🎓 UKRI Project Status Scraper

Scrape UKRI research project status: project, organisation, status and status changes. Run it once and you get the current records as a dataset — that is the default. Turn on watch mode and a scheduled run returns only what changed since the last run (see Optional: run it on a schedule).

Status transitions on UKRI research projects — active, closed and back again.

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 $0.20 per ukri project delta plus one $0.10 source check per run that reads the source). Source: gtr.ukri.org.

Who buys this

Buyers usually search for UKRI project status or Gateway to Research.

• Grant consultants and research-development offices tracking UKRI project status.
• Universities, nonprofits and companies watching Gateway to Research relevant to their field.
• Analysts and journalists following where public funding goes.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run EMiXZyFwu9X4ax5d6 on build 0.1.24 (2026-09-28), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

grant_reference	project_id	title	status	grant_category	lead_funder
BB/T008881/1	B1A96302-CBBA-4379-B6B1-1465C89F19EB	The impact of paternal age and nutrition on offspring fitness	Closed	Fellowship	BBSRC
10045762	AE0F5052-66E1-4947-B8BA-1784BAB0178B	Early Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care - Lung Cancer & Prostate Ca	Closed	Grant for R&D	Innovate UK

The run finished with the status message: NORMAL: emitted 2 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. gtr2:BB/T008881/1
• grant_reference — e.g. BB/T008881/1
• project_id — e.g. B1A96302-CBBA-4379-B6B1-1465C89F19EB
• title — e.g. The impact of paternal age and nutrition on offspring fitness
• status — e.g. Closed
• grant_category — e.g. Fellowship
• lead_funder — e.g. BBSRC
• start_date — null in every sample row
• end_date — null in every sample row
• source_url — e.g. http://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/projects/B1A96302-CBBA-4379-B6B1-1465C89F19EB
• delta_type (string/null) — null in every sample row
• delta_kinds (array/null) — null in every sample row

✅ What you get

✅ What you get

Every run also writes a RUN_RECEIPT record to its key-value store with the source checks it made and the counts it charged — diagnostics never land in the paid dataset.

⚙️ Sample inputs

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

{
  "project_references": [
    "BB/T008881/1",
    "10045762"
  ],
  "max_items": 10,
  "watch_mode": false
}

The sample run charged exactly: 1 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 1 × $0.10 source-check + 0 × $0.20 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

{
  "project_references": [
    "BB/T008881/1",
    "10045762"
  ],
  "max_items": 5,
  "watch_mode": false
}

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

3. Optional watch mode (changes only, for a schedule)

{
  "project_references": [
    "BB/T008881/1",
    "10045762"
  ],
  "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 $0.20 each plus the $0.10 source check; billed deltas are capped at 500 per run.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run EMiXZyFwu9X4ax5d6, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "record_type": "ukri_project_record",
  "record_key": "gtr2:BB/T008881/1",
  "grant_reference": "BB/T008881/1",
  "project_id": "B1A96302-CBBA-4379-B6B1-1465C89F19EB",
  "title": "The impact of paternal age and nutrition on offspring fitness",
  "status": "Closed",
  "grant_category": "Fellowship",
  "lead_funder": "BBSRC",
  "start_date": null,
  "end_date": null,
  "source_url": "http://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/projects/B1A96302-CBBA-4379-B6B1-1465C89F19EB",
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "output_mode": "preview",
  "preview_cap": 25,
  "preview_truncated": 0
}

🔧 How it works

Source. The actor reads gtr.ukri.org — endpoints: https://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/projects. Public pages and feeds only; nothing behind a login.

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.

🔧 How it works

🔧 How it works

Source

UKRI Gateway to Research GtR-2 REST API (public, logged-out)

• https://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/projects

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

Why this Actor reads a different API from the rest of the UKRI family

The other UKRI watches read the search API, which carries the date sort they need. It returns status: null on 339 of 339 live records — measured 2026-07-27. A status watch built on it would compare nothing to nothing and report a clean zero forever, which from the outside is indistinguishable from a quiet regulator.

The Project Status facet on that same API advertises Closed 146,235 / Active 28,155. The index holds the field; the record does not. Facet counts are advertisements, not evidence.

GtR-2 does carry status — 85 Closed / 15 Active in a 100-record sample. It has no date sort, which a status watch does not need: it fetches the projects you name and diffs them.

You name the projects — this Actor does not sweep the corpus

project_references is required, capped at 200, and one lookup is issued per project you name. That count is visible to you before you run. Without a list there is nothing to watch, so the run fails loudly rather than reporting a healthy-looking nothing.

A reference that returns no exact match is reported as NOT FOUND, never silently dropped — a typo must not read as a quiet source.

Parameters proven under the filter-proof law, control-vs-test, 2026-07-27:

parameter	result
q=<grant reference>	REAL — totalSize 174,404 → 1
ref=<grant reference>	IGNORED — HTTP 200, totalSize unchanged at 174,404
page size 5	rejected, HTTP 400; 25 is the documented floor

ref is exactly the parameter you would reach for first, and it does nothing. q is a SEARCH rather than a lookup, so this Actor keeps only the project whose reference matches exactly.

One delta type per Actor

This Actor watches project-status and nothing else. A project's FIRST sighting is absorbed into the baseline silently — selling you your own seed run as a status change would be dishonest.

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 status change emitted. 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. A project moving from Active to Closed is not an hour-sensitive event, and Gateway to Research is republished in bursts rather than continuously — its own index reported a last refresh of 14 Apr 2026 when measured on 2026-07-27, 104 days later. A daily schedule pays seven source-check events a week to see the same thing. Override it if you have a reason.

Honest limits

Status is the publisher's own field and this Actor reports it verbatim; a project whose status is null is surfaced as such, not watched, because a null cannot produce a delta. Gateway to Research publishes awarded projects, not funding opportunities. Absence is never read as a withdrawal. 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.

⏰ Optional: run it on a schedule

A single run returns the current records. If you also want to be told what changed over time, open the actor in Apify Console → Schedules → Create new, add this actor with the watch-mode input above (watch_mode: true) so each run returns only the changes, 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	$0.067
UKRI Project Delta (ukri-project-delta)	$0.20	$0.18	$0.16	$0.134

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

• 2 ukri project deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 2 × $0.20 = $0.52
• 25 ukri project deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 25 × $0.20 = $5.12
• 500 ukri project deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 500 × $0.20 = $100.12

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 2 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 scrapers 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

• UKRI Programme Funding Totals Scraper — Scrape UKRI funding totals by programme: awards, amounts and period-over-period change. Every run returns the current records as a dataset. Optional…
• UKRI Projects Ending Soon Scraper — Scrape UKRI research projects approaching their end date: project, PI, organisation, funder and end date. Every run returns the current records as a…
• UKRI Project Funding Changes Scraper — Scrape UKRI project funding changes: project, original and revised amounts, and change date. Every run returns the current records as a dataset. Opti…
• California Grant Deadlines Scraper — Scrape California state grant deadlines from the Grants Portal: program, agency, closing date and deadline changes. Every run returns the current rec…
• California Grant Opportunities Scraper — Scrape California state grant opportunities from the Grants Portal: program, agency, amount and closing date. Every run returns the current records a…
• US Grants.gov Deadline Amendments Scraper — Scrape US Grants.gov application deadline amendments: opportunity, agency, old and new close date. Every run returns the current records as a dataset…
• 🏢 About NexGen Watch — NexGen Watch is a catalog of more than 300 public data actors built on official sources, pay-per-result. Browse the catalog at apify.com/nexgenwatch.

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