Funding for research and innovation that helps disabled people or people with long-term health conditions aged 50+ to thrive in work.
Research will be funded in two broad areas:
Extending what we know about effective approaches, for example by
- evaluating the impact and implementation of existing pilots or programmes that have potential to be scaled
- understanding how scaling of effective approaches can be achieved
- delivering and evaluating innovative approaches with a clear theory of change and potential for wider rollout
Addressing barriers and seizing opportunities, for instance in relation to
- groups of older workers who are at greater risk of poor health, wellbeing and economic outcomes and how sources of disadvantage interact and compound;
- employer attitudes, behaviours, and incentives to recruit and retain older disabled workers and those with health conditions;
- occupational sectors, types of organisations and job designs which create challenges for older workers with health conditions;
- opportunities and risks for older workers from the changing labour market, such as self-employment, flexible working and adoption of automation and AI;
- transitions among older workers, recognising that people move between different work statuses over time such as reducing hours or retraining before finally stopping work;
- enabling rapid return to employment, rather than intervening after extended absence;
- interactions between work and home lives which can particularly affect the working lives of older people, for example caring responsibilities;
- policy or benefit design, including in relation to incentivising more flexible approaches to work, and ensuring pension and benefit rules support continued employment for older disabled people and those with health conditions.
ELIGIBILITY
Diverse and innovative methods and disciplinary perspectives are welcome.
You can utilise new data sources or undertake novel data linkage where this will extend knowledge to inform intervention.
Eligible projects can include synthesis and knowledge exchange.
You should propose plans for involvement of people living with, or at risk of developing, health conditions and/or disabled people in the oversight and delivery of the project. Ideally, you should also meaningfully involve people with lived experience in the development and design of your proposal. Funds to support this can be included in the project budget.
Research that accounts for differences in local environments will be eligible, reflecting how specific needs of the four UK nations’ devolved contexts require tailored solutions.
Applications focused on one devolved nation are welcome (but require a strong justification for this), as are those making comparison between them or taking a cross UK perspective. International comparisons are also in scope.
Proposals must also meet the following general assessment criteria:
- Relevance: Is the proposal relevant to at least one of the priority questions?
- Impact: Is there a clear path to how the research and related activities might make a difference to people’s lives?
- Conceptual framework: Is there a clear conceptual framework?
- Rigour: Is the research methodology appropriate and rigorous?
- Experience: Does the team have the appropriate experience, expertise and potential?
- Value for money: Is the budget requested appropriate, and does it offer good value for money?
The following will not be funded:
- clinical/ medical interventions or care
- preventing or improving health conditions where the link to employment outcomes isn’t clear
- supporting existing service provision or simply looking to roll out an established model in a new geographical area
- new intervention or programme development where effective ones already exist
- data collection as a standalone activity
If in doubt, use Nuffield’s grant eligibility tool.
VALUE AND DURATION
Applicants can request up to £750,000 for up to four years.
A total of £5.5 million will be available across two rounds.
KEY DATES
Outline application deadline: 14 January 2027
Requests for full applications: March 2027
Deadline for full applications: April 2027
Successful applications notified: July 2027
Projects to start: from September 2027
If you are unable to meet the 14 January 2027 outline application deadline, a second round will open in Summer 2027 (deadline TBC).
More information, including details of eligible projects and relevant outcomes, can be found on the opportunity webpage. See also Nuffield’s guidance for applicants.