🎓 UKRI New Research Project Award Watch

Newly awarded UKRI research projects as Gateway to Research publishes them, bounded to a real start-date window rather than the far-future studentship head.

Output is one ukri_project_record row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one ukri project delta (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.05 per ukri project delta plus one $0.10 source check per run that reads the source). Source: gtr.ukri.org.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run DFSVGgsjdChdPrCLE on build 0.1.14 (2026-09-17), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

grant_reference	grant_category	funder	start_date	end_date	lead_organisation
UKRI4765	Fellowship	MRC	2026-09-17	2029-09-17	QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
UKRI3500	Fellowship	UKRI FLF	2026-08-30	2029-08-30	NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY
UKRI3498	Fellowship	UKRI FLF	2026-08-30	2029-08-30	KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
UKRI4978	Research Grant	MRC	2026-08-30	2029-08-30	UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
UKRI5052	Research Grant	UKRI	2026-08-30	2029-08-30	University of Liverpool
UKRI3496	Fellowship	UKRI FLF	2026-08-30	2029-08-30	University of Warwick
UKRI4020	Research Grant	Horizon Europe Guarantee	2026-08-30	2030-08-30	University of Warwick
UKRI2750	Fellowship	UKRI FLF	2026-08-30	2029-08-30	University of Bristol

The run finished with the status message: NORMAL: emitted 16 item(s)

✅ What you get

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• record_type (string) — e.g. ukri_project_record
• record_key (string/null) — e.g. gtr:UKRI4765
• grant_reference — e.g. UKRI4765
• title — e.g. Understanding the implications of sarcopenia in heart failure using multi-modali
• status — null in every sample row
• grant_category — e.g. Fellowship
• funder — e.g. MRC
• value_pounds — e.g. 479213
• start_date — e.g. 2026-09-17
• end_date — e.g. 2029-09-17
• lead_organisation — e.g. QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
• lead_organisation_id — e.g. 09DF2F5A-82C7-411D-8723-60E691CF0FDC
• region — null in every sample row
• principal_investigators — e.g. ["Adil Mahmood"]
• co_investigators — null in every sample row
• source_url — e.g. http://gtr.ukri.org/api/projects?ref=UKRI4765
• delta_type (string/null) — null in every sample row
• delta_kinds (array/null) — null in every sample row

⚙️ Sample inputs

1. Quick start — the Store example (this is what the sample above came from)

{
  "max_items": 10,
  "watch_mode": false
}

The sample run charged exactly: 1 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 1 × $0.10 source-check + 0 × $0.05 ukri-project-delta = $0.12 on the Free tier — snapshot preview rows are delivered unbilled; only the source check and the start fee were charged.

2. A smaller, narrowed run

{
  "max_items": 5,
  "watch_mode": false
}

Caps the run at 5 rows; same billing shape as the sample run above.

3. Watch mode on a schedule

{
  "max_items": 10,
  "watch_mode": true
}

The first run seeds a private baseline and emits zero deltas; every later run emits one row per change, billed at $0.05 each plus the $0.10 source check; billed deltas are capped at 500 per run.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run DFSVGgsjdChdPrCLE, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "record_type": "ukri_project_record",
  "record_key": "gtr:UKRI4765",
  "grant_reference": "UKRI4765",
  "title": "Understanding the implications of sarcopenia in heart failure using multi-modality imaging and genetics",
  "status": null,
  "grant_category": "Fellowship",
  "funder": "MRC",
  "value_pounds": 479213,
  "start_date": "2026-09-17",
  "end_date": "2029-09-17",
  "lead_organisation": "QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON",
  "lead_organisation_id": "09DF2F5A-82C7-411D-8723-60E691CF0FDC",
  "region": null,
  "principal_investigators": [
    "Adil Mahmood"
  ],
  "co_investigators": [],
  "source_url": "http://gtr.ukri.org/api/projects?ref=UKRI4765",
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "output_mode": "preview",
  "preview_cap": 25,
  "preview_truncated": 0
}

🔧 How it works

Transport. Plain HTTPS from the Apify platform, no proxy. robots.txt is read first and a disallowed path is never fetched. Every request carries an identified contact User-Agent.

Watch semantics. Snapshot mode (watch_mode: false) returns a preview capped at 25 records. Watch mode keys every record on a source-native id, stores a private baseline in a named key-value store, and on each later run emits one delta row per change (new / changed / removed). A blocked fetch is never diffed, so a source outage cannot show up as a mass removal.

Terminal states. A run ends NORMAL, CAPPED (your cap was reached), PARTIAL (something was withheld and the message says what), GENUINE_EMPTY (the source was read and truly had nothing in scope) or BLOCKED (the source refused or changed shape — the run FAILS loud and bills nothing). A zero-row run is never reported as a silent success.

Charging. Each ukri project delta is charged at the moment it is pushed (ukri-project-delta); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count. One source-check is charged per run that actually read the source.

Source

UKRI Gateway to Research search API (public, logged-out)

• https://gtr.ukri.org/api/search/project

Public, logged-out only — no API key, login, cookie or CAPTCHA.

How the window is bounded, and why it is bounded client-side

The API advertises facet groups — Start Year, Region, Project Status — and none of them can be applied as a filter. Measured 2026-07-27 under the filter-proof law: pro.sy=2026, selectedFacets, start, fundingStartDate, region and status each return HTTP 200/202 with an identical result set. They are display counts. A cell built on one would report the whole 174,404-project corpus while appearing scoped.

What is proven to work — control-vs-test, not assumed — is selectedSortableField=pro.sd, selectedSortOrder, page and fetchSize. So this Actor pages newest-first and bounds the window itself.

Two consequences worth knowing before you buy:

• There is no recency field. created and updated are absent from this endpoint. Recency comes from the project start date and the sort, nothing else.
• The sort head is far-future. Pages 1–19 are entirely studentships starting 2028–2031. This Actor skips them and says how many it skipped; if that head ever grows past its measured shape the run says so rather than quietly watching the wrong set.

One delta type per Actor

This Actor watches new-project-award and nothing else. The other UKRI delta types are separate Actors, each with its own price and its own baseline — so you pay for the feed you want.

Unit nouns (Pay-Per-Event)

• apify-actor-start — reserved platform event, charged per GB of run memory. This Actor is pinned to 1024 MB, so it is one event per run.
• source-check — once per run after the source enumeration terminates, seed runs and evidenced-zero runs included. Not charged when the source refused the read.
• ukri-project-delta — the value event, charged per change emitted in watch mode. Billed deltas are capped at 500 per run; any overflow is reported as a withholding and is not charged.

Run it WEEKLY, not daily

Schedule this Actor once a week. That is a recommendation about your bill, not about coverage — a weekly run reads the same window and misses nothing.

Gateway to Research is republished in bursts, not continuously. Measured 2026-07-27:

what was measured	result
the search index's own lastRefreshDate	14 Apr 2026 — 104 days before measurement
projects with a 2024 start date	13,306
projects with a 2025 start date	5,034
projects with a 2026 start date	999

2024 does not hold thirteen times more research than 2026. It holds thirteen times more loaded research, because it has had two extra years to fill in. GtR backfills: a project awarded today appears here months to years later, in a burst when the corpus is reloaded.

So a daily schedule pays seven source-check events a week to look at a corpus that moves a few times a year. On a weekly schedule the check is a seventh of that and you see exactly the same changes. Override it if you have a reason — nothing stops you running hourly.

Honest limits

Gateway to Research publishes awarded projects, not funding opportunities — if you want open calls, that is a different source. Awards appear when UKRI loads them, which is not the day they were made, and the lag is measured in months to years — see the table above. Absence from a page is never read as a project being withdrawn. Public logged-out data only. Not investment, legal or research-funding advice.

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

⏰ Set it on a schedule

A single run is a snapshot. The value is the feed: open the actor in Apify Console → Schedules → Create new, add this actor with input 3 above (watch_mode: true), and pick a cadence:

• Daily — 0 7 * * * (07:00 UTC): catch changes within a day.
• Weekly — 0 7 * * 1: a Monday digest.

The baseline persists in a named key-value store between runs, so every scheduled run compares against the last one; use a different baseline_id for independent watches. Schedules can also POST results to a webhook (Console → Integrations).

💰 Pricing example

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Actor Start (apify-actor-start)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
Source check (source-check)	$0.10	$0.09	$0.08	$0.07
UKRI Project Delta (ukri-project-delta)	$0.05	$0.04	$0.04	$0.03

Worked at the live Free-tier price (watch mode, one delta per change):

• 8 ukri project deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 8 × $0.05 = $0.52
• 25 ukri project deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 25 × $0.05 = $1.37
• 500 ukri project deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 500 × $0.05 = $25.12

A run that delivers zero rows charges the $0.02 start fee plus the $0.10 source check (the source was read and reported empty). A BLOCKED run (source refused) fails loud and charges no value event. The start fee is charged once per GB of run memory; the default run memory is 1024 MB.

Yield on the sample run: NORMAL: emitted 16 item(s). max_items is a hard ceiling on what is delivered and billed, never a target. Snapshot output is capped at 25 records regardless of the cap you set; watch mode is the full feed.

⚖️ Legal & ToS

This actor reads public, logged-out pages and feeds published by gtr.ukri.org. It collects only what the source publishes to any visitor, keeps to the source's robots rules (checked on every run), identifies itself with a contact User-Agent, and does not access accounts, private data or anything behind authentication. Use the output in line with the source's terms and your local law; the intended use is B2B research and monitoring.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or a login?
A: No. The source (gtr.ukri.org) is read logged-out; the input schema has no key field and the actor carries no secrets.

Q: Why did my run return 0 rows?
A: Read the run's status message. GENUINE_EMPTY means the source was read and had nothing in scope for your input (in watch mode the first run always seeds the baseline and returns zero deltas); BLOCKED means the source refused and the run failed without billing a value event — retry later or narrow the input. A zero-row run bills the start fee plus one source check.

Q: How many rows can one run return?
A: Up to max_items (default 500); snapshot previews stop at 25. Raise the cap for a bigger run; you pay per delivered row.

Q: What does watch mode remember between runs?
A: A private baseline of source-native record ids in a named key-value store (baseline_id names it, so several independent watches can coexist). Each later run diffs the live source against it and emits only changes.

Q: How fresh is the data?
A: Every run reads the source live at run time; nothing is cached between runs except the watch baseline. Put it on a schedule for a continuous feed.

Q: What formats can I export?
A: The dataset downloads as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS from the run's Dataset tab or the Apify API, and any run can push to a webhook or integration.

Q: How is this different from the other grant and research-funding watches actors?
A: Same output shape and billing model; this one covers gtr.ukri.org. The siblings under Related Actors cover the other sources or slices — run several on one schedule for a combined feed.

🆘 Troubleshooting

• Run FAILED with BLOCKED → the source refused the request or changed its page shape → nothing was billed beyond the start fee; retry after a while, and if it persists open an Issue with the run id.
• Status says CAPPED → your cap (max_items) was reached → raise it for a bigger run.
• Input validation error on start → a field is outside the schema's allowed values → start from the Quick start block and change one field at a time.
• Run TIMED-OUT → a very wide request on a slow day → raise the run timeout in Run options or narrow the input; what was delivered before the timeout is still in the dataset.
• First watch run shows no deltas → expected: it seeds the baseline; changes appear from the second run.

🔗 Related Actors

• UK 360Giving Funder Grant Watch — New grants from ONE named UK grantmaker, read from that funder's own published 360Giving file - the grant identifier, recipient, amount, award date a…
• UK Find a Grant: New & Changed Grant Watch — Turn the UK government's 'Find a government grant' service into a seed-zero, deterministic delta feed
• UKRI Principal Investigator Award Watch — New UKRI awards to the principal investigators you name. Sourced from the public UKRI Gateway to Research API, logged-out, no key
• UKRI Organisation Award Watch — New UKRI awards to the research organisations you name. Sourced from the public UKRI Gateway to Research API, logged-out, no key
• UKRI Funder Programme Funding Momentum Watch — Rolled-up UKRI funding movement by funder — a trend feed, not an award feed. Requires an explicit start window. Sourced from the public UKRI Gateway…
• UKRI Project End Date Horizon Watch — UKRI Project End Date Horizon Watch — one structured record per entity from the official public source, deduplicated, pay-per-record
• 🏢 About NexGenData — NexGen Watch is NexGenData's fleet of 256 public monitoring and lookup actors built on official sources, pay-per-result. Browse the catalog at apify.com/nexgenwatch.

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