Collaboration for a Sustainable Future: pilots & UK seed funding
Collaboration for a Sustainable Future: pilots & UK seed funding supports higher education providers' joint-working pilots and new UK innovation partnerships for a more sustainable, cost-effective system.
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Funder: UK Research and Innovation
Due Dates: February 4, 2027, 4:00pm UK time (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: £19 million total; England-only pilots: £100,000–£1 million, up to 24 months; UK seed funding: £1 million–£5 million, up to 36 months
Summary: Supports higher education provider-led institutional collaborations that test cost-effective joint working and new UK innovation partnerships.
Key Information: Applications must involve at least two higher education providers; collaborative research projects are ineligible.
Description
Research England, within UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), supports practical, ambitious institutional collaborations that make the research and innovation system more sustainable and cost-effective. This opportunity combines England-only pilots with seed funding for new cross-UK innovation partnerships. Pilots can test shared administrative or specialist functions, facility management, and streamlined services for businesses, investors and other partners. This is not a research grant.
Cross-UK partnerships bring together complementary innovation strengths across two self-defined geographical areas, connecting higher education providers with wider partners to deliver economic growth and respond to local government priorities. Across both elements, projects should reduce the risks of new collaborations, build on existing practice, and consider effects on equity, inclusion, diversity, trust and collective responsibility. Projects must disseminate outputs to share learning and expertise.
