Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Co-funders:
The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
Funding type:
Grant
Maximum award:
£35,000
Publication date:
15 July 2025
Opening date:
15 July 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
Open - no closing date
FAPPA pump-priming awards supported by BBSRC and FAPESP are for BBSRC-supported researchers and consortia of academics. Applications must be made by a project lead who is currently in receipt of relevant BBSRC research funding.
Funding of up to £35,000 over two years is available. Full economic costing (FEC) at 80% is applied to any direct research component of these awards, and travel, subsistence and other collaborative activities are funded at 100% FEC. Brazilian counterparts should apply for equivalent funding directly from FAPESP.
You should apply at least 12 weeks before the start of your project.
To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. .
Who is eligible to apply
You can apply for support if you are:
* a holder of a current Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) research grant
* a researcher in a BBSRC strategically supported institute working on projects supported through the Institute Core Grant Awards (for example, Institute Strategic Programme Grants, Core Capability Grants, National Bioscience Research Infrastructures)
* applicants must meet standard BBSRC eligibility rules
The application must be made by a project lead, but the project lead does not have to be the one travelling. Any questions relating to the eligibility of UK applicants should be directed to the BBSRC international mailbox:
You can only apply after your BBSRC grant has started, and there must be at least six months remaining on your project from the start of the FAPPA Award.
Applications must indicate the benefit of the collaboration to:
* the UK applicant’s BBSRC funding and UK science generally
* the São Paulo based collaborators’ State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) funding and Brazilian science generally
Who is not eligible to apply
Students are not eligible to apply
International applicants
These awards are funded jointly with the project lead in São Paulo. The Brazilian applicant must be currently in receipt of a FAPESP research grant as a project lead or project co-lead. Brazilian counterparts should contact directly for current eligibility advice.
On behalf of both sides of the collaboration, the UK applicants must submit a single joint application to BBSRC, which will have a budget request to BBSRC for the UK partners and a budget request to FAPESP for the São Paulo based researchers. BBSRC will contact FAPESP, and a joint decision will be made on funding.
Sao Paulo researchers also need to submit the same proposal to FAPESP via the alongside all other requested documents.
FAPESP’s guidelines for São Paulo-based researchers can be found at .
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are 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:
* career breaks
* support for people with caring responsibilities
* flexible working
* alternative working patterns
UKRI can offer during the application and assessment process.
Scope
This award is for Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded research groups to pump-prime interactions with State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) scientists in Brazil.
Duration
The duration of this award is a maximum of two years.
You should apply at least 12 weeks before the start of your project.
Funding available
Funding of up to £35,000 is available.
FEC at 80% is applied to any direct research component of these awards, and travel, subsistence and other collaborative activities are funded at 100% FEC. Please include a breakdown of these requested costs that are to be made at 100% FEC under ‘exceptions’, in the justification of resources on the UKRI Funding Service. Brazilian counterparts should apply for equivalent funding directly from FAPESP.
For all costs, applicants should ask for the full value of the activities that they wish to undertake and the BBSRC allocation will be calculated automatically.
What we will fund
Funding of up to £35,000 is available for travel and subsistence and other collaborative activities, such as workshops or exchanges.
Funding may be used to support a modest level of direct research costs, including consumables and access to specialist equipment to support research to gather preliminary data to support new applications under the UKRI/ FAPESP Agreement. These direct research costs may not account for more than 50% of the total value requested from BBSRC.
What we will not fund
Funding cannot be used for:
* salary costs
* overheads
* equipment costs
Support available for people with caring responsibilities
BBSRC applicants are allowed to request additional care costs as part of a FAPPA proposal. These may cover the additional care requirements for visits, meetings and overseas travel undertaken as part of the supported activity. Costs which form part of someone’s normal care arrangements must not be included and making arrangements for the care to be provided is the responsibility of the carer themselves. Costs should be reasonable and outlined in the directly incurred costs section of the application. Funds for supporting people with caring responsibilities should form part of the overall budget envelope.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the and the .
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UK Research and Innovation (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 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, 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.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email
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 funding 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.
3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
* provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
* insert each new image on a new line
* use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
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 may be rejected if you include:
* sentences or paragraphs of text
* tables
* excessive quantities of images
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
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:
* references are easily identifiable by the assessors
* references are formatted as appropriate to your research
* persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
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.
Deadline
You must submit your application at least 12 weeks before you intend to travel. Due to systems requirements a closing date will appear on the Funding Service approximately a year from when this opportunity opened.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (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 .
BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with FAPESP so that they can participate in the assessment process. More information on .
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
* individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
* declaration of interest
* additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
* conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
* the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read .
Publication of outcomes
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the .
Summary
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:
* opinion-formers
* policymakers
* the public
* the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
* context
* the challenge the project addresses
* aims and objectives
* potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* specialist
* technician
* researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead.
The project lead should be the named individual on an existing BBSRC research grant. This individual does not need to be the one travelling.
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.