In the last few years there have been changes in the funding environment, from the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, and a rise in international funding opportunities. Researchers are being encouraged to expand beyond their UK research community and consider international collaborations. It is now easy, thanks to virtual meetings, to connect with overseas collaborators, to share and advance knowledge, and participate in research projects.
If you are an experienced researcher with an interest in international funding, take a look at these funders: the Global Challenges Research Fund, the Newton Fund and the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office. Their opportunities focus on innovative research to address the challenges faced by developing countries.
The Horizon Europe Programme is a seven-year €95.5 billion research and innovation programme run by the European Commission. Consisting of cross-cutting initiatives and funding calls in a wide variety of research and innovation areas including medical science, climate change, ocean health, and agriculture.
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions is the EU’s research programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training. As well as career development and knowledge exchange opportunities, they foster research cooperation across borders, sectors and disciplines.
The European Research Council research programme enables talented and creative researchers and their teams to pursue funding for frontier research.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Research Councils also run international funding opportunities. View current open calls on their funding finder page.
USA International Funding
The two main USA funders are the National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering, and its medical counterpart the National Institutes of Health (NIH).