Highlighted funding opportunities
Highlights of funding opportunities will be listed below under ‘Funding opportunities highlights’.
A more comprehensive list is available by clicking on 'Database: all funding opportunities'. The Excel document contains a list of current, open, pre-announced and expected calls and other research proposal-related information, which will be updated regularly.
Faculty and University funding highlights will be updated when funds are available.
UKRI's new Funding Service and submission tool
UKRI is changing the way they support researchers and all those involved in research funding. 2023/2024 is the transition to the new Funding Service which will impact in the way that open call responsive mode schemes are processed. Further information from ‘Council transition to the new Funding Service’, UKRI website.
External funding opportunities highlights
Below are some highlighted funding opportunities.
For a more comprehensive list (containing current, open, pre-announced and expected calls and other research proposal-related information) please visit the following 'Database: all funding opportunities' section.
(Note: deadline dates included after the call).
- University of Manchester SEED - School of Environment, Education and Development Postgraduate Research Scholarship. 18/03/2025.
- British Academy International Fellowships. 18/03/2025.
- EPSRC Research to advance UK recycling capabilities [ukri.org]. 18/03/2025.
- Understanding Society Understanding Society Fellowships. 19/03/2025.
- AHRC | NEH - National Endowment for the Humanities USA, AHRC BRAID DOT: responsible AI collaborations with US researchers. 20/03/2025.
- Netspar - Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement Theme grant. 21/03/2025.
- University of Manchester Research Dissemination and Research Collaboration Funds - Research Staff Dissemination Fund. 24/03/2025, 21/04/2025, 19/05/2025.
- ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships (PDF). 25/03/2025.
- NERC Urgency grants. 27/03/2025.
- Independent Social Research Foundation ISRF Mid-Career Fellowships. 28/03/2025.
- Antipode Foundation Right to the Discipline. 31/03/2025.
- Government France - Embassy in UK Entente Cordiale Scholarship Scheme. 31/03/2025.
- Nuffield Foundation Research, Development and Analysis Fund. 01/04/2025.
- NERC Opening up the Environment 2025. 01/04/2025.
- UNU-WIDER The effects of artificial intelligence on firm and labour market outcomes. 01/04/2025
- NATO Fellowships. 01/04/2025.
- Forum Transregionale Studien re:constitution Fellowships 2025/2026. 03/04/2025.
- NERC Independent Research Fellowship (IRF) Scheme. 03/04/2025.
- NERC | FAPESP | MOST Environmental sciences: Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund (GPSF) 2025. 03/04/2025.
- Wellcome Trust Wellcome Career Development Awards. 03/04/2025.
- Volkswagen Foundation New Research Spaces for the Humanities and Cultural Studies. 03/04/2025.
- Wellcome Trust Wellcome Discovery Awards. 08/04/2025.
- Wellcome Trust Developing a platform for practical interactive resources to guide lived experience collaboration in mental health research. 08/04/2025.
- Innovate UK (IUK) Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). 09/04/2025.
- University of Manchester UoM UKRI Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) UKRI Harmonised IAA Call. 09/04/2025.
- Horizon Europe Teaming for Excellence HORIZON-WIDERA-2025-ACCESS-01-01-two-stage. 10/04/2025.
- AHRC Locally Unlocking Culture Through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) programme. 10/04/2025.
- Minor Foundation for Major Challenges (MFMC) MFMC grants. 10/04/2025, 29/05/2025, 07/08/2025.
- ESRC | AHRCC | BBSRC | EPSRC | MRC | NERC | STFC UKRI Metascience AI early career fellowships. 10/04/2025.
- European Institute of Innovation & Technology EIT Culture & Creativity Society - Innovation Call: Main Innovation Projects 2025. Consortia. 11/04/2025.
- Spencer Foundation Research Grants on Education: Large. 14/05/2025.
- British Academy Call for Discussion Papers: Global (Dis)Order. 14/04/2025
- University of Manchester - JRRIL Pilot Grants. 14/04/2025
- Government Canada - Research Coordination Committee. New Frontiers in Research Fund - Transformation Competition. 15/04/2025.
- CHIST-ERA Science in your Own Language (SOL). 15/04/2025.
- Spencer Foundation Research Grants on Education: Small. 16/04/2025
- University of Manchester UoM UKRI Impact Acceleration Account UKRI Harmonised IAA Call. 23/04/2025
- University of Manchester | University of Bordeaux Manchester-Bordeaux joint research fund - Seed fund. 23/04/2025
- ZiF - Center for Interdisciplinary Research Research in group grants. 24/04/2025.
- NIHR - PHR Public Health Research Interventions to reduce violence. 25/04/2025.
- NIHR PHR Public Health Research Continuing areas of research interest to the PHR Programme. 25/04/2025.
- UK Government Office for Science UK Intelligence Community (IC) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Programme. 29/04/2025.
- MRC population and systems medicine programme grant, new investigator, partnership, research grant. 30/04/2025, 04/09/2025, 20/01/2026, 19/05/2026, 15/09/2026.
- Society for Renaissance Studies Postdoctoral Fellowships. 30/04/2025.
- Wellcome Trust Climate Impacts Awards: Unlocking urgent climate action by making the health effects of climate change visible. 30/04/2025.
- Spencer Foundation Racial Equity Special Research Grants. May 2025.
- Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorships. 01/05/2025, 02/10/2025.
- Wenner-Gren Foundation Fejos Postdoctoral Fellowship in Ethnographic Film. 01/05/2025.
- Modern Law Review (MLR) Studentships. 02/05/2025.
- Horizon Europe Cluster 5 Design for adaptability, re-use and deconstruction of buildings, in line with the principles of circular economy HORIZON-CL5-2024-D4-02 04. RIA. 04/05/2025.
- Gerda Henkel Foundation Forced migration funding programme. 05/05/2025.
- University of Manchester - JRRIL Visiting Early Career Research Fellowships 2025/26. 05/05/2025.
- AHRC | BBSRC | EPSRCC | ESRC | Innovate UK | MRC | NERC Creating opportunities: rethinking economic (in)activity. 06/05/2025.
- ESRC P2R: increasing UK policymaker engagement with research. 06/05/2025.
- Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowships. 09/05/2025.
- Leverhulme Trust Philip Leverhulme Prizes. 14/05/2025.
- University of Manchester Enhancing research culture. 14/05/2025.
- Huo Family Foundation (HFF) Effects of the Usage of Digital Technology on Brain Development, Social Behaviours and Mental Health in Children and Young People. 23/05/2025.
- Gerda Henkel Foundation General Research Grants Projects & Scholarships. 26/05/2025.
- AHRC | BBSRC | EPSRC | ESRC | MRC | STFC Proof of Concept. 29/05/2025.
- Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Awards. 30/05/2025.
- University of Manchester | University of Melbourne | University of Toronto MMT Research Fund. 02/06/2025.
- NIHR - Global Health Research (GHR) Health Policy and Systems bands 1 to 3. 04/06/2025.
- University of Manchester Research Staff Collaboration Fund. 16/06/2025.
- HORIZON-MSCA-2025- COFUND. 24/06/2025.
- NIHR - National Institutes for Health and Care Research UK The Research Programme for Social Care. 25/06/2025.
- NERC Pushing the frontiers of environmental research [ukri.org]. 16/07/2025.
- British Academy Publishing in the 'Proceedings of the British Academy'. 22/07/2025, 28/10/2025.
- British Academy Publish a British Academy Monograph. 22/07/2025, 28/10/2025.
- ERC Advance Grants ERC-2025-AdG. Opens 11 May 2025, deadline 28/08/2025.
- The Legal Education Foundation TLEF grants. 03/09/2025.
- Volkswagen Foundation Pioneering Research - Exploring the Unknown Unknown. 03/09/2025.
- Volkswagen Foundation Transformational Knowledge on Democracies under Change – Transdisciplinary Perspectives. Cooperation projects. 09/09/2025.
- MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships HORIZON-MSCA-2024/2025-PF. 10/09/2025.
- Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorships. 03/10/2025.
- MSCA Staff Exchanges HORIZON-MSCA-2024/2025-SE. 08/10/2025.
- COST Actions. 21/10/2025.
- HORIZON-MSCA-2025-CITIZENS-01-01 MSCA NIGHT. 22/10/2025.
- NAEd - National Academy of Education - Spencer Foundation NAED/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowships. 13/11/2025.
- MSCA Doctoral Networks HORIZON-MSCA-2024/2025-DN. 25/11/2025.
Database: all funding opportunities
View relevant/collected funding information, calls, and other opportunities.
Collaborative research bilateral/trilateral agreements - past and present
Note: for multi-country consortium large grants check the Key calls page and highlights section below. The UKRI International Partnerships pages provide information about developments.
Bilateral collaborative opportunities are being supported a different levels (academic, university, and UKRI for example) and should increase with time. These current available and relevant to SSH are expected to be reiterative calls:
- AHRC/DFG (UK-Germany). Link: AHRC
- British Academy / MOST (UK-Taiwan). Link: BA Special funds
- British Academy ODA International Interdisciplinary research projects (specific countries): BA
- UKRI / FAPESP (UK-Brazil). Links: AHRC/ESRC/NERC
- UKRI / NSF (UK-USA). Links: AHRC/ESRC/NERC
- UKRI / FNR (UK-Luxembourg). Links: AHRC/ESRC/NERC
- IZA/UKAid (UK-Germany). Link: GLM|LIC
- Canada-UK Foundation. Link: Grants
- British Council / France: Link: Entente Cordiale Scholarship
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science / UK. Link: JSPS London
- University of Manchester/University of Heiderberg: UoM
- University of Manchester/University of Melbourne (UK-Australia). Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/FAPESP (UK-Brazil). Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/Heidelberg University. Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/Indian Institute of Science. Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/University of Toronto (UK-Canada). Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/University of Melbourne/University of Toronto. Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/Chinese University of Hong Kong (UK-China PRC). Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/Tel Aviv University (UK-Egypt). Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/ KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University (UK-Sweden). Link: UoM
- University of Manchester/Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) UKRI / SNSF joint applications. Link: UoM
The above highlights database provides with more possibilities: collaborations from stablished centres or organisations aiming at this type of projects like the Canada–UK Foundation, Great Britain China Centre (GBCC), Humanitarian Grand Challenge, from the British Council, etc.
There are other possibilities of collaborative research and innovation with ODA countries from the UK Newton Fund and hopefully the GCRF, and even other ODA opportunties from other agencies like the British Council and British Academy all included in the funding opportunities database.
The University of Manchester mantains a webpage on Major Strategic Partnerships.
Faculty and University funding highlights
Current open opportunities
North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP)
Funding for DTP’s postgraduate researchers. Discovery and Collaboration Funding. Open for submissions any time.
University Research Development Funds
Research Staff Dissemination Fund
Research Staff Collaboration Fund.
Various deadlines yearly. Further information on the website.
University of Manchester - UKRI Impact Accdeleration Account (IAA) UKRI Harmonised IAA call.
IAA funding supports the research and innovation ecosystem to develop wider impacts from research through fast and flexible funding for early-stage knowledge exchange activities. IAA grants are available to all the University of Manchester academics within the remit of AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC and STFC. Mechanisms:
- Relationship Development Scheme (up to £10k, open call).
- Proof of Concept Scheme (up to £30k).
- Secondment Scheme (up to £60k).
2024/25 deadlines: 24/07/2024, 04/12/2024, 09/04/2025.
Faculty Research Investment Funds
Previous calls 2019 to 2023, schemes:
Team Awards | Individual Awards |
---|---|
|
|
Currently paused.
Faculty and University funding opportunities page
For brief summaries on past and current opportunities you can check the faculty page, but note that the database highlights should include the most up-to-date opportunities.