Funding to undertake ambitious interdisciplinary research to tackle epidemic diseases of animals, humans or plants.
Teams and programmes should bring new perspectives crossing research council remits to understand infectious disease threats through projects that will:
- improve our understanding of factors that influence the risk and severity of infectious disease threats
- inform new ways to manage and respond to infections disease threats
Pathogens (for example, bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and oomycetes) across all reservoirs are within scope, providing they have epidemic potential. This includes, but is not exclusive to:
- animals (aquaculture, farmed, companion and wild)
- humans
- plants (crops, trees both horticultural and wild)
- natural environments
- animal-human-environment interface
Applications focusing on more fundamental, non-specific (in terms of pathogen, disease or host) or more generalisable activity (such as models, predictive tool development, policy and governance research) are also in scope.
A social and behavioural research perspective is encouraged. Applications may also explore the role of economic factors and incentives, culture, history, linguistics, and other humanities in understanding, predicting and preventing infectious diseases with epidemic potential.
Working together with communities, people with lived experience, practitioners and policy makers and other stakeholders (which can include government, industry, charities or other non-governmental organisations) is encouraged, and expected where research insights are anticipated to feed directly into policy and practice.
ELIGIBILITY
The research proposed should be ambitiously interdisciplinary and cross the disciplinary remits of at least three UKRI research councils.
Research undertaken both within and beyond the UK is permitted, reflecting how infectious disease emergence and spread does not conform to national boundaries. As such, it is expected that research be undertaken internationally as appropriate. LMIC leadership as co-leads (international) is expected where projects have an LMIC focus.
The intellectual leadership of the project can be shared and is encouraged including with project co-leads (international).
VALUE AND DURATION
The full economic cost (FEC) of your application can be up to £3,750,000 for up to five years.
KEY DATES
Call opens: 27 March 2025
Webinar for potential applicants: 24 April 2025, 11am (register here, but note that the webinar will also be recorded)
Deadline: 19 June 2025
Funding decision: TBC
Projects should start between one to six months after the funding decision date.
Full guidance, including example areas of research, can be found below and on the opportunity webpage.