In 2024 the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), launched the BBSRC-NERC Doctoral Landscape Awards, which will provide studentship funding to train the next generation of researchers in the environmental sciences.
This marked an important step in UKRI’s transition to a collective talent funding model.
NERC will fund 14 new Doctoral Landscape Awards from this opportunity.
Together, BBSRC and NERC will invest £293 million in more than 2,300 studentships at 21 universities across five cohorts.
Read about the BBSRC-funded Doctoral Landscape Awards
Successful NERC awards
The successful NERC awards include:
- BBSRC-NERC joint Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA), joint award
- NERC Addressing the Challenges of Changing Environments (ACCE+)
- NERC ARIES: Advanced Research and Innovation in the Environmental Sciences
- NERC: Central England NERC Training Alliance 3 (CENTA3)
- NERC Climate system and biodiversity science for Challenges, Risks, and Opportunities – Collaborating in Understanding and Solutions (CROCUS)
- NERC CREATES: Cambridge Research Experience and Advanced Training for Environmental Scientists
- NERC Edinburgh Earth, Ecology and Environment Engagement (E5) DLA
- NERC ExaGEO: Exascale computing for Earth, Environmental, and Sustainability Solutions
- NERC GW4+ Doctoral Landscape Training Partnership (DLTP)
- NERC, Iapetus DLA: delivering excellence in interdisciplinary PhD training for future leaders in environmental science
- NERC IGNITE: Enabling next generation environmental research and innovation
- NERC Yorkshire Environmental Science Doctoral Training Network (YES.DTN)
- Queen’s University Belfast and University of Aberdeen Research and Training in Life and Environmental Sciences (QUARTILES), joint award
- Training, Research and Equity in Environmental Sciences (TREES) Doctoral Landscape Award
Ask a question about the Doctoral Landscape Awards
If you have any questions around the BBSRC-NERC Doctoral Landscape Awards, email bbsrc.nerc.landscape@ukri.org.
Last updated: 4 November 2025