Funder Strategies & Opportunities

When preparing a grant application, it is crucial to ensure that it aligns with the strategy and priorities of the research funder.

Alignment with funding agency goals

Funders are motivated by specific visions and objectives, and they seek applications that align closely with their own goals. To increase your chance of success as an applicant, you must ensure that your research objectives are in harmony with the agency's mission and priorities. This involves clearly explaining how the proposed research aligns with the agency's goals, and may require reshaping (or re-focussing) your research question to fit the call for proposals.

Understanding potential future funding opportunities

Funding agencies develop new funding calls based on their strategies. If you are familiar with these strategies you will be better able to understand the context and rationale of theme-based funding calls, and to understand potential future opportunities.

Click on the information below to learn more about the funder strategies in your research area:

UKRI

UKRI are undergoing a significant change in their strategy associated with their recent budget allocations. We expect UKRI to publish a new strategy in June 2026. We expect each Research Council to also publish new Delivery Plans at the same time. 

Research Council priorities

EPSRC

For an overview of EPSRC's goals and priorities, see the EPSRC strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025.

 

EPSRC has four mission-driven priorities:

  • driving the translation of breakthroughs in engineering and physical sciences research through to social and economic benefit in net zero
  • artificial intelligence (AI), digitalisation and data
  • transforming health and healthcare
  • quantum technologies

EPSRC Themes may also include their own strategies. The Themes are:

For an overview of STFC's goals and priorities, see the STFC strategic delivery plan.

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funds research in these core areas:

The following science challenges in frontier physics help to guide what STFC invest in across their research portfolio:

  • how did the universe begin and how is it evolving?
  • how do stars and planetary systems develop and how do they support the existence of life?
  • what are the basic constituents of matter and how do they interact?

Explore STFC’s science challenges.

For an overview of NERC's goals and priorities, see the NERC strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025.

NERC’s current programmes include:

In 2025, NERC published its first Forward Look for environmental science.  Developed in collaboration with the community and stakeholders, NERC’s Forward Look sets out their research and innovation priorities and how they will support the underpinning capabilities needed to deliver environmental science over a ten-year horizon.  NERC has identified three R&I priorities: 

  • Green Growth
  • Environmental Security
  • Responsible Innovation 

These priorities will be delivered through key capabilities: National Capability, Frontiers of Knowledge and Partnerships which together underpin our world-leading environmental science.  

NERC Forward Look

For an overview of BBSRC's goals and priorities, see the BBSRC strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025.

BBSRC’s priorities fall under bioscience discovery and strategic challenges

Priorities for ‘Advancing the frontiers of bioscience discovery’ are:

Priorities for ‘Tackling strategic challenges’ are:

In 2025, BBSRC also published its Forward Look, which sets out BBSRC’s ambition to power bioscience to deliver a healthy, sustainable and resilient future.

BBSRC Forward Look

For an overview of ESRC's goals and priorities, see the ESRC strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025.

ESRC currently have 5 priority research areas:

  • Net Zero, environment, biodiversity and climate change
  • digital society
  • health and social care
  • security, risk and resilience
  • understanding behaviour

For an overview of MRC's goals and priorities, see the MRC strategic delivery plan 2022 to 2025.

MRC’s five research boards have strategic priorities that help guide the research they invest in. Their research boards are:

Other funders

Other funders will also have strategies which inform their funding opportunities. Examples include:

  • ARIA - ARIA funds breakthrough R&D in underexplored areas. 'Opportunity spaces' include:
    • Sculpting Innate Immunity
    • Scalable Neural Interfaces
    • Bioenergetic Engineering
    • Extending Our Perception
    • Trust Everything, Everywhere
    • Mathematics for Safe AI
    • Nature Computes Better
    • Collective Flourishing
    • Scoping Our Planet
    • Programmable Plants
    • Engineering Ecosystem Resilience
    • Future Proofing Our Climate and Weather
    • Smarter Robot Bodies
    • Manufacturing Abundance
  • Wellcome Trust
    • ‘Discovery Science’
    • Challenge led priorities in Mental health, climate change and infectious diseases
  • Royal Academy of Engineering Strategy 2030: Engineering Better Lives
  • Royal Society
    • The Royal Society strategic plan 2022–2027 centres around five key areas of work:  The Fellowship, Foreign Membership and beyond; Influencing in the UK and globally; Research system and culture; Science and society; Corporate and governance

UK Government Strategies & Reviews

As well as funder strategies, there have been many recent UK Government Strategies & Reviews including: