The BBSRC Follow-on Fund (FoF) 2026 Round One is a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council that bridges the gap between bioscience research and real-world commercial or societal application. Eligible applicants must be based at a UK research organisation with standard BBSRC eligibility, and applications must draw substantially on current or previous BBSRC-supported funding.

Awards cover defined work programmes of up to two years, with BBSRC funding 80% of the full economic cost. The maximum full economic cost is up to £800,000 per award. The application deadline was March 31, 2026.

International researchers are not eligible.

BBSRC Follow-on Fund: 2026 round one – UKRI Funding opportunity: BBSRC Follow-on Fund: 2026 round one Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Award range: £100,000 - £800,000 27 January 2026 9:00am UK time 31 March 2026 4:00pm UK time Last updated: 6 March 2026 - see all updates Apply to Follow-on Fund (FoF) to bridge the gap between bioscience research and achieving economic and societal benefit.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funding. FoF applications must draw substantially on current or prior BBSRC funding. FoF awards progress discoveries to a stage where the route to practical application is clear.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £800,000. BBSRC will fund 80% of the FEC. FoF awards support defined programmes of work for up to two years.

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible . To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation and meet standard eligibility requirements.

Check if you’re eligible for funding . In order to be eligible for FoF, your application must have a direct link to current or previous BBSRC-supported funding. Who is not eligible to apply International researchers are not eligible.

Applications with no prior link to BBSRC funding are not eligible. 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 UK Research and Innovation applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

The aim of our FoF is to help researchers maximise the commercial, economic, and societal benefits of their research. The BBSRC FoF is designed to enable researchers, with a sound understanding of the market opportunity of their intellectual assets, to execute a defined programme of work that has clear objectives.

Projects considered through this programme must: draw upon current or previous BBSRC supported research, or other type of BBSRC research investment, or both enable research outputs to be further developed into practical application to deliver benefit and impact We support both early-stage projects aimed at de-risking innovative ideas and later-stage projects that encompass significant technical milestones.

It is recognised that smaller scale, in particular early-stage, projects may not require the full word count allowance for each application section. Successful applications may be invited to apply for additional market discovery support delivered in collaboration with the Innovate UK ICURe programme . FoF projects must seek to provide demonstrable benefit within the UK.

Project outcomes may also provide benefits within international markets, provided that the primary aim is to deliver significant benefit to the UK. The FoF does not support Official Development Assistance (ODA) activity. Projects that primarily aim to promote or specifically target economic development or welfare outcomes in ODA-eligible countries and territories are not eligible for funding.

We will check applications to ensure their alignment with the designated scope, and we retain the authority to reject applications that are considered to be out of scope before assessment by the Follow-on Fund (FoF) Committee. Our decision to decline applications in this circumstance will be final and is not subject to appeal.

If an application is declined for assessment, then you will be provided with feedback to support the development of your future applications. Applications to the FoF must be within the remit of BBSRC . If you have any questions or concerns regarding the remit of your proposed project, please see the ‘Contact details’ section.

We check applications to ensure their alignment with our remit and we retain the authority to reject applications considered out of remit before assessment by the FoF Committee. Our decision to decline applications in this circumstance will be final and is not subject to appeal. If an application is declined for assessment, then you will be provided with feedback to support the development of your future applications.

We may share applications with other UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) councils to consider remit and direct you to the most appropriate council. Involvement of industry and users as project partners is strongly encouraged. Applications which do not have project partners are expected to clearly articulate how industry and users have shaped the project to date and how they will be engaged in the future development of the project.

Project partners who wish to access foreground intellectual property (IP) generated during the project must make either a cash or in-kind contribution or a combination of both. Project partner contributions must fully comply with the guidance in the ‘Project partners’ section. If you are interested in including investors as project partners, please contact the FoF team ( fof@bbsrc.

ukri. org ) to discuss this further. The FoF applicant webinar will be held on the 10 February 2026 1:00pm to 2:00pm UK time.

To register for this webinar, please see the ‘Additional information’ section. We will also provide a link to the recording of the webinar for those unable to attend. The duration of this award is a maximum of two years.

The FEC of your project can be up to £800,000. BBSRC will fund 80% of the FEC. We aim to support Follow-on Fund award-holders to successfully progress towards impact as part of a wider vision to build and strengthen pathways for bioscience translation.

We may contact award-holders to make invitations to participate in opportunities ranging from support for skills development and training, networking and engagement events, dissemination and communication activities, and access additional support to help maximise the impact of your project.

FoF grant applications must demonstrate that the proposed work programme: is based on a sound understanding of the market need and opportunity that its product, service or technology aims to satisfy is robust and designed to optimise the commercial, economic, and societal benefit derived from the grant has a substantial link to BBSRC funding Applications to FoF should have a primary focus on the translation of research or knowledge, or both.

The following examples would be ineligible: projects focused solely on delivering training new research or extending an existing research grant applied or contract research conducted on behalf of commercial organisations applications outside of our remit applications outside of the scope of FoF supporting the direct costs associated with applying for intellectual property (IP) protection, for example patent filing 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 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.

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. Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page: Confirm you are the project lead. 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. 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. 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 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 . BBSRC must receive your application by 31 March 2026 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.

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 fof@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 UKRI Gateway to Research . If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research . 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: the wider research community Guidance for writing a summary Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of: the challenge the project addresses potential applications and benefits List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) 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 .

What is the background to this application, including the direct link to current or previous BBSRC funding, and the technical development work that has preceded?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide a brief overview of the background to this application including: the key grants (and funders) that have enabled and informed the work proposed in the application, specifying any previous BBSRC grant references details of the development steps that have progressed the research or innovation to this translation stage how the proposed work contributes to BBSRC’s research portfolio and priorities Within this section we also expect you to: identify if the application is a resubmission (including invited resubmission) and how the proposed work has developed reference any other correspondence with us relevant to and regarding the application Within this section you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further instructions are provided within the Funding Service. References may be included within this section. Opportunity and market analysis What is the opportunity you are looking to exploit, or what challenge will your project address?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how your proposed work: has the potential to address a business need, technological challenge, or exploit a market opportunity could lead to the development or deployment of a new or improved product, service, or technology is timely given current trends and context meets the needs of potential users or customers is resilient to changing external circumstances and consumer behaviours impacts positively on society, the economy or the environment Within this section we also expect you to: identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be Within this section you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further instructions are provided within the Funding Service. You can use the upload file function to provide directly relevant excerpts of market research reports. This must be no longer than 10 sides of A4 in Arial 11pt and uploaded as a PDF of no more than 8MB.

Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application. References may be included within this section. How would your proposed project progress the innovation towards its intended user(s) or market(s)?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how you have designed your approach so that it: includes plans for the innovation to reach its intended market or users is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives is feasible and is supported by technical, research or scientific evidence comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts identifies any support required post-award to deliver the solution such as access to other networks or further funding Within the Route to market section, we also expect you to: demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposal provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan, including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or similar (additional one-page A4) describe how the proposed work will inform or deploy the product, service or technology using the most appropriate route to market Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application.

Intellectual property (IP) management and communication What is your IP exploitation plan?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Evidence of your plans to: manage the outputs of the project, including any intellectual assets and intellectual property and its protection (if applicable) protect the foreground IP or market position disseminate and communicate the outputs of your project in a timely manner without compromising future IP protection access potential future investments, if required Include any intellectual property rights (IPR) if appropriate.

If your IPR is a patent, please include the patent number or numbers along with a summary scope of the claims. We recognise that not all applications to the FoF will have a patent or other IPR. Additional guidance for applicants with project partners Project partners seeking pre-negotiated access to foreground intellectual property (IP) must contribute a minimum of 50% total project costs.

Project partners seeking to secure the right to negotiate access to foreground IP at the end of the award must contribute a minimum of 10% total project costs. This contribution can be cash or in-kind contribution or a combination of both. Empty shell companies (no investment, staff, or premises) formed for the sole purpose of commercialising foreground IP generated during the project are exempt from contributing project costs.

You are advised against the direct assignment of foreground IP to a newly formed spin-out company. Instead, option agreements should be utilised until the spin-out has secured enough funding to drive the translation of foreground IP, when a substantive agreement should be executed. You must clearly justify why your chosen approach is the best for your foreground IP within the relevant sections of the application.

We reserve the right to request further information on IP management plans and IP rights of third parties should your application be recommended for funding. Please use our Project Partner Contribution Calculator (XLSX, 32KB) to check that contributions meet the minimum requirements. This can also be found in the ‘Supporting documents’ section.

We may decline to accept applications for assessment where project partners seeking access to foreground IP do not meet the stated thresholds for the project partner contributions. If you are interested in including investors as project partners, please contact the FoF team at fof@bbsrc. ukri.

org to discuss this further. Beyond the commercial opportunity, what are the potential societal, environmental, and economic benefits of the proposed approach? What the assessors are looking for in your response explain why public funding is appropriate and essential for the proposed programme of work, including why private investment cannot, or will not enable this consider the potential impact on high-level societal challenges.

For example, gender equality, diversity, social inclusion, and climate change outline any wider economic impacts. For example, job creation, skills, and capacity building describe the steps you will take to maximise any potential benefits References may be included within this section. Your organisation’s support Provide details of support from your research organisation.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide a statement of support from your research organisation detailing how they will support you, as the applicant, and your proposed activities. This should include details of any matched funding that will be provided to support the activity and any additional support that might add value to the work.

Assessors will be looking for a strong statement of support from your research organisation. This information should have been approved for submission by an appropriate institutional authority. BBSRC encourages Follow-on Fund applicants to seek this support letter from their Technology Transfer Office (TTO) or equivalent.

You must also include the following details: a significant person’s name, their position and office or department, or all office address or web link Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application. Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or facilities.

Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.

Add the following project partner details: the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable) the project partner contact name and email address the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made. Additional guidance for applicants with project partners Project partners seeking pre-negotiated access to foreground intellectual property (IP) must contribute a minimum of 50% total project costs.

Project partners seeking to secure the right to negotiate access to foreground IP at the end of the award must contribute a minimum of 10% total project costs. This contribution can be cash or in-kind contribution or a combination of both. Empty shell companies (no investment, staff, or premises) formed for the sole purpose of commercialising foreground IP generated during the project are exempt from contributing project costs.

You are advised against the direct assignment of foreground IP to a newly formed spin-out company. Instead, option agreements should be utilised until the spin-out has secured enough funding to drive the translation of foreground IP, when a substantive agreement should be executed. You must clearly justify why your chosen approach is the best for your foreground IP within the relevant sections of the application.

We reserve the right to request further information on IP management plans and IP rights of third parties should your application be recommended for funding. Please use our Project Partner Contribution Calculator (XLSX, 32KB) to check that contributions meet the minimum requirements. This can also be found in the ‘Supporting documents’ section.

We may decline to accept applications for assessment where project partners seeking access to foreground IP do not meet the stated thresholds for the project partner contributions. If you are interested in including investors as project partners, please contact the FoF team at fof@bbsrc. ukri.

org to discuss this further. Project partners: letters (or emails) of support Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the project partners section. What the assessors are looking for in your response Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’.

Each letter or email you provide should: confirm the partner’s commitment to the project clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them describe any additional value that they bring to the project state if project partners wish to access foreground intellectual property (IP) generated during the project fully justify project partner contributions have a page limit of two sides A4 per partner All project partners that propose to make either a cash or in-kind contribution or a combination of both must provide a justification for the value of their planned contributions and summarise how those contributions add value to the overall project.

Applications without project partners must use the text box to clearly articulate how industry, users or both have contributed to the development of the project to date and how they will be engaged in the future progress of the project. The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the project partners section. For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Additional guidance for applicants with project partners Project partners seeking pre-negotiated access to foreground intellectual property (IP) must contribute a minimum of 50% total project costs. Project partners seeking to secure the right to negotiate access to foreground IP at the end of the award must contribute a minimum of 10% total project costs. This contribution can be cash or in-kind contribution or a combination of both.

Empty shell companies (no investment, staff, or premises) formed for the sole purpose of commercialising foreground IP generated during the project are exempt from contributing project costs. Applicants are advised against the direct assignment of foreground IP to a newly formed spin-out company.

Instead, option agreements should be utilised until the spin-out has secured enough funding to drive the translation of foreground IP, when a substantive agreement should be executed. You must clearly justify why your chosen approach is the best for your foreground IP within the relevant sections of the application.

We reserve the right to request further information on IP management plans and IP rights of third parties should your application be recommended for funding. Please use our Project Partner Contribution Calculator (XLSX, 32KB) to check that contributions meet the minimum requirements. This can also be found in the ‘Supporting documents’ section.

We may decline to accept applications for assessment where project partners seeking access to foreground IP do not meet the stated thresholds for the project partner contributions. If you are interested in including investors as project partners, please contact the FoF team at fof@bbsrc. ukri.

org to discuss this further. Applicant and team capability to deliver Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

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 describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, innovation environment (in terms of the place, its location, reputation, and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the R4RI format to 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. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work. Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed.

Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI .

You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings: contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships contributions to the wider research and innovation community contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit Provide any further details relevant to your application.

This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them). Complete this as a narrative.

Do not format it like a CV. References may be included within this section. The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Ethics and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) What are the ethical and RRI considerations, implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated: the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, while minimising unintended negative