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An official website of the Velocity Interoperability Network

History of the Research Council

The Research Council of the Velocity Interoperability Network is a young institution. The milestones below record the transition from separate research funding by member organisations to a single council, and will be extended as the Council's first calls are assessed and its registers are brought up to date.

  1. Before September 2026

    Research funded by member organisations separately

    Before the Council existed, each member organisation of the Network funded research from its own budget, to its own standards and under its own procedures. There was no common register of what was being funded, no shared procedure for assessing proposals and no single body to which a concern about the conduct of research could be brought.

  2. 10 August to 5 September 2026

    The transition period

    In the four weeks before establishment, member organisations transferred their research commitments, award records and running grants to the Council, and the Programmes, Awards and Integrity Offices were set up at Eastfield Campus. Research continued under interim arrangements throughout, and every transferred commitment was reviewed against the conditions of award now in force.

  3. 6 September 2026

    Council established

    The Research Council of the Velocity Interoperability Network was formally established, consisting of a Chair and eight members supported by a Secretariat, with responsibility for research programmes and research integrity across the Network.

  4. 6 September 2026

    Official website launched

    The Council launched research.gov.vin, carrying press releases and official statements, the registers of programmes and awards, guidance for applicants, its open research requirements and its standards of research integrity.

  5. 6 September 2026

    First round of programmes, awards and standards confirmed

    On the day of its establishment the Council confirmed six programmes and 38 awards worth 25,000,000 credits in total, held by twelve member organisations across five sites, published its seven standards of research integrity, and announced Open Round 2026, its first open funding call, which opens on 21 September 2026.

  6. Forthcoming

    First calls, first payments and the first integrity report

    The first quarterly payments to award holders are made in October 2026. Open Round 2026 closes on 13 November 2026 with outcomes notified in February 2027, and the Early Career Fellowships call closes on 27 November 2026 with outcomes in March 2027. The Council's first annual report on research integrity, covering the period to 31 December 2026, will be published in the first quarter of 2027.

Announcements are published in the Newsroom. For the Council's present responsibilities and how it reaches decisions, see About the Council; for the programmes and awards confirmed at establishment, see Programmes and Awards.