Apply for funding to support excellent investigator-led research across the breadth of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) scientific remit.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding. Standard research grants are available for researchers at eligible research organisations.
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £2 million. Funding is available for up to five years. BBSRC will fund 80% of the FEC.
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.
Organisations based overseas and business-based applicants are not eligible to apply. Overseas and business-based collaborators can be added as project partners on an application, please see Roles in funding applications: eligibility, responsibilities and costings guidance for more information.
If you are applying via the IPA or LINK scheme, please include details of industry partner in the ‘Project partners’ section.
We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) or any other funder.
Find out more about BBSRC’s resubmissions policy
We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Demand management is not currently being applied to this funding opportunity. However, should the level of interest exceed what can be managed within the assessment process, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) may introduce limits on the number of applications that can be submitted. Further details will be clearly communicated where this is the case. UKRI encourages organisations to support applicants in preparing well-planned, high-quality applications that are competitive for funding relative to the funding opportunity.
This scheme supports excellent investigator-led research across the breadth of the BBSRC scientific remit.
Funding is available for:
You can apply to undertake biotechnology or biological research in:
Investigations within and across scales are supported, from molecules and cells, to tissues, whole organisms, populations and landscapes.
We welcome multidisciplinary proposals that cross into other research council areas but expect the primary focus of your work to fall within BBSRC’s remit.
We work with other research councils to ensure that applications close to remit boundaries are assessed by the most appropriate lead council. Please contact remit@bbsrc.ukri.org with any queries about the suitability of your application before applying.
We have a strong commitment to funding curiosity-led research and advancing excellent bioscience across our portfolio.
The duration of this award is up to five years.
The FEC of your project can be up to a maximum of £2 million. BBSRC will fund 80% of the FEC. For example, if the FEC cost of your project is equal to £2 million, BBSRC will fund £1.6 million and your research organisation will be expected to fund £400,000.
Please note, some international schemes may differ in the maximum FEC requirement of a project, please consult the scheme specific guidance. If you are applying using a lead agency agreement, we will not fund the international partners, they will be funded by their respective funding agency.
A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU, who will have an integral role in the proposed research. You may include project partners that will support your research project through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:
Each project partner must provide a statement of support.
Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles
Any individual included in your application core team cannot also be a project partner.
Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation. This includes other departments within the same organisation.
If you are collaborating with someone in your organisation, consider including them in the core team as project co-lead, or specialist. They cannot be a project partner.
We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.
Our approach to applicant-led responsive funding opportunities has changed. We do not have closing dates for applications. You should simply submit your application when it is ready.
Applications are accepted and processed continuously, so there is no need to focus on a specific deadline.
You may see a notional future closing date displayed in the Funding Service. This is a system requirement and does not reflect an actual deadline. You should ignore this date and submit your application whenever it is ready.
Due to the continuing development of the Funding Service, we will occasionally need to make changes to this funding opportunity to allow technical updates or new policies to be implemented. When updates are required, we will communicate changes to this funding opportunity at least eight weeks before they are implemented, to minimise the impact on applications being prepared for submission.
Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications cannot be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it will be rejected. If your application has not yet been peer‑reviewed, you may submit a revised version immediately. There is no required waiting period between a rejection and submitting a revised application.
BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.
BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how Defra uses personal information, visit Defra’s website.
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email peer.review@bbsrc.ukri.org
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.
There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.
This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.
BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at UKRI Gateway to Research.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
Only list one individual as project lead.
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Word limit: 1
Indicate the scheme through which you are applying.
In the text box, copy the number corresponding to the scheme you are applying through. These are:
This is for administrative purposes to help the initial application processing.
Please note that the UKRI-SBE lead agency scheme operates as a two-stage process, requiring an approved expression of interest prior to submitting a full proposal. Full proposals submitted to this funding opportunity without an approved expression of interest will be rejected. For further details including how to submit an expression of interest, please refer to the scheme guidance.
Please follow the scheme specific guidance below. Upload as a single PDF ensuring it is no larger than 8MB.
IPA or LINK:
FAPESP:
FNR:
UKRI-SBE:
Word limit: 1
Your application will be considered by one of our four research committees made up of independent experts. Indicate which you feel would be best placed to assess your application.
In the text box, write only the letter (in uppercase) corresponding to the committee you feel would be best placed to assess your application. These are:
This is for administrative purposes to help the initial application processing. We will check your choice and make a final decision as to which committee will assess your application.
Word limit: 550
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
Explain how your proposed work:
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 3,300
How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:
Within the ‘Approach’ section we also expect you to provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of an embedded Gantt chart or similar (please make sure to check sizing and readability of the image using ‘read view’ prior to submission).
BBSRC’s action plan for EDI outlines our commitment to removing barriers to participation in our programmes, ensuring investments do not inadvertently prevent access or usage by individuals from minority groups, for example disabled researchers.
To this end, applications should identify how accessibility and inclusiveness in the widest sense have been incorporated into the design of the project. For example, you may wish to reference relevant institutional strategies and policies which support equality, diversity, and inclusion as they relate to access to equipment and facilities and indicate how the proposed project has been designed and will be delivered with broad access in mind.
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 1,650
Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.
Use the R4RI format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project lead and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.
Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:
Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).
Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
References may be included within this section.
Please note, you may want to evidence your approach to develop others by referring to appropriate training and career development opportunities.
The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.
Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.
A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or facilities. Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.
A project partner is not anyone in your core team or anyone from your organisation or any of the other organisations represented by core team members.
Add the following project partner details:
If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.
If the project partner is responsible for conducting animal work or providing animals or animal tissue samples, you must ensure that you complete the ‘Animal involvement and “3Rs”’ section.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Word limit: 3,000
Only complete a statement of support if you have named project partners in the ‘Project partners’ section. A statement is required to be provided from each partner you named in the ‘Project partners’ section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.
Please note, individuals listed in the core team, or collaborators from core team member research organisations are ineligible to be project partners.
If you are applying via the IPA or LINK scheme, please include details of industry partner support here.
Do not provide a statement of support from host and project co-leads’ research organisations.
Do not provide a statement of support from collaborators. Contributions from collaborators not listed as project partners can be outlined in ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’.
Each statement you provide should:
If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the ‘Project partners’ section.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Word limit: 1,000
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project. For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders. Where a funding limit is imposed on the opportunity, requested costs for reasonable adjustments may exceed the maximum funding amount.
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
Word limit: 500
How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?
Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Word limit: 500
Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?
If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.
For each requested facility you will need to provide the:
Facilities should only be named if they are on the facility information list above. If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 500
What are the ethical and RRI considerations, implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
If you are collecting or using data you should identify:
Additional sub-questions (to be answered only if appropriate) relating to research involving:
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation.
You must complete this section about how your proposed project will involve or impact animals.
If your project does not involve or impact animals, you must confirm this.
You may be asked about:
You may also need to download, complete, and upload at least one set of additional questions. You will be told how to do this towards the end of this section.
To complete this section and check whether your project is in the scope of the questions, refer to the UKRI policy for research and innovation involving animals.
UKRI policy relates to all animals in the Kingdom Animalia, including vertebrates and invertebrates.
You must complete this section if your project will include genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies.
If you project does not involve genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies, you must confirm this.
You may be asked about:
For more information, see UKRI’s guidance on genetic technologies.
You must complete this section about whether your project will include human participation.
If your project does not involve human participation, you must confirm this.
You may be asked about:
For more information, see UKRI’s guidance for human participants in research.
Trusted Research and Innovation is the protection of the UK’s intellectual property, sensitive research, people, and infrastructure from potential theft, misuse, and exploitation.
Organisations receiving UKRI funding are obliged to act in line with UK government legislation. They are also expected to undertake appropriate due diligence assessments of organisations involved in research partnerships, collaboration agreements, and commercial contracts.
You will be asked about:
Your answers may affect the T&Cs of your funding agreement if you are successful. We may use your answers to determine that our current T&Cs are sufficient or if additional T&Cs are required.
We will assess your application using the following process.
We will invite experts to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity.
You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers.
We are monitoring the requirement for applicant-nominated reviewers as we review policies and processes as part of the continued development of the new Funding Service.
Following expert review, a moderating panel will assess and score the quality of your application using the evidence provided in the application, reviewers comments and your applicant response.
For more information on how we prioritise applications for funding please visit How we make decisions.
We aim to complete the assessment process within nine months of receiving your application.
Applications submitted to this funding opportunity will receive expert reviewer comments as feedback. Panel feedback will not be provided.
We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.
Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making
Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment, including to correct language, spelling, grammar and formatting. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.
For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.
We will need to share the application (including any personal information that it contains) with other research councils so that they can participate in the assessment process.
For more information on how UKRI uses personal information, visit UKRI’s privacy notice.
We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.
The assessment areas we will use are:
Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.
If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page
The helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility, content or remit of a funding opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.
For help and advice on costings and writing your application please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.
For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact:
Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.
Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org
Phone: 01793 547490
Our phone lines are open:
To help us process queries more efficiently, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.
For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.
Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.
Equality impact assessment (DOCX, 72KB)
The new investigator award is designed primarily to assist newly employed university lecturers, researchers in research council institutes (at a level equivalent to lecturer), and fellows (at a level equivalent to lecturer) to secure their first major element of research support funding.
You can apply as a new investigator via the parallel always open funding opportunity BBSRC new investigator award: applicant-led mode.
LINK supports collaborative research projects between at least one company and one academic partner. At least 50% of the full project cost comes from industry.
IPA encourage and support collaboration between academic research groups and industry. IPAs are academic-led, applicant-led mode grants that have significant industrial involvement and industry partners that contribute in-cash at least equivalent to 10% of the full project costs.
You can apply for funding with the following international bodies:
You should ensure that you have read and understood the specific requirements for the lead agency agreement you are applying to, especially for costing applications. Failure to comply with the specific guidance may result in the rejection of your application.
Some international schemes may differ in the maximum FEC requirement of a project, please consult the scheme specific guidance. If you are applying using a lead agency agreement, we will not fund the international partners, they will be funded by their respective funding agency.
On receipt of your application, we may provide international partners with a copy to complete eligibility checks and assist with finding expert reviewers.
Please note from 2026 onwards, the UK component of projects submitted to the FAPESP lead agency agreement through BBSRC applicant-led mode must not exceed £1 million FEC.
The UKRI‑SBE lead agency scheme operates as a two‑stage process, requiring an approved expression of interest prior to submitting a full proposal. Full proposals submitted to this opportunity without an approved expression of interest will be rejected. For further details including how to submit an expression of interest, please refer to the scheme guidance.
BBSRC guidance documents have been created to assist applicants to the FAPESP, FNR and UKRI/SBE schemes in the completion of their application. Although specific to each scheme they must be used in conjunction with the opportunity specific guidance.
BBSRC-FAPESP Application Guidance (DOCX, 68KB)
BBSRC-FNR Application Guidance (DOCX, 66KB)
BBSRC-NSF/SBE Application Guidance (DOCX, 66KB)
We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:
Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.
Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.
