Funding opportunity

Shaping the future of animal health and welfare

• Opportunity status: Open
• Funders: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• Co-funders: Austrian Science Fund, Belgium’s Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund, Belgium's Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, Belgium’s Research Foundation – Flanders, Innovation Fund Denmark, Estonia's Eesti Teadusagentuur, Finland's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, French National Research Agency, Germany's Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Germany's Federal Office for Agriculture and Food, Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Italy's Ministry of Health, Latvian Council of Science, Research Council of Lithuania, , Lithuania's Ministry of Agriculture, Netherland's Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Research Council of Norway, Portugal's Foundation for Science and Technology, Romania's National Authority for Research, Romania's National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information, Spanish State Research Agency, Spain's Centre for the Development of Technology and Innovation, Türkiye's General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye, UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
• Funding type: Grant
• Total fund: £3,750,000
• Maximum award: £730,000
• Publication date: 26 January 2026
• Opening date: 26 January 2026 8:00am UK time
• Closing date: 30 March 2026 11:00am UK time

Apply for funding to advance sustainable, resilient, and ethically responsible livestock and aquaculture systems across Europe.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding.

BBSRC will fund the UK parts of international collaborative projects in animal welfare and prevention and control.

Your application must include a UK team and at least two eligible partners from at least two different member country co-funders.

Partner research organisations will be funded by corresponding national agencies.

Projects can cost up to £730,000 full economic cost, with BBSRC funding 80% for a duration of 36 months.

How to apply

Pre-proposal submission process

Full information on the submission process can be found on the European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare (EUPAH&W) submission portal.

Funding opportunity documents are also available on the portal.

Applications not submitted through the EUPAH&W website cannot be retained for review.

The UKRI Funding Service will not be opened to receive pre-proposals for this opportunity.

We recommend that you start your application early with your non-UK partners.

You should check eligibility queries with the UK funding contact points (FCPs).

We strongly encourage you to contact BBSRC and Defra FCPs before submitting an application.

The final allocation of the UK funder (BBSRC or Defra) will be determined at office level.

Full proposals

Full proposal submission will be by invitation via the EUPAH&W portal.

Further details will be provided to the invited project leads.

Deadline

You must submit your pre-proposal application by 30 March 2026, midday (Central European Summer Time, Berlin, Germany) or 11:00am UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your application contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

Office of the second EUPAH&W call

Contact the office for:

• questions related to this specific funding opportunity
• technical issues regarding the proposal pre-registration and submission

Email: ptj-pahw@fz-juelich.de

BBSRC contact

Email: europe@bbsrc.ukri.org