We would like to thank everyone who submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) to the Research Software Maintenance Fund. A total of 229 applications were received for Round 2. We saw another highly competitive round, and we are grateful for the time, care, and ambition demonstrated by applicants from across the community. 

For Round 2, we ran a Distributed Peer Review process with a rebuttal process for the EoIs. Each EoI was placed into a Research Area selected by the applicant that was then further divided into review “pots”. Each applicant reviewed applications in a different pot within the same Research Area as their application to reduce the ability of applicants to “game” the review process. After reviews were submitted, applicants were allowed to provide a rebuttal if they believed that any reviews had missed or misrepresented information provided in the EoI. Applicants were not allowed to introduce new information at this point. The RSMF team then ran statistical checks and compared reviewer scores against reviewer comments to ensure that the review framework was being applied consistently and considered any rebuttal comments in the final scores and ranking. Ranking and selection for the next stage was done by Research Area i.e. EoIs from different areas were not in competition with each other, only with those in their own Research Area. 

At the end of this process, the outcomes were as follows: 

• 61 applications were invited to submit a full application
• 168 applications were not invited to the next stage 

We will publish further details in the coming weeks, including a breakdown of application numbers by category, along with general observations on the process and criteria.  

What is next? 

Applicants selected to move forward have been invited to submit a full proposal, due by Wednesday 20 May 2026, 16:00 BST.  

The Software Sustainability Institute remains committed to supporting the long-term sustainability of research software and to ensuring that the process continues to be fair, transparent, and inclusive. 

For any questions, contact us at grants@software.ac.uk.