Large Grant full applications: November 2026 (invite only)

Large Grant full applications: November 2026 (invite only) is sponsored by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Funding for innovative, large-scale projects addressing significant scientific questions with potential for world-leading research.

Large Grant full applications: November 2026 (invite only) – UKRI Funding opportunity: Large Grant full applications: November 2026 (invite only) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Award range: £1,120,000 - £3,450,000 5 August 2026 9:00am UK time 5 November 2026 4:00pm UK time You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so following a successful outline application.

Apply for funding to support innovative, large-scale and complex projects that tackle big science questions and have the potential to produce world-leading research. based at a UK research organisation eligible for Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funding in a role that meets individual eligibility requirements The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be between £1. 12 million and £3.

45 million. We will fund 80% of the FEC. Projects can last up to five years.

You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so following a successful outline application. This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation.

Check if your organisation is eligible . Please also check UKRI eligibility guidance for applicants This funding opportunity is open to research groups and individuals.

We: encourage multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and collaborations with other UK organisations welcome applications from individuals at any career stage, subject to NERC eligibility criteria You may be involved in no more than two applications submitted to this funding opportunity. Only one of these can be as a project lead. Project partners fund their own involvement.

We will only fund minor incidental expenses, such as some travel costs, if needed for project partners. International researchers If you are submitting your application under a NERC lead agency agreement (NSF, FAPESP or FNR), then please see the section entitled ‘International collaboration proposals’ for further information.

All other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) should be included as project partners. This includes organisations from the business or financial sectors. 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.

Applicants may only apply for this funding opportunity if invited following the outline stage. No further demand management will be applied. You can submit an application in any area of environmental science, provided it is predominantly within a research area or subject associated with our remit.

We also welcome multidisciplinary applications that cross into other research areas. Applications can support pure, applied, technology-led or policy-driven research but must still address (or provide the means to address) clearly defined research questions. We expect the projects we fund through this funding opportunity to produce world-leading research.

To achieve this, they will often involve multidisciplinary approaches. We expect your application to demonstrate how any interdependent components (work packages) will interact in a single overall structure. Collaborative projects that include diverse teams and partnerships between research organisations and other stakeholders are strongly encouraged.

Use of novel, critical technologies in your application You may request funding for associated studentships based at a collaborating UK organisation as part of your application. You should review the guidance on L arge Grant associated studentships and the Research Grants and Fellowships Handbook when preparing your application. The duration of this award is a maximum of five years.

You should propose a realistic and appropriate project start date based on the requirements of your project. It is anticipated that grants will be able to start from September 2027, but it should be noted that start dates for all successful grants will only be confirmed following discussion with NERC regarding project requirements.

For those projects requiring use of large research infrastructure, start dates will be dependent on access to infrastructure being scheduled and confirmed. The FEC of your project can be between £1. 12 million and £3.

45 million. NERC will fund 80% of the FEC with the following exceptions: eligible costs for a project co-lead (international) based in a Norwegian institution would be funded at 100% associated studentship stipend and fees would be funded at 100% (other associated studentship costs would be funded at 80%) Justified equipment is funded at 80% FEC.

You are reminded that funding for equipment is subject to consideration by NERC, based on the justification of resources and budget availability.

The total application cost must include: any associated studentships any service and facility costs (for example, ship time) equipment costs over £25000 costs for data archival and curation services All environmental data of long-term value generated through NERC-funded activities must be submitted to the NERC Environmental Data Service (EDS) .

Use of the NERC EDS for the management of environmental data arising from other applicable UKRI-funded research is strongly encouraged. You should ensure that you request sufficient resource to cover preparation of data for archiving by the research team. For assistance on costings, please contact data@nerc.

ukri. org 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 . If using a UKRI facility, you must have discussed your requirements with the facility or service and have followed the relevant process to request use of the facility or service before submitting your outline application.

We recommend you confirm with the facility that they are still able to support your request prior to submission of a full application. The facility will have provided a technical assessment that includes the calculated cost of providing the service. NERC services and facilities must be costed within the limits of the funding available.

You should not submit the technical assessment with your full application, but you must confirm you have received it. If you have requested ship time or other marine facilities, you must attach a PDF of the SME or ADF as a facility form to your full application and include the SME or ADF number in the ‘Facilities’ section. If you do not do this, your request may not be considered for inclusion in the NERC Marine Facilities Programme.

If you require any changes to the request you made at outline stage, then you should contact marineplanning@nerc. ukri. org to discuss this as soon as possible and by 11 September 2026 at the latest.

International collaboration We have agreements with the following funders: National Science Foundation (NSF) US São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Brazil Fonds Nationale de la Recherche (FNR) Luxembourg Applicants wishing to collaborate through these agreements must have already indicated this in their outline application and confirmed their eligibility and approval to do so at the outline application stage.

You should follow the guidance on submitting a full application at the relevant link(s) to the agreement you are using. Any queries on using any of these international collaboration agreements should be directed to leadagency@nerc. ukri.

org 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 applicants can find additional support.

Responsible research and innovation Through our funding processes, we seek to make a positive contribution to society and the environment. This is not just through research outputs and outcomes but through the way in which research is conducted and facilities managed. All NERC grant holders are to adopt responsible research practices as set out in the NERC responsible business statement .

Responsible research is defined as reducing harm or enhancing benefit on the environment and society through effective management of research activities and facilities. Specifically, this covers: equality, diversity and inclusion You should consider the responsible research context of your project, not the host institution as a whole. You should take action to enhance your responsible research approach where practical and reasonable.

We are running this funding opportunity on the 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.

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.

This may include a Gantt chart, which is helpful to reviewers in understanding your approach to delivering your objectives.

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 . NERC must receive your application by 5 November 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.

NERC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications. We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice .

For applications using international collaboration agreements, refer to the specific collaboration opportunity page(s) for how data is shared between UKRI and international collaborative funding organisations. If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email largegrants@nerc. 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.

NERC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity on What NERC has funded . 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) project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Only list one individual as project lead.

The project lead is responsible for setting up and completing the application process on the Funding Service. The circumstances under which we would accept project co-lead (international) roles are as follows: You may use the project co-lead international role for funded collaborators based in Norway, where NERC has a collaboration agreement in place. We do not otherwise accept funded project co-lead (international) applicants.

Any international research teams to be funded by international organisations as part of a lead agency agreement should be included within the international collaboration question. You should also include the lead international researcher as the project co-lead international role with a zero cost included in the resources and cost justification section. Do not include your lead agency agreement international team as project partners.

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 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 meets the strategic aims of the funding opportunity In this section we also expect you to: identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be justify clearly why a large-scale project is necessary to achieve your objectives and explain why this work cannot be delivered as several smaller projects through other funding routes 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 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 Within this section we also expect you to: demonstrate how any interdependent components (work packages) will interact in a single overall structure provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work 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. Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words.

This may include a Gantt chart, which is helpful to reviewers in understanding your approach to delivering your objectives.

The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include: sentences or paragraphs of text that are not duplicated within the text body 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.

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 balance of skills and expertise needed to cover the proposed work the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and approach to developing others contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community 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 (including references) 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). This section is only to be used if necessary to provide information that is supplementary to the R4RI and may be required to provide context.

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, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project If you are collecting or using data you should identify: any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data) formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with Additional sub-questions (to be answered only if appropriate) relating to research involving: genetically modified organisms You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation. Animal involvement and “3Rs” You must complete this section about how your proposed project will involve or impact animals.

If your project does not involve or impact animals, you must confirm this on the next page. what animals you are involving the severity of the procedures you are using where the procedures will take place welfare standards you aim to meet the relevance of your project to the development, validation or dissemination of the 3Rs You may also need to download, complete, and upload at least one set of additional questions.

You will be told how to do this towards the end of this section. To complete this section and check whether your project is in the scope of the questions, refer to the UKRI policy for research and innovation involving animals . UKRI policy relates to all animals in the Kingdom Animalia, including vertebrates and invertebrates.

Genetically modified organisms and biological risk You must complete this section if your project will include genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies. If you project does not involve genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies, you must confirm this on the next page.

the type of organism your project will involve and the procedures your project will include the intended use of the organism or genetic technology the genetic, biological and environmental risks of your project For more information, see UKRI’s guidance on genetic technologies . Human participation in health-related research You must complete this section about whether your project will include human participation.

If your project does not involve human participation, you must confirm this on the next page.

what type of human participation your project includes the project design for human participation the phase of the clinical trial whether the project will be in an NHS setting, if so, how the project will be registered whether diversity and inclusion will be considered For more information, see UKRI’s guidance for human participants in research .

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 £25,000 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’ You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project.

For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders . Where a funding limit is imposed on the opportunity, requested costs for reasonable adjustments may exceed the maximum funding amount. Any requests for single items of equipment over £25,000 must be fully justified as part of your application.

You should include the following information in your justification of resources: confirmation that the piece of equipment is not readily available for use within your host institution, or any other assessable location.

For example, referring to any asset registers consulted such as NERC’s equipment data website evidence that all other reasonable options have been considered if the equipment requested will replace existing equipment, details of what will happen to the existing equipment (if relevant) 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 Associated project studentships Word limit: 5,000 (1,000 per studentship, maximum of five studentships) What is the studentship project and how will the studentship be delivered?

What the assessors are looking for in your response For each studentship, explain: the supervisory arrangements including supervisor name(s), organisation, proposed start and end dates what the project will be and how the student will develop new research ideas how the research undertaken through the studentship will be closely associated with the work carried out in the grant but still constitute a distinct project If you are successful, you will be required to provide further information about the provision of training and delivery of the studentship.

If you are not requesting any associated studentships, add N/A into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section. NCAS or NCEO Research Centre Is the application submitted under the auspices of either National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) or National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO)? What UKRI is looking for in your response Indicate either NCAS or NCEO if appropriate.

Enter ‘N/A’ into the text box if your application is not submitted under either NCAS or NCEO. 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.

Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project. No letters of support are required and cannot be attached to this funding opportunity. For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Data management and sharing How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research? Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy , through liaising with the appropriate data centre.

which NERC data centre is required to archive the data whether the total volume of data is likely to be larger than 1TB any other detail on how you will comply with NERC data policy requirements of the proposed sensing system or capability on current digital research infrastructure (including data and compute) how data accessibility for both private and public end users will be enhanced Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?

What UKRI is looking for in your response If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.

For each requested facility you will need to provide the: name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 42KB) proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility