Funding opportunity: Diet and health: collaborative research and development grants: full stage

Opportunity status: Closed

Funders: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

Co-funders: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)

Funding type: Grant

Total fund: £3,750,000

Maximum award: £800,000

Publication date: 26 March 2026

Opening date: 26 March 2026 9:00am UK time

Closing date: 27 May 2026 4:00pm UK time

Apply for Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Defra funding to support collaborative R&D projects developing novel products and innovations delivering healthy, sustainable, and resilient diets for the UK population.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding.

Apply for funding to support collaborative research and development projects, developing novel products and innovations delivering healthy, sustainable and resilient diets for the UK population.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding.

Projects must include an industry contribution of 30% of the 100% full economic cost (FEC).

The FEC of your project can be up to £800,000. BBSRC and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) will fund 80% of the FEC. The FEC does not include industry contributions.

Projects must start by 31 October 2026.

This funding opportunity has a mandatory notification of intent (NOI) stage. You will not be able to submit an application if you have not previously submitted a NOI.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

Who is eligible to apply

To be eligible as the academic partner, you must be from one of the following organisations:

• UK higher education institutions
• research council institutes
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) approved independent research organisations
• public sector research establishments
• NHS bodies with research capacity

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.

What we're looking for

Active portfolio management

Active portfolio management is being applied to this funding opportunity due to the high level of interest. If required, BBSRC may convene a strategic panel to undertake an initial triage of proposals. A proportion of applications will then progress to the expert panel assessment. The strategic panel will consider the extent to which proposals align with the funding opportunity’s intended outcomes, anticipated impact, and the expected return on investment at a national level.

Aim

This joint funding opportunity provided by BBSRC and Defra aims to build and strengthen partnerships between academia and industry. This will enable the co-development of collaborative research and development projects which lead to novel food products and innovations that deliver healthy, sustainable and resilient diets for the UK population in line with the Good Food Cycle.

For more information on the background of this opportunity and the Good Food Cycle, go to the Additional information section.

Scope

You are invited to submit proposals for collaborative research and development projects, that explore the following and support the ’Good Food Cycle’.

Projects should address one or more of the following priority areas:

• improving the nutrition of food and drink products to support populations at higher risk of malnutrition, muscle loss or both, for example those using GLP-1 drugs, older population groups and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds
• supporting research and innovation to assess the impact of food processing and final food product composition on health. This can include, but is not restricted to, assessing and improving the nutritive value retained by different processing methods and evaluating the impact of food additives and emulsifiers on human physiology to develop innovations and sustainable alternatives to support healthy sustainable diets
• improving environmental outcomes for novel innovations in the food and drink sector for example by considering a circular economy approach seeking to reduce waste and food losses

To address these themes, your project can focus on one or more of the following:

• biofortification to enhance the nutritional profile of food and drink products and improve nutrition of the UK population (including, but not limited to, fibres, folates, iron, vitamins, proteins, omega-3.)
• re-formulation and processing innovations to retain and or/improve the nutritional value of food products and provide suitable and sustainable alternatives to processing ingredients
• increasing the affordability and accessibility of nutritious food and drink products across the UK, reducing food inequalities and empowering a productive workforce contributing to the UK economy
• considering consumer behaviour towards diet and health and drivers of food choices
• increasing resilience of the UK food system by creating conditions for a robust supply chain, enabling the UK population to access healthy sustainable food

Your project should consider:

• sustainability in the context of environmental challenges, such as climate change and resource scarcity, where your innovation has the potential to support the UK in establishing resilient supply chains for healthier foods, and reduce negative impacts on climate and nature
• how your innovation will contribute to economic growth within the food and drink sector, contributing to spreading growth and opportunities around the UK. Your innovation should also demonstrate potential for economic growth beyond the food and drink sector, for example by delivering healthier diets with the potential to reduce the burden on the NHS, and by having a net positive impact on growth by increasing healthy life expectancy and improving the workforce productivity

Project proposals should clearly articulate how your project will contribute to the vision set out in the Good Food Cycle, specifically the four pillars below:

• a healthier population with reduced diet related ill-health, especially for children and vulnerable people. You are encouraged to consider how your innovation may support consumer behaviour change towards healthier diets
• a thriving UK food sector that feeds a healthier and more productive UK population and enables economic growth. Applicants are encouraged to consider economic growth within the food and drink sector and beyond
• improved environmental outcomes on land and sea, enhancing nature and ecosystem services while reducing pollution, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Applicants are encouraged to consider the upstream supply chain requirements of your proposed innovation, as well as the potential environmental implications associated with its scale-up
• improved resilience of the supply chain, with reduced impact of shocks and chronic risks on access to healthy and sustainable food. Applicants are encouraged to consider the preparedness of the innovation for supply chain shocks, disruption and impacts of chronic risks

Duration

The duration of this award is 36 months.

Projects must start by 31 October 2026.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £800,000.

BBSRC and Defra will fund 80% of the FEC.

Projects are required to have at least one industry partner, with an industry contribution of 30% (cash or in-kind) of the 100% FEC. The 30% contribution may be made either by an individual project partner or by a consortium.

Eligible industry partners must:

• be a UK based business registered at Companies House
• have a manufacturing base for the relevant product in the UK or provide the relevant service in the UK
• intend to exploit the results in the UK

What we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

• do not primarily address our remit
• do not clearly address the scope of the funding opportunity
• relate to market analysis
• relate to fundamental research which is not industrially relevant
• relate to standard testing and measurement services readily available commercially or via academic partners
• are not research grants, for example, where the primary focus is funding for networking, studentships, fellowships, equipment purchase, instrument access, infrastructure or training

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)

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 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.

How to apply

Overview of the application process

This is the full stage of the assessment process for the BBSRC and Defra Diet and Health Collaborative Research and Development Grants.

This funding opportunity has two mandatory stages: notification of intent and full stage applications. You should read all the information before starting your application.

The mandatory notification of intent closed on 3 March 2026 at 4:00pm UK time. Applicants to the full stage must have been invited following submission of a successful notification of intent.

Any applications submitted that have not been invited to submit to the full stage or did not submit a notification of intent will be rejected.

Stage two: full application

This stage is open only to applicants who have completed a notification of intent at stage one and were invited to submit a full application. Any other submissions will be rejected.

The application link for the full applications stage will be available on this funding opportunity page from 26 March 2026 9:00am to 27 May 2026 4:00pm UK time. You will not be able to apply after this time.

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service, so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page:

1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.
3. 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.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. 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. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:

• sentences or paragraphs of text
• tables
• 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.

Your application will be rejected if images are provided without a descriptive legend in the text box or are used to replace text that could be input into the text box.

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

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.

Deadline

BBSRC must receive your application by 27 May 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.

Personal data

Processing personal data

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 Defra so that they can participate in the assessment process. See more information on how Defra uses personal information.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email dietandhealth@bbsrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

• individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
• declaration of interest
• 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, or a combination of both from third party project partners are mandatory for this funding opportunity.

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.

Publication of outcomes

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

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:

• opinion-formers
• policymakers
• the public
• the wider research community

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

• context
• the challenge the project addresses
• how your project will contribute to the vision set out in the Good Food Cycle
• aims and objectives
• potential applications and benefits
• the collaborative nature of your project
• the industry involvement in the delivery of your project

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

• project lead (PL)
• project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
• specialist
• grant manager
• professional enabling staff
• research and innovation associate
• technician
• researcher co-lead (RcL)

Only list one individual as project lead.

This programme will fund academic-industry collaborative R&D partnerships, undertaking industrially relevant research and innovation in bioscience and biotechnology (within BBSRC’s remit) that has clear benefits to the businesses involved, and your application must include at least one industry partner in the project partner section to be eligible.

Do not include your industry project partner(s) in the Core Team 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.

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 2,000

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, in particular how will your project contribute to the vision set out in the Good Food Cycle
• impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment

Your project proposal must demonstrate how your work will contribute to deliver on Defra’s Good Food Cycle.

Project proposals should clearly articulate how your project will contribute to the vision set out in the Good Food Cycle, specifically the four pillars below:

• a healthier population with reduced diet related ill-health, especially for children and vulnerable people. You are encouraged to consider how your innovation may support consumer behaviour change towards healthier diets
• a thriving UK food sector that feeds a healthier and more productive UK population and enables economic growth. You are encouraged to consider economic growth within the food and drink sector and beyond
• improved environmental outcomes on land and sea, enhancing nature and ecosystem services while reducing pollution, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. You are encouraged to consider the upstream supply chain requirements of your proposed innovation, as well as the potential environmental implications associated with its scale-up
• improved resilience of the supply chain, with reduced impact of shocks and chronic risks on access to healthy and sustainable food. You are encouraged to consider the preparedness of the innovation for supply chain shocks, disruption and impacts of chronic risks

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.

Approach

Word limit: 1,500

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 any previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
• will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts which are commercially relevant

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

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.

Wider benefits

Word limit: 1,500

In addition to the commercial opportunity, what are the potential societal, environmental, and economic benefits of the proposed approach?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

You should:

• explain why public funding is appropriate and essential for the proposed programme of work, including why private investment cannot, or will not enable this
• consider the potential impact on high-level societal challenges, especially related to diet and health
• outline any wider economic impacts. For example, job creation, skills, and capacity building
• describe the steps you will take to maximise any potential benefits

References may be included within this section.

Your organisation’s support

Word limit: 500

Provide details of support from your research organisation.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a statement of support from your research organisation detailing how they will support you, as the applicant, and your proposed activities. This should include details of any additional support that might add value to the work.

Assessors will be looking for a strong statement of support from your research organisation. This information should have been approved for submission by an appropriate institutional authority.

You must also include the following details:

• a significant person’s name, their position and office or department, or all
• office address or web link

Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application.

Project partners

Word limit: 1,000

Add details about any project partner contributions.

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.

Projects are required to have at least one industry partner, with an industry contribution of 30% (cash, in-kind, or both) of the 100% FEC. The 30% contribution may be made either by an individual project partner or by a consortium.

Eligible contributing industry partners must:

• be a UK based business registered at Companies House
• have a manufacturing base for the relevant product in the UK or provide the relevant service in the UK
• intend to exploit the results in the UK

Add the following project partner details:

• the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
• the project partner contact name and email address
• the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value

If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made. If your project is funded, a collaboration agreement must be in place within six months from the grant start date.

Project partners: letters (or emails) of support

Word limit: 5

Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the ‘Project partners’ section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box. Each letter or email you provide should:

• confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
• clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them
• describe any additional value that they bring to the project
• fully justify project partner contributions
• have a page limit of two sides A4 per partner

All project partners that propose to make either a cash or in-kind contribution, or a combination of both, must provide a justification for the value of their planned contributions and summarise how those contributions add value to the overall project.

The Funding Service will provide document upload.