Apply for funding to support excellent new investigator-led research across the breadth of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) scientific remit.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding.
This scheme is designed to assist newly employed university lecturers, researchers (at a level equivalent to lecturer) in research council institutes, and fellows (at a level equivalent to lecturer) to secure their first major element of research support funding.
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £2 million. Funding is available for up to five years. BBSRC will fund 80% of the FEC.
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.
Who is eligible to apply
Researchers who have been project co-leads (previously co-investigators) on successful grant applications are eligible to apply for a new investigator award.
You must not have received, or currently be in receipt of, competitively obtained research or support funding from any source as a project lead (previously principal investigator) where such funding includes or included research and innovation associate (previously postdoctoral research assistant) staff support costs. This includes grants associated with fellowships. If, however, research and innovation associate support has been provided by an institution as part of an internal support agreement or as part of the applicants start up package, this must be declared but would not render the applicant ineligible.
Other grant funding requests where the results are not known at the time of submission, but which are subsequently successful, will also come under this category and therefore details of such requests must be given in the application and their outcome notified to BBSRC immediately they become known.
You may submit only one new investigator application to this BBSRC funding opportunity at a time. You must wait until a decision has been provided on an already submitted new investigator application, before applying with another application as a project lead.
The project lead should be the intellectual leader of the proposed project. Expertise across multiple disciplines may be an important aspect of a project and one which facilitates career development into a new field. Therefore, project co-leads are permitted, but only when they bring expertise to the project which is outside the project lead’s own skill set. Project co-leads may also satisfy the eligibility requirements for the new investigator scheme.
The information provided here is a summary of the core eligibility requirements but is not comprehensive, please see the full new investigator eligibility requirements before applying.
Who is not eligible to apply
Organisations based overseas and business-based applicants are not eligible to apply. Overseas and business-based collaborators can be added as project partners on an application, please see Roles in funding applications: eligibility, responsibilities and costings guidance for more information.
If you are applying via the IPA or LINK scheme, please include details of industry partner in the ‘Project partners’ section.
Resubmissions
We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) or any other funder.
Find out more about BBSRC’s resubmissions policy.
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:
- career breaks
- support for people with caring responsibilities
- flexible working
- alternative working patterns
UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Demand management
Demand management is not currently being applied to this funding opportunity. However, should the level of interest exceed what can be managed within the assessment process, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) may introduce limits on the number of applications that can be submitted. Further details will be clearly communicated where this is the case. UKRI encourages organisations to support applicants in preparing well-planned, high-quality applications that are competitive for funding relative to the funding opportunity.
Aim
This scheme supports excellent investigator-led research across the breadth of the BBSRC scientific remit.
Scope
Funding is available for:
- research projects, including data intensive and technology development projects
- equipment or use of existing facilities
- community resources, new facilities, or infrastructure
- research networks and coordination
- summer schools
You can apply to undertake biotechnology or biological research in:
- plants
- microbes
- animals and humans
- tools and technology underpinning biological research
Investigations within and across scales are supported, from molecules and cells, to tissues, whole organisms, populations and landscapes.
We welcome multidisciplinary proposals that cross into other research council areas but expect the primary focus of your work to fall within BBSRC’s remit.
We work with other research councils to ensure that applications close to remit boundaries are assessed by the most appropriate lead council. Please contact remit@bbsrc.ukri.org with any queries about the suitability of your application before applying.
We have a strong commitment to funding curiosity-led research and advancing excellent bioscience across our portfolio.
Duration
The duration of this award is up to five years.
Funding available
The FEC of your project can be up to a maximum of £2 million. BBSRC will fund 80% of the FEC. For example, if the FEC cost of your project is equal to £2 million, BBSRC will fund £1.6 million and your research organisation will be expected to fund £400,000.
Project partner
A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU, who will have an integral role in the proposed research. You may include project partners that will support your research project through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:
- staff time
- access to equipment
- sites or facilities
- the provision of data
- software or materials
- recruitment of people as research participants
- providing samples, such as human tissue, for the project
Each project partner must provide a statement of support.
Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles.
Who cannot be included as a project partner
Any individual included in your application core team cannot also be a project partner.
Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation. This includes other departments within the same organisation.
If you are collaborating with someone in your organisation, consider including them in the core team as project co-lead, or specialist. They cannot be a project partner.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where you can find additional support.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/bbsrc-new-investigator-award-applicant-led-mode/)
