We are committed to helping UK researchers to overcome barriers to international collaborative research. We are pleased to announce agreements with research funding agencies in several countries, which will facilitate bilateral collaborations between UK social scientists and researchers in those countries.
Agreement has been reached with the following funding agencies:
- Brazil: São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
- US: National Science Foundation’s Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE)
- Luxembourg: Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR)
Bilateral agreements do not represent a separate stream of research funding, but enable international collaborations to be submitted to the open standard grants competition.
The agreements only apply to standard grant proposals. Unless specified otherwise, the normal rules of standard research grants apply to proposals submitted under bilateral agreements.
Inclusion of project co-leads (international) on applications
We invite UK project leads to include international project co-leads from anywhere in the world on proposals to the majority of our research funding schemes, excluding fellowships and unless otherwise stated by the funding opportunity guidance.
For guidance on the inclusion of project co-leads (international), including eligible costs, see our project co-leads (international) policy guidance.
For further information, please see our research funding guide.
New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Co-operation in Europe (NORFACE)
NORFACE is a collaborative partnership of national research funding agencies in Europe and beyond. NORFACE offers unique opportunities for participating funding agencies by developing common research funding instruments, thus creating opportunities for facilitating and building new networks of research collaboration in the social sciences.
Since 2004, NORFACE has received core funding through the European Commission’s ERA-NET scheme. This highly topical and policy-relevant theme offers an approach from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, enables and encourages multidisciplinarity, and offers a fruitful area for a pan-European approach with opportunities for comparison.
Further information on NORFACE.
Further information can also be found at the following NORFACE programme websites:
- Transformations to Sustainability (T2S)
- Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course (DIAL)
- Welfare State Futures (WSF)
Contact for more information
Email: international@esrc.ukri.org
Last updated: 19 July 2024