2026 to 2027 strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) outlines

2026 to 2027 strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) outlines is sponsored by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). 2026 to 2027 strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) outlines. Funding opportunity from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Apply via the UKRI portal.

2026 to 2027 strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) outlines – UKRI Funding opportunity: 2026 to 2027 strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) outlines Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 16 April 2026 9:00am UK time 25 June 2026 4:00pm UK time Apply for funding to undertake large team-based curiosity-driven bioscience discovery research projects.

Your project should demonstrate: the potential for major breakthroughs in our fundamental understanding of living systems a fully integrated team science approach the need for longer and larger scale funding enhancing the capability and capacity of UK biosciences The full economic cost of your project must be over £2 million. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) will fund 80% of the full economic cost.

Projects can be up to five years in duration. This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible .

This funding opportunity is open to teams of eligible researchers at: higher education institutions research council institutes approved independent research organisations public sector research establishments A single project lead, who will be the main contact for BBSRC, must be designated as the project lead for administrative purposes.

Project lead and co-lead eligibility There is no requirement for project leads nor project co-leads to have held a similar sized award before. We regard this programme as an important means for developing research careers and we welcome applications which involve early and mid-career researchers eligible for BBSRC funding as project lead or project co-lead.

We expect the leadership of the project for this funding opportunity to be adequately and responsibly resourced. The intellectual leadership and overall management of the project (including work packages or staff) may be shared with any number of project co-leads at any number of eligible research organisations as part of a team science endeavour, with roles clearly specified in the application.

Project or grant managers We encourage the inclusion of a project or grant manager in the core team of all sLoLa applications. This is to provide support to the leadership team in day-to-day project coordination, tracking of progress and resource management. Please see ‘Project or grant manager guidance’ in ‘Additional information’ under Supporting documents for further information.

Research technical professionals Building on the Technician Commitment UKRI Action Plan and the UKRI people and teams action plan , we encourage the inclusion of research technical professionals in the ‘Core team’ section including as project co-leads where appropriate. You do not need to list project partners and their contributions for outline submission.

If invited to submit a full stage application and if applicable, you should add them in the required section to your application. A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU. Please see Roles in funding applications: eligibility, responsibilities and costings guidance for more information. Who is not eligible to apply Multiple applications with the same project lead are not permitted within the same funding round.

Project leads of currently active sLoLa awards may not apply as a project leads in this funding round, unless their grant is in its final year. Individuals based at an international organisation are not eligible to be a member of the core team as they are not eligible for BBSRC funding for this opportunity .

International collaborators can be added as project partners on an application, please see Roles in funding applications: eligibility, responsibilities and costings guidance for more information. Equality, diversity and inclusion 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: support for people with caring responsibilities alternative working patterns 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, 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.

Bioscience discovery research Projects must be focused on delivering conceptual advances and fundamental understanding of biological systems. Projects are expected to generate new fundamental biological knowledge of broad and long-term significance, changing how we think about bioscience within and likely transcending their immediate fields.

They should have the potential to make transformational, not incremental, contributions to our understanding of the principles which govern biological processes and systems, thereby contributing to our understanding of important ‘rules of life’. Projects must be primarily within BBSRC remit and can investigate ideas within or across any scale of biological organisation from molecules to organisms and populations.

We particularly encourage applications which take multimodal and multiscale approaches, integrating data-driven and experimental approaches from different bioscience disciplines. Projects will typically use cutting-edge technologies, methods and approaches to explore the frontiers of the topic under investigation.

We encourage applications that incorporate development of state-of-the-art technology that will unlock new opportunities to revolutionise the discovery of novel biological knowledge. Applications that are not principally designed to deliver new fundamental bioscience knowledge are unsuitable and likely to be excluded at outlines (stage one).

Examples of unsuitable applications include those where the primary aim is to apply knowledge to tackle contemporary socio-economic challenges related to end-user driven objectives from within industry or sustainable development goals.

Through an original and fully integrated research project, your idea must have the potential to lead to a major new contribution to biological knowledge, commensurate with the longer and larger scale of support provided.

Your application must provide a clear justification for the necessity of the longer and larger scale of funding through the sLoLa scheme, to the extent that the work could not be undertaken through several separate smaller awards, either in parallel or in series.

Your application must include a clear strategy for the integration of data and results generated such that the overall outcomes of the project are substantively different from the outcomes of individual work packages. Your application must demonstrate overall coherence, connectivity, coordination and integration of the work to be carried out.

This includes how the team will deliver substantively different and synergistic outcomes than could be achieved through the efforts of individual members or their research groups working in isolation. Applications that lack a clear case for the need of longer and larger scale funding will be at a competitive disadvantage and may be excluded at outlines (stage one).

Your application is expected to assemble a diverse and distinctive team of researchers and other specialists drawn from the full breadth of expertise available across the UK with the collective capability of delivering the proposed work. Typically, this will span several research organisations or departments, or both.

Consideration of equality, diversity and inclusion is important for all applications to BBSRC for funding, and we expect particular care to be taken for larger projects involving multiple co-applicants such as those supported through the sLoLa scheme. You are expected to evaluate and consider these issues from the earliest stage of building your teams through to the delivery and outcomes of awarded projects.

Teams must collectively demonstrate a comprehensive range of scientific, technical, leadership, and management expertise to effectively deliver the proposed work’s scale and complexity. Consideration should be given to how a larger-scale team that may be distributed across multiple sites will communicate and effectively coordinate their work. Applications can include dedicated project management support.

We encourage applicants to adopt distributed leadership and management models to share opportunities and responsibilities across the sLoLa team. Each team member’s unique roles and responsibilities should be clearly outlined and justified. There is no requirement for project leads nor project co-leads to have held a similar sized award before.

However, it should be clear how any individual holding significant scientific, leadership or management responsibilities will be mentored, or otherwise supported by the wider team or institutional environment, including through appropriate development opportunities.

This is particularly important where an individual is stepping into a position with a greater degree of leadership or management responsibility than they have previously held.

We encourage you to consider how your project and resourcing approach will support staff development and provide enhanced opportunities for all team members including: strengthening long term specialist and technical capacity promoting skills development, collaboration and cross-disciplinary working across research groups and institutions build high quality leadership and management capability, including inclusive governance Teams are encouraged to include researchers from the full depth and breadth of the UK’s diverse research and innovation talent pool, including different career pathways and stages.

You should follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment . Most sLoLa projects are expected to generate significant amounts of data, and therefore the key themes outlined in our recent review of data intensive biosciences should be carefully considered when assembling a research team.

The proposed work should establish or significantly enhance an exceptional and unique bioscience research capability in the UK. Projects should lead to significant and distinctive improvements to health and vitality of UK bioscience in the area under investigation, raising its international profile to the point of being recognised as world-leading.

Your application should include consideration of how the proposed research fits with and complements other active UK and international research in the area, or areas, under investigation. We encourage teams to think about public engagement activities from the start of the project and how team members can contribute to this.

Within the sLoLa scheme, you may include well designed and strategically aligned public engagement activities that clearly relate to the proposed research area. You can request the associated costs for these activities, provided they are fully justified and integrated into the overall work plan.

To facilitate the positioning of your application against the wider landscape of research investments, see the list of currently active BBSRC grants over £2 million. This is not an exhaustive account, and you should consult other resources to build and demonstrate your own knowledge of the wider landscape. We take a strategic approach to investments, considering the overall balance of our portfolio in bioscience research.

Applications in areas in which there is already substantial BBSRC, or other UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) research council investment, will be at a competitive disadvantage if significantly overlapping these investments and may be excluded at the outline stages. Particular attention should be paid to existing sLoLa-scale awards or research in areas covered by our institute strategic programme grants.

Work principally outside our remit will be excluded. We encourage multidisciplinary applications, but we strongly advise potential applicants to contact us at bbsrc. lolagrants@bbsrc.

ukri. org before submission if you suspect substantial aspects of the application may be outside our remit. There is no registration stage for this year’s sLoLa funding opportunity.

We expect you to consider the fit of your proposed project to the scope of the funding opportunity prior to submitting an outline proposal. We encourage you to contact us at bbsrc. lolagrants@bbsrc.

ukri. org before submission if there are any concerns or questions whether the proposed project will fit to the sLoLa scheme. The duration of this award is up to five years.

It is anticipated that awarded grants will start in the latter half of the 2027 to 2028 financial year. The full economic cost of your project must be at least £2 million. BBSRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

The total budget is to be confirmed. We typically award up to four sLoLa awards per year, subject to the quality of applications received and the available budget Supporting skills and talent We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment .

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. 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 you can find additional support. Overview of the sLoLa application process The sLoLa funding opportunity comprises two mandatory stages. This is the outline submission phase of the funding opportunity.

Outline submissions – stage one Project leads will provide a detailed summary application describing their proposed sLoLa project idea and team using the UKRI Funding Service. Costs are not requested for outline applications. Full submissions – stage two Stage two is the full proposal stage.

This is only open to applicants who have been invited to submit following assessment of an outline proposal at stage one. Details will be published in November 2026. We are running this funding opportunity on the new 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: Confirm you are the project lead. 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. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.

Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing. 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 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: how applicants use the Funding Service how research offices use the Funding Service how reviewers use the Funding Service 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 use of generative AI in application and assessment . Outlines will open to submissions on 16 April 2026 at 9:00am UK time. BBSRC must receive your outline application by 25 June 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. Full applications – stage two Only applicants who are invited by BBSRC may submit a stage two full application. Stage two is expected to open in November 2026 and to close in February 2027, details will be published in November 2026.

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 .

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email bbsrc. lolagrants@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: individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave) 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 UKRI’s privacy notice .

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.

BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at Awarded research grants . If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research . Guidance for writing a summary Please write ‘N/A’ in this section as it is not required for the outline stage.

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate 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 . Individuals based at an international organisation are not eligible to be a member of the core team as they are not eligible for BBSRC funding for this opportunity . What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how your proposed work: is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s) has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area is timely given current trends, context, and needs impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment is of sufficient novelty and ambition to warrant consideration for funding Within the vision we also expect you to: provide the overall aims and objectives of your research, typically as a small number of bullet points describe your aims in the context of relevant prior work by your team and the wider bioscience research landscape highlight features that are particularly original or unique describe how your application addresses the bioscience discovery research scope of the funding opportunity, in particular its potential to lead to a major advancement in the fundamental understanding of living systems Your project must be within the bioscience discovery research scope of the funding opportunity.

If a full stage proposal is invited, it is expected that the high-level objectives will appear unchanged unless feedback from the outline stage assessment process indicates otherwise. 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. How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how you have designed your approach so that it: is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives meets the highest international standards of research excellence in the scientific area, or areas, covered deploys or develops the most appropriate tools, methods and technologies according to the highest international standards and cutting-edge advances in research leverages the team’s collective capabilities, noting the specific contributions of your team members to achieving each of your objectives leverages the research environment, available facilities and other resources available to your team and how this will contribute to the success of the work Within the approach we also expect you to: clearly outline the role and contribution of project leads and project co-leads to each objective give an overview of anticipated research effort needed to fulfil the programme of work and explain how this will be organised in relation to your objectives and the project leads and project co-leads leading them, as well as technical and research staff include a summary diagram as an image at the very end of this section that provides an overview of your project.

The diagram should identify the key aspects of your programme of work and how they interrelate, including the contribution of team members. Outlines will not be subject to a detailed technical assessment by subject-area experts, but broad feasibility will be considered. The approach should be written with this in mind, so that the information is accessible to a broad panel of experts from a range of different fields.

Your approach should include an overview of how you will tackle the individual objectives, including reference to the experimental and analytical methods, tools, and technologies which will be employed or developed, and what biological system, or systems, will be used. Key synergies or inter-dependencies between objectives which contribute to the delivery of outcomes greater than the sum of individual objectives should be highlighted.

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.

What is the strategic case for an sLoLa grant?

What the assessors are looking for in your response justify why your proposed programme of work requires longer and larger scale funding to achieve its aims describe the synergy across the proposed work, including how the work is more than the ‘sum of its parts’ explain how the project is not achievable through a series of smaller awards nor by individual groups working in isolation explain how the proposed work will establish or extend UK leadership in the field explain the project’s uniqueness including its distinctiveness versus any existing longer and larger scale research endeavours in a national and international context.

This should reference our research portfolio.

Please see supporting information in ‘Additional information’ and Gateway to Research describe plans for ensuring long-term legacy of the project beyond the team such as training, Findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable (FAIR) da ta, software, technologies or other resources generated through the project Outline applicant and team capability to deliver How will the application team deliver the proposed research programme?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have: the relevant experience, appropriate to career stage, to deliver the proposed work the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community contributed to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge.

sLoLa awards are expected to use a variety of experimental techniques and generate a large amount of data, so care should be taken to highlight both experimental and analytical experience directly relevant to the proposed research contributed to the inclusion and development of others contributed to the maintenance of effective working relationships contributed to the wider research and innovation community contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit The core leadership team should consist of the project lead and the project co-leads identified on the outline application.

There will be scope to expand this team and include new collaborators on the full application and you will be able to add further detail. Showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work.

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles. What phrases best describe the science area, or areas, covered in your proposed sLoLa project? What the assessors are looking for in your response Please provide three to five descriptions, such as plant science, cell biology, biophysics, developmental biology, microbiology or structural biology.

This information will be used by BBSRC to understand the portfolio of applications received. What are the main methodologies in your proposed sLoLa project? What the assessors are looking for in your response This could include experimental methods (for example, microscopy or omics) and analytical approaches (for example, computational modelling or artificial intelligence).

This information will be used by BBSRC to better understand the portfolio of applications received. How we will assess your application We will assess your application using the following process. Outline submissions – stage one Outline applications will be assessed by a single multidisciplinary panel, the Strategic LoLa Committee (SLC).

There is no external peer review. The SLC will provide feedback and a recommendation to us regarding which applications to invite to submit a full stage application. Please see ‘Assessment areas’ in the ‘Assessment process’ section for the assessment criteria the SLC will assess applications against.

If you are invited to submit a full stage application, you can make changes to the proposed programme of work and team in response to feedback from the outline stage, but your high-level aims should remain the same.

If you intend to make substantive changes to your high-level aims or objectives such as adding or removing entire objectives or project co-leads, please contact us at least 10 working days prior before submitting your full stage application. For more information on how we prioritise applications for funding please visit How we make decisions . We aim to complete the outline assessment process by late October 2026.

You will receive feedback from the SLC on your outline application. 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 .

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review 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 reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed. The assessment areas we will use are: outline applicant and team capability to deliver Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Get help with your application 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 bbsrc. lolagrants@bbsrc.

ukri. org Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk. Email: support@funding-service.

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