Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Co-funders:
São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Taiwan
Funding type:
Grant
Total fund:
£1,000,000
Maximum award:
£100,000
Publication date:
30 April 2026
Opening date:
5 May 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
16 July 2026 4:00pm UK time
Apply for funding to create new and sustainable global partnerships within NERC remit.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for NERC funding and in a role that meets the individual eligibility requirements.
Applications must:
* include at least one new international partner
* focus on activities that require international expertise
* show long-term potential
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £100,000. NERC will fund 80% of the FEC.
We will fund your project for up to two years.
Applications including partners in Brazil or Taiwan may be eligible for co-funding from FAPESP or NSTC, respectively.
Who can apply
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. .
Before applying for funding, .
Who is eligible to apply
This funding opportunity is open to research groups and individuals. We:
* encourage multidisciplinary research and collaborations with other UK organisations
* welcome applications from individuals at any career stage, subject to NERC eligibility criteria
Who is not eligible to apply
You can only submit one application as either project lead or project co-lead.
You must not:
* resubmit applications
* apply as project leads and project co-leads (previously principal investigators and co-investigators) in two consecutive years
* hold an active Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund grant either as project lead or project co-lead at the time of the closing date
International researchers
You should include all international collaborators, including your new international partner(s), (and UK partners not based at approved organisations) within the ‘Project partner’ section, not within your core team. This includes organisations from the business or financial sectors.
Project partners fund their own involvement. We will only fund travel and subsistence of a maximum of £15,000 for international project partners. This is funded at 100% FEC.
Project partners in Brazil or Taiwan eligible for funding from FAPESP or NSTC respectively can receive funding from these funding organisations. Further details are included in ‘What we are looking for’.
For this funding opportunity, the International Project Co-Lead Policy does not apply. Read more about this in the .
Equality, diversity and inclusion
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
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) can offer for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
What we're looking for
Demand management
Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.
Scope
The Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund (GPSF) enables UK researchers to develop new international partnerships and networks, which underpin the development of long-term sustainable collaborations.
Developing new international partnerships and networks within natural environment science supports the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) mission of advancing knowledge, improving lives and driving growth. New international partnerships support curiosity driven research across the globe to better understand our planet and to leverage expertise and build bigger collaborative projects. By understanding our planet within a changing climate and changing human interactions with our environment, we are able to drive growth which is sustainable and long-term.
Proposed collaborations within this GPSF programme may involve international research partners from any country and in any .
Although the majority of the application should lie within NERC remit, environmental science-led multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations with international partners are welcomed.
The aim of the GPSF is to support development of partnerships that are:
* international (from any country)
* new (partners you have not collaborated with previously)
* long-term (that will be self-sustaining beyond the lifetime of the grant)
While some exploratory elements are expected, your application must include specific scientific objectives. Your vision and approach should be developed alongside your international partnership to advance areas of science that could not be achieved from working with UK partners.
You should ensure there is an even balance between partnership building activities and direct research, considering the key objectives of the funding opportunity.
Supported activities may include but are not limited to:
* programmes of exchange visits or staff secondments
* establishing networks on a common research area
* scoping, feasibility or proof of concept studies
* workshops
New collaborations may enable UK researchers and international partners to share:
* skills
* unique or complementary data
* infrastructure
* field sites
In all cases, activities must be undertaken with the clear and demonstrable intention of developing long-term sustainable collaborations.
New partnerships
We are often asked what constitutes a ‘new’ partnership for the purposes of this funding opportunity and have developed the following guidance:
* neither you nor your primary project partner should be the lead author on a peer-reviewed paper where the other is a co-author (as lead author we consider you will have worked directly with everyone on the paper)
* you shouldn’t have co-authored in any capacity more than two papers together (we consider that more than this suggests you work in the same groups regularly and therefore can partner without the support of GPSF)
* you should not have received funding for any joint project together previously
* you should not be partnering with someone who you worked in the same lab or department previously
* you should not partner with your PhD supervisor or student
Note, this does not cover all scenarios, panel members assess this based on their own judgement under the principles of peer review assessment. Nor will we consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Some partnerships will fall outside these boundaries and will still not be considered new on final assessment. Our decision is final and there is no appeal.
International partners
The inclusion of one or more international project partners is mandatory. They should be included within the ‘Project partner’ section and not your core team.
To maximise the quality of the activity and its potential to develop long-term sustainable partnerships, international project partners must have an integral role in the proposed work.
You can work with project partners from any country around the globe, outside the UK.
You should note the following when considering potential partners:
* the international partner should bring expertise that is not available within the UK
* the quality of partnerships should be the primary criteria rather than the number of international partners
* while existing long-standing international partners are welcome to participate, the application must primarily involve developing new international project partnerships
UKRI believes freedom to work without fear of reprisals is essential and international collaboration is vital in addressing the global challenges we all face.
However, you are strongly encouraged to consider the current geopolitical environment and any conflict situations that may affect your ability to develop a partnership with your international partner. The GPSF team will be pleased to consult specifically on questions arising in this area. See ‘Contact details’ and get in touch.
Details of the project partners and their contributions to the project must be recorded in the appropriate sections of the application.
Applications with international partners in São Paulo, Brazil
This funding opportunity will accept joint applications with researchers in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, under the terms of the UKRI-São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) lead agency agreement (PDF, 260KB). Eligible Brazilian project partners can receive funding support from FAPESP.
You should refer to the and:
* include ‘NERC-FAPESP’ as a prefix to your application title
* include your Brazilian investigator as a project partner in the application question on project partners. The project partner contribution should be the budget requested from FAPESP
* register under FAPESP’s SAGe system
* attach the FAPESP submission (SAGe ‘Visualise’) in the question ‘FAPESP or NSTC joint funding’
.
Applications with international partners in Taiwan
This funding opportunity will accept joint applications with researchers from Taiwan under the NERC-National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan (NSTC) memorandum of understanding. Eligible Taiwanese project partners can receive funding support from NSTC.
You should refer to the and:
* include ‘NERC-NSTC’ as a prefix to your application title
* include your Taiwanese investigator as a project partner in the application question on project partners. The project partner contribution should be the budget requested from NSTC
* attach the completed as a PDF in the question ‘FAPESP or NSTC joint funding’
.
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.
Duration
The duration of this award is a maximum of 24 months.
Projects must start by 1 February 2027.
Funding available
The FEC of your project can be up to £100,000.
NERC will fund 80% of the FEC with the following exception; a maximum of £15,000 towards your international partners’ travel and subsistence costs during visits or exchanges.
All travel and subsistence for international project partners will be payable at 100% of actual costs. For projects seeking support from FAPESP or NSTC, you may still use this allowance, or part of it. However, you should carefully consider and make clear which costs are supported by NERC and why.
What we will not fund
We will not fund:
* PhD studentship costs
* conference attendance, including registration fees and associated travel and subsistence costs
* requests for equipment of £25,000 and over are not part of this funding opportunity. You should request smaller items of equipment (under £25,000 individually) under ‘Consumables (other directly incurred costs)’ in your application
* standard office computing equipment
* all international project partner costs, such as, salary and estates costs, except for travel and subsistence up to £15,000
Services and facilities
You can apply to use a facility or resource in your funding application.
You should discuss your application with the facility or service at least two months before the funding opportunity’s closing date to:
* discuss the proposed work in detail
* receive confirmation that they can provide the services required within the timeframe of the funding
The facility will provide a technical assessment that includes the calculated cost of providing the service. NERC services and facilities must be costed within the limits of the funding.
You should not submit the technical assessment with the application, but you must confirm you have received it.
For more information, see the .
Read the full list of .
High Performance Computing (HPC) and the large research facilities at Harwell have their own policies for access and costing.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the and the .
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
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.
, including where you can find additional support.
Data management
You must adhere to and and complete the ‘Data management and sharing’ question.
For details of data centres, see the .
We will pay the data centre directly on behalf of the programme for archival and curation services, but you should ensure that you request sufficient resource to cover preparation of data for archiving by the research team. Additional services from the data centres, such as database development or a specialist in project data management during your project, will need to be discussed with the relevant data centre prior to submission, costs for additional services will need to be funded from your grant.
Responsible research
Through our funding processes, we seek to make a positive contribution to society and the environment. This is not just through research outputs and outcomes but through the way in which research is conducted and facilities managed.
All NERC grant holders are to adopt responsible research practices as set out in the .
Responsible research is defined as reducing harm or enhancing benefit on the environment and society through effective management of research activities and facilities. Specifically, this covers:
* the natural environment
* the local community
* equality, diversity and inclusion
You should consider the responsible research context of your project, not the host institution as a whole. You should take action to enhance your responsible research approach where practical and reasonable.
How to apply
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 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.
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:
* 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 will 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.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the .
Deadline
NERC must receive your application by 16 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
NERC, 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 .
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
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read .
Institutional matched funding
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.
Publication of outcomes
NERC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at .
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
* how you will develop your new partnership with your international partner(s)
* 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
* grant manager
* professional enabling staff
* research and innovation associate
* technician
* visiting researcher
* researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead.
Your international project partner(s) should not be listed in your core team but should instead be named in the ‘Project partner’ section and their role included in all other relevant sections (vision, approach, applicant and team capability to deliver, international partnerships).
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.