Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage one

Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage one is sponsored by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Funding for research grants focused on future-proofing plants for a changing climate. Proposals must involve UK, US and German researchers.

Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage two – UKRI Funding opportunity: Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage two Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), US National Science Foundation Directorate – Directorate for Biological Sciences (NSF/BIO), National Institute of Food and Agriculture-United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) 23 February 2024 9:00am UK time 22 May 2024 4:00pm UK time Apply for research grant funding towards future proofing plants for a changing climate.

Applicants to Stage 2 must have been invited from Stage 1 of the funding opportunity process. Your proposal must involve researchers based in the UK, USA and Germany. UK applicants must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding.

German investigators must be eligible for DFG funding. USA investigators must be eligible for NSF or USDA-NIFA funding. Applicants may request between: £300,000 to £800,000 (80% full economic cost (FEC)) for the UK component €300,000 to €800,000 for the German component $300,000 to $800,000 for the USA component The duration of your project can be up to three years.

Applicants must have received an invitation to submit a full proposal from Stage 1 of the funding opportunity process. Applications must include a project lead from the UK, Germany, and US. Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation .

For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual . Standard eligibility criteria apply to this funding opportunity, applicants in the UK must meet the BBSRC eligibility requirements .

Institutions and researchers normally eligible for our funding include, but are not limited to: higher education institutions (HEIs) research council institutes (RCIs) approved independent research organisations (IROs) public sector research establishments (PSREs) Applicants in Germany must meet the eligibility requirements of DFGs Individual Research Grants Programme (PDF, 132KB) .

Applicants in the USA must meet eligibility requirements of NSF under the NSF Act of 1950, as amended, and other applicable authority, where applicable, or of USDA-NIFA. Applicants should contact NSF and USDA-NIFA if they have questions about which USA agency is most appropriate. Who is not eligible to apply Applicants not based in the UK, Germany, USA are not eligible to apply.

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 Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI . Climate change is challenging the sustainability and resilience of our agri-food systems, through long-term changes to temperature and rainfall, increased threats due to extreme weather events and shifts in pests and diseases.

Plants overall need to be more resilient and adapt to these threats while crops need to continue meeting the demand for safe and affordable food for a growing population on less land and with greater resource use efficiency, in order to lower the impact on the natural environment. How will international research collaboration help address the challenge?

To address this imminent challenge, we need accelerated approaches in plant sciences translating knowledge across different plant and crop species. This necessitates new ways of working, access to diverse, complementary expertise and greater research coordination across multiple geographical locations and agri-environments to deliver a deeper understanding of the genome-phenome-environment relationship in the context of climate change.

Broad community building and matching of strengths and diverse expertise in research intensive nations can accelerate solutions and leverage upon national research investments. Germany, UK and the USA have world leading capability in plant and crop sciences and together can drive greater coordination of research efforts beyond borders.

Τhe programme will support collaborative research in the three countries with synergies expected to include: a novel route to inter-agency funding, supporting world-leading researcher collaborations across international teams with complementary expertise enabling multidisciplinary research approaches that build on areas of particular country strengths.

For example, UK’s strengths in systems biology and molecular modelling with Germany’s whole organism-level understanding and the US’s capacity to scale up modelling of crops and farming systems providing strategies to close the knowledge gap between the genetic and physiological research at individual plant scale in artificial environments and the farming system level achieving ‘sum of parts’ across complementary national research resources that can be brought to bear in new ways, for example, national facilities, datasets, and biological resources reducing duplication of effort and embedding common data standards to enhance collaboration within the international research community.

delivery of novel tools, methods and approaches that could be disseminated and adopted more broadly across the plant and crop sciences research community access to wider international networks and training opportunities for early career researchers, strengthening national skill sets and enhancing future international leadership and collaboration within and across the three countries Applications are invited for projects within, or combining, the following research areas: From molecules and mechanisms to field performance A multi-scale understanding of model and crop plant physiology has the potential to deliver a step change in our ability to understand genotype x environment interactions and their impact on phenotype.

Integrative research is needed to understand the links between plant genetics, metabolism or physiology, and performance in complex and fluctuating environments.

This requires bringing together observations from multiple scales, including: Areas that will benefit from further research include: development of tools that enable integration of existing plant physiological cellular and genomics knowledge into whole farming systems understanding considering plants in real world contexts for example, the influence of the plant microbiome and plant-soil interactions, where beneficial relationships play a role in plant resilience and resource use efficiency understanding the trade-offs that come from optimising traits in the context of abiotic and biotic challenges, such as water stress or pathogenic threats, and the implications for performance link insights from laboratory studies to field performance of crops Research in this area should seek to develop or harness advances in: other multi-modal technologies With the aim to deliver quantitative insights and potential strategies to optimise plant performance under different conditions, particularly in the field.

The ability to ‘programme’ plants with predictable and novel characteristics and ideotypes suited to specific environments, will provide fresh insights into complex genotype-phenotype relationships and offer innovative solutions for agricultural adaptation to climate change impacts.

Biotechnological and synthetic biology approaches are needed to accelerate plant research in this direction and deliver step-changes in our ability to control plant growth, developmental and stress responses more precisely.

Areas that will benefit from further research include: complex multigenic trait engineering in genomes development of innovative techniques to control chromosome recombination for rapid and efficient implementation of pangenome diversity or crop wild relatives to enhance complex traits, such as encoding resistance to stresses like: engineered approaches to reduce reliance on fertilisers and pesticides (such as nitrogen fixation and microbiome modulation), or enhanced carbon capture (such as improved sequestration in below ground tissues and photosynthetic efficiency) development of new tools and methods that address current bottlenecks in engineering plant systems to accelerate the pipeline of development of rationally engineered plant traits for a changing climate.

For example: The duration of this award is up to three years. We expect funding outcomes will be announced in November 2024. The following funding has been earmarked for the funding opportunity: BBSRC has earmarked £6.

5 million of its budget for this activity, subject to executive approval. Funding will be available for up to 12 research projects, with a duration up to three years DFG have earmarked a budget of €4. 7 million plus 22% overheads (€5.

7 million in total), representing the ability to co-fund up to 12 projects NSF intends to commit up to $8. 6 million over the three years of the programme, subject to the availability of appropriations (NSF-Plant Genome Research Program intends to commit $7 million and NSF-Plant Biotic Interactions intends to commit another $1.

6 million) USDA-NIFA intends to commit up to $2 million for this activity, subject to the availability of appropriations and executive approval All proposals are to adhere to the budget restrictions of the funding opportunity.

These are: UK applicants will adhere to BBSRC’s eligibility rules and guidelines as set out in the BBSRC guidance for applicants German applicants are to adhere to DFG’s eligibility rules US applicants are to adhere to NSF or USDA-NIFA’s eligibility rules. If necessary, NSF and USDA-NIFA will provide guidance on respective funder suitability to USA applicants.

Applicants should contact NSF or USDA-NIFA for advice Proposals should adhere to the following country-specific requirements: UK budget requests should be within the following range £300,000 to £800,000 (at 80% of the project’s FEC) German budget requests should be within the following range €300,000 to €800,000 USA budget requests should be within the following range $300,000 to $800,000 Projects involving cannabis are excluded from this funding opportunity.

Supporting skills and talent We encourage UK teams to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment . Overview of the application process The ‘Future proofing plants for a changing climate’ funding opportunity is comprised of two mandatory stages.

The UK project lead will be responsible for assembling all the information required for each stage from the wider team and this will be submitted using the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service by their research organisation. At each stage of the funding opportunity you will be able to access the corresponding Funding Service page to submit your application using the ‘Start application’ button on this page.

Stage one: expression of interest stage Details on how to submit a stage one application can be found here: Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage one . The full stage is only open to applicants who have been invited to submit following stage one. The deadline for submitting full proposals is 22 May 2024.

The research team will provide a full description of their project idea, people involved, and other information including letters of support, management plans, and full justification of resources using the Funding Service. Separate budgets and budget justifications will be required for each agency. All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant.

Further information on what is required will be provided with the invitation to submit a full proposal following stage one. BBSRC will run this funding opportunity on the new Funding Service on behalf of the involved funding agencies. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

Your team can be led by either UK, German or USA applicants, or may involve co-leads from the three countries. Please indicate roles within your proposal. For administrative purposes, the project lead (lead UK applicant) is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all international team members and project partners to contribute to the application where appropriate.

Only the lead UK research organisation can apply to UKRI, joint submissions involving multiple UK research organisations must be made using the same Funding Service application. 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. Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service .

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 You should ensure you are aware of and follow any deadlines that may be in place within your research organisation. Stage one: expression of interest BBSRC must receive your outline by 6 February 2024 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to submit an expression of interest after this time. Details on how to submit a stage one application can be found here: Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage one . Only applicants who are invited may submit a full stage submission.

The full stage will open shortly after the expression of interest stage closes. BBSRC must receive your full proposal by 22 May 2024 at 4:00pm UK time. You will not be able to submit a full proposal after this time.

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.

DFG must receive a PDF copy of the application that has been submitted to BBSRC full proposal stage, including the CVs and publication lists of the applicants, and the ‘DFG Lead Agency procedure Project Data Form’ within one week after the closing date of the full proposal submission to BBSRC, by 29 May 2024. The German project lead will upload this application to the DFG’s submission portal ‘elan’.

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 .

BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with DFG, NSF and USDA-NIFA so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how NSF uses personal information, visit NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Privacy Act and Public Burden Statements .

In general, all proposals, reviews, and so on are confidential, only the public award abstract is published. 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 .

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so 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) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Only list one individual as project lead.

Find out more about UKRI’s new grant roles . Please provide the following details of the German applicants on this application: role in project (for example, project lead or project co-lead) Please also indicate who the lead German applicant(s) will be. DFG will use this information to confirm applicant eligibility.

Please do not include details of German applicants in the ‘Core team’ section. Please provide the following details of the USA applicants on this application: role in project (for example, project lead or project co-lead) unique entity identifier (UEI). See Sam.

gov for details. Please indicate who the lead USA applicant(s) will be. NSF and USDA-NIFA will use this information to confirm applicant eligibility.

Please do not include details of USA applicants in the ‘Core team’ section. 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 fields or areas 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 demonstrates synergy between the applicants impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment Within your vision you should: describe how your application addresses the ‘future proofing plants to a changing climate’ scope of the funding opportunity 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 how the proposed research complements (and does not overlap with) other research funded in this area internationally highlight features that are particularly original or unique 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 is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable) summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable) will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work describe how the project will be managed to ensure effective working between the investigators and wider team You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the service. Your approach should describe how you will tackle the individual objectives, including reference to the experimental and analytical methods, tools and technologies which will be employed or developed, use of relevant facilities and infrastructures, and what model system, or systems, might be used.

Within the approach we also expect you to: clearly outline the role and contribution of team members to delivering each objective describe key synergies or interdependencies between objectives which contribute to the delivery of outcomes greater than the sum of individual objectives describe key milestones where you may need to make decisions, track, or evaluate progress A project Gantt chart is compulsory and should be inserted as an image at the very end of this section.

The Gantt chart should identify appropriate deliverables, responsibilities, and time points for each objective. Please make sure to check sizing and readability of the image using ‘read view’ prior to submission. List the references you have used to support your application.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions. You should not include any other information in this section. We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.

If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. 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 This section should cover the whole UK-USA-German team.

The word count for this section is 2,000 words: 1,500 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions. Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (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 emphasize 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. For full details, see Eligibility as an individual . Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI) What are the ethical or RRI 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 or responsible research and innovation considerations how you will manage these considerations Information provided here will be reviewed by UKRI and further information may be requested if the proposal is recommended for funding.

Genetic and biological risk Does your proposed research involve any genetic or biological risk?

What the assessors are looking for in your response In respect of animals, plants or microbes, are you proposing to: use genetic modification as an experimental tool, like studying gene function in a genetically modified organism release genetically modified organisms ultimately develop commercial and industrial genetically modified outcomes If yes, provide the name of any required approving body and state if approval is already in place.

If it is not, provide an indicative timeframe for obtaining the required approval. Identify the organism or organisms as a plant, animal or microbe and specify the species and which of the three categories the research relates to. Identify the genetic and biological risks resulting from the proposed research, their implications, and any mitigation you plan on taking.

Assessors will want to know you have considered the risks and their implications to justify that any identified risks do not outweigh any benefits of the proposed research. If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Research involving the use of animals Does your proposed research involve the use of vertebrate animals or other organisms covered by the Animals Scientific Procedures Act?

What the assessors are looking for in your response If you are proposing research that requires using animals, download and complete the Animals Scientific Procedures Act template (DOCX, 74KB) , which contains all the questions relating to research using vertebrate animals or other Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 regulated organisms.

Studies proposing to use non-human primates, cats, dogs, equines or pigs will be assessed during NC3Rs review of research applications. Save it as a PDF. The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service. If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete. Conducting research with animals overseas Will any of the proposed animal research be conducted overseas?

What the assessors are looking for in your response If you are proposing to conduct overseas research, it must be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with those in the UK, as in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research, page 14 . Ensure all named applicants in the UK and overseas are aware of this requirement.

Provide a statement to confirm that: all named applicants are aware of the requirements and have agreed to abide by them this overseas research will be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with the principles of UK legislation the expectation set out in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research will be applied and maintained appropriate national and institutional approvals are in place Overseas studies proposing to use non-human primates, cats, dogs, equines or pigs will be assessed during NC3Rs review of research applications.

Provide the required information by completing the template from the question ‘Research involving the use of animals’. For studies involving other species, select, download, and complete the relevant Word checklist or checklists from this list: Additional questions on the use of rodents overseas (DOCX, 49. 1KB) Additional questions on the use of rabbits overseas (DOCX, 49.

2KB) Additional questions on the use of sheep overseas (DOCX, 50. 9KB) Additional questions on the use of goats overseas (DOCX, 47. 3KB) Additional questions on the use of pigs overseas (DOCX, 51.

4KB) Additional questions on the use of cattle overseas (DOCX, 57. 0KB) Additional questions on the use of Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis overseas (DOCX, 57. 3KB) Save as a PDF.

If you use more than one checklist, save it as a single PDF. If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete. Research involving human participation Will the project involve the use of human subjects or their personal information?

What the assessors are looking for in your response If you are proposing research that requires the involvement of human subjects, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place. Justify the number and the diversity of the participants involved, as well as any procedures. Provide details of any areas of substantial or moderate severity of impact.

If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete. Research involving human tissues or biological samples Does your proposed research involve the use of human tissues, or biological samples? What the assessors are looking for in your response If you are proposing work that involves human tissues or biological samples, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.

Justify the use of human tissue or biological samples specifying the nature and quantity of the material to be used and its source. If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete. Resources and cost justification What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular: significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences) any equipment that will cost more than £10,000 any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities all facilities and infrastructure costs all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’ Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources.

Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work: are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes maximise potential outcomes and impacts This section should be used to discuss and justify UK costs only.

Please use the ‘additional documentation for German applicants’ and ‘additional documentation for USA applicants’ for German and USA budget information. 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 UK research organisation(s) detailing why the proposed work is needed.

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. Upload guidance for the PDF will be provided in the Funding Service. Letters of support from the US and German research organisations are not required for this section.

Additional documentation for German Applicants Please upload a single PDF attachment with the following documents in this order: German budget template and justification of resources using the DFG Lead Agency procedure Project Data Form from the ‘Additional information’ section of the funding opportunity page If a German applicant is requesting a temporary principal investigator position from DFG then an employer statement should be included as part of the PDF upload.

In all other circumstances German applicants do not need to submit a Letter of Support Additional documentation for USA Applicants Please upload a single PDF attachment with for the following documents in this order: USA budget template and justification of resources using the US budget template from the ‘Additional information’ section of the funding opportunity page. 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 private sector, non-governmental organisations, third parties that would not normally receive funding directly from the grant and may provide direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

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 in-direct) 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