NERC applicant led funding opportunities (Pushing the Frontiers)

NERC applicant led funding opportunities (Pushing the Frontiers) is sponsored by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). NERC applicant-led funding opportunities support environmental research driven by curiosity and imagination, rather than NERC's strategic priorities.

Pushing the frontiers of environmental research: January 2026 – UKRI Funding opportunity: Pushing the frontiers of environmental research: January 2026 Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) 22 July 2025 9:00am UK time 21 January 2026 4:00pm UK time Last updated: 8 October 2025 - see all updates Apply for funding to pursue an ambitious, high risk and high reward curiosity-driven project in environmental research.

based at a UK research organisation eligible for Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funding in a role that meets the individual eligibility requirements multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects delivered in partnership with other research funders and users The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £950,000. We will fund 80% of the FEC.

There is no defined project duration, but awards are usually between three and four years. To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. Check if your organisation is eligible .

Before applying for funding, check the following: NERC eligibility guidance for applicants check your project is in our remit , if you are unsure whether your proposed research falls within the remit of Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) This funding opportunity is open to research groups and individuals.

Your research project must address a significant environmental science question, but we welcome applications from individuals who can demonstrate a capability to collaborate with experts from other disciplines to generate innovative research.

encourage multidisciplinary research and collaborations with other UK organisations welcome applications from individuals at any career stage, subject to the UKRI 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. Demand management measurements are applied to the Pushing the Frontiers scheme. As such, there are restrictions on how many applications some research organisations can make.

We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have previously been submitted to UKRI. Find out more about NERC’s resubmissions policy . International researchers You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) 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. Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI and NERC’s diversity and inclusion action plan .

This funding opportunity supports researchers’ curiosity and imagination to enable discoveries that unlock new knowledge with a degree of adventure previously unrealised. We are seeking to invest in our best environmental researchers to be truly adventurous and ambitious in the pursuit of curiosity-driven, high risk and high reward projects.

We are looking for applications that can support pure, applied, technology-led or policy driven research but still address, or provide the means to address, clearly defined scientific questions. We welcome, and are increasingly supporting, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, designed, supported and delivered in partnership with other research funders and research users.

The research must sit predominantly within NERC’s research areas . We will work with other research councils to ensure that applications close to remit boundaries are assessed by the most appropriate lead council. We encourage you to contact us first to discuss your application if you believe your research may cross research council boundaries.

See our remit query form . Use of novel, critical technologies in your application There is no defined project duration, but awards are usually for between three and four years. It is anticipated that your grant will be able to start from January 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 infrastructure, start dates will be dependent on access to infrastructure being scheduled and confirmed. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £950,000.

We will fund 80% of the FEC with the following exceptions: eligible costs for international project co-lead involvement would be funded at 100% Costs for ship and marine equipment (SME) are not included in the application, so do not count towards the funding limit. This funding opportunity sources its funds from the NERC budget.

Note that for this funding opportunity we will require full costing information and a justification of resources as part of your application. Most applications will be expected to be under £950,000. We recognise that a small number of projects have exceptional costs (for example, for use of large research infrastructure facilities) that may require the budget to exceed the maximum grant limit.

We will require written justification as part of your application for any requests to exceed the maximum grant limit and reserve the right to reduce the amount awarded if not deemed reasonable or fully justified. Justified equipment is funded at 80% FEC. Any requests for equipment over £25,000 must be fully justified as part of your application.

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

To support this process, you should include the following information in your justification of resources: confirm that the piece of equipment is not readily available for use within your host institution, or any other assessable location (for instance referring to any asset registers consulted – NERC’s equipment data website , for example) provide evidence that all other reasonable options have been considered if the equipment requested will replace existing equipment, then explain what will happen to the existing equipment (if relevant) set out what contribution your research organisation will be making towards the cost of the equipment (if relevant) You can apply to use a facility or resource in your funding application.

You should discuss your application with the facility or service at least two months before the funding opportunity’s closing date to: discuss the proposed work in detail receive confirmation that they can provide the services required within the timeframe of the funding The facility will provide a technical assessment that includes the calculated cost of providing the service.

NERC services and facilities must be costed within the limits of the funding. You should not submit the technical assessment with the application, but you must confirm you have received it. For more information, see the NERC research grants and fellowships handbook .

Read the full list of NERC facilities that require a technical assessment . High Performance Computing (HPC), Ship-Time or Marine Equipment (SME) and the large research facilities at Harwell have their own policies for access and costing. As part of the Comprehensive Spending Review in June 2025 the UK government committed up to £750 million into a new national supercomputer service hosted at the University of Edinburgh.

The new national supercomputer will replace the current ARCHER2 supercomputer, with this service currently due to end on 21 November 2026. UKRI are working on options for the period of transition and further details will be communicated in due course. You are able to continue to apply for time on ARCHER2 or explore use of other UKRI or commercial service provisions, noting these may be different in remit and access process.

Any use of commercial HPC services will require inclusion of full access costs within your application. Computationally intensive research continues to be of strategic importance to NERC and we strongly encourage applicants to submit proposals requiring HPC access. NERC will ensure proposals using HPC will not be disadvantaged through peer review during this period of change.

Tier 2 High performance Computing (HPC) Services UKRI funded researchers are able to use the following tier 2 supercomputing facilities: Isambard 3, details on the service are available from Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS). Access is managed via the UK Access to HPC opportunity . UK Researchers are able to use the Euro HPC Supercomputers .

Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (AIRR) UK researchers undertaking AI-related research can access the Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (AIRR) managed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The AIRR compute clusters comprise Isambard-AI , operated by University of Bristol, and Dawn operated by University of Cambridge Ship-time and marine facilities Applications may require ship-time and other marine facilities. If you wish to use NERC’s marine facilities, then you must complete an online ‘ship-time and marine equipment (SME) or autonomous deployment (ADF) application form’ available from Marine Facilities Planning .

Include the SME or ADF number on the ‘Facilities’ section of your application. SMEs or ADFs must be submitted to and approved by NERC Marine Planning by the time your funding application is submitted. Applications submitted without an approved SME or ADF will be withdrawn from this funding opportunity.

A PDF of the SME or ADF can be attached as a facility form to your application. If you do not do this, your request may not be considered for inclusion in the NERC Marine Facilities Programme. If you intend on using NERC marine facilities, then see the information on the website which advises on facility availability from 2024 to 2029.

You should also contact marineplanning@nerc. ukri. org to discuss your requirements as soon as possible and by Wednesday 10 December 2025.

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Antarctic logistics support If you require NERC BAS Antarctic logistics support, then you must complete a pre-award operational support planning questionnaire (OSPQ) online . You must email the Antarctic Access Office (AAO) at BAS (email: afibas@bas. ac.

uk ) stating your name, institution and project title. The AAO will set up a new and numbered pre-award OSPQ and send the link to you along with instructions for completion. The deadline for pre-award OSPQs to be submitted is Wednesday 1 October 2025.

If you fail to submit an OSPQ by this deadline, then you will have your application withdrawn from this funding opportunity. If you request Antarctic logistic support without having received prior logistic approval, then you will not be awarded. All funding applications wishing to use Antarctic logistics support must add this to the facilities question in your application.

You should also be aware of the NERC update on polar research planning and NERC marine facilities availability 2024 to 2029 . 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 .

International collaboration We have agreements with the following funders: National Science Foundation (NSF) the US São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Brazil Fonds Nationale de la Recherche (FNR) Luxembourg This can make it easier for UK researchers to collaborate with research partners around the world by removing the risk that a proposed project will receive funding in one country but not in another.

Find out about getting funding for international collaboration . If you wish to work with US-based researchers (NSF) then you must submit an expression of interest (EoI) form. The deadline for submitting the EoI form is Tuesday 21 October 2025.

EoI forms submitted after this deadline will not be considered, and NERC-NSF applications submitted without an approved EoI will be withdrawn from this funding opportunity. Applicants intending to apply through the UKRI/NSF Lead Agency Opportunity should be aware that the NSF has issued a Statement on NSF Priorities and guidance on the Implementation of Recent Executive Orders , which are updated regularly.

Additionally, you should be aware that processing timelines may be longer than usual through either the UKRI or NSF submission route. Please refer to the relevant agreement guidance for additional requirements and information for applying these agreements to your application.

Trusted Research and Innovation UK Research and Innovation (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 your 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.

You must adhere to UKRI open research policy and NERC data policy and complete the ‘Data management and sharing’ question. For details of data centres, see the NERC Environmental Data Service . We will pay the data centre directly on behalf of the programme for archival and curation services, but you should ensure that you request sufficient resource to cover preparation of data for archiving by the research team.

Additional services from the data centres, such as database development or a specialist in project data management during your project, will need to be discussed with the relevant data centre prior to submission, costs for additional services will need to be funded from your grant. 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 new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so 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.

Watch our recording on how to apply for an opportunity in the Funding Service . Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page. Confirm you are the project lead.

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 funding opportunity, that 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: use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words insert each new image on a new line 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) 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 limit 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 . We must receive your application by 21 January 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 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.

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 .

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email pushingfrontiers@nerc. ukri. org Include in the subject line: Pushing the Frontiers Jan 2026; 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 UK Research and Innovation (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 .

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 project co-lead international may only be used for collaborators based at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and in Norway , where NERC has collaboration agreements in place. We do not otherwise accept project co-lead (international) applicants.

If you are using international collaboration opportunities (FAPESP, FNR, or NSF) then your international team must not be included here, but rather in the Project Partners section. 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 Within this section we also expect you to: identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be 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 access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or similar 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. 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 You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the ‘How to apply’ section. The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) 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 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 The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

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).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV. References may be included within this section.

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, and how you will manage them.

This could include, but is not limited to: research involving animals research involving human tissues or biological samples, including the nature and quantity of the material used and its source research involving human participation, including the numbers and diversity of the participants involved and any procedures consideration of environmental sustainability, following UKRI’s environmental sustainability strategy , including preventing environmental harm and enhancing environmental benefit consideration of social responsibility including equality, diversity and inclusion, in line with NERC’s responsible business statement If you are collecting or using data, identify: any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or 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 with which your study will comply You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Provide details about any project partners’ contributions. 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 (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

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

Add the following project partner details: organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable) project partner contact name and email address 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 correct information.

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. Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response If you will need to use a research council 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 information list confirmation you have their agreement where required If you have to attach a facility form, for example NERC ship-time and marine equipment, then upload it as a PDF.

If you need to upload multiple forms, then combine them into a single PDF. Facilities should only be named if they are on the facility information list. If you do not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Upload a single PDF containing facility forms ensuring it is no larger than 8MB, if applicable. For the file name, use the Funding Service number the system gives to your application when you create an application, immediately followed by the words ‘facility forms’. Then use the ‘upload’ button.

Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment. Once you have uploaded, mark this section as complete and move to the next one. Data management and sharing How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy , which includes detailed guidance notes.

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 NERC international partnership joint funding Are you submitting your application under a NERC international partnership joint funding agreement?

What the assessors are looking for in your response If not, enter ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move on to the next section. If your application is in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the US, São Paulo Research