use generative AI to produce a whole application or sections of one without human involvement and should declare its use, UK Research and Innovation's policy states
Grant writer / grants officeroccupation page →
Event date / reported
2024-09-23
Evidence stage
Policy mandateRegulation, subsidy or public procurement is requiring or funding adoption — the mirror of a constraint. It shows adoption is being required, not that it has happened, so one mandate is never enough on its own; two independent ones are.
Tasks this bears on
Writing the proposal narrative
Writing the case for support: aims, need, methods, outcomes and why this organisation should be funded.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Budgets, rules and compliance
Building budgets, meeting each call's eligibility and formatting rules, and declaring what funders require, including AI use.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
United Kingdom. The funder's policy lets applicants use generative AI with caution but says they must not use it to generate an entire application, or sections of an application, without human involvement, that applications are expected to be transparent where it was used, and that assessors must not use it in assessment except to refine their language. A research funder's rule; it binds applicants and assessors.
What this means
A national funder allows AI help with applications but not AI-written applications, and asks applicants to say when they used it.
What it does not yet show
One funder's rule for research applications.
What you can check
Open UKRI's policy on generative AI in application preparation and assessment (23 September 2024) and find "without human involvement".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event, and this stage does not move one on its own: a "Policy mandate" record counts toward a judgement but needs a second, independent record before the judgement rests on evidence. This one is counted; on its own it changed nothing.
Source
UK Research and Innovation — Use of generative artificial intelligence in application preparation and assessment (Published: 23 September 2024) · verified 2026-10-01 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-10-01 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.