BBSRC Follow-on Fund: 2025 Round 1
Apply for BBSRC Follow on Funding (FoF) to help bridge early-stage bioscience research and innovation with achieving wider commercial, economic and societal benefit.
Scope
BBSRC Follow on Funding (FoF) is designed to support the translation of fundamental research funded by BBSRC into practical application, including commercialisation.
BBSRC invests in excellent fundamental bioscience research, making the UK a world leader in this field. BBSRC want to ensure that innovation arising from BBSRC-funded research has the best opportunity of creating a positive economic and social impact now and in the future.
The FoF is a single award. You can request between £100,000 to £800,000 full economic cost (FEC). BBSRC provides 80% of the FEC.
Funding is for up to two years (24 months).
Projects considered through this programme must have a direct link to current or previous BBSRC-supported funding.
Applications are assessed by an independent committee or panel. Details of committee members can be found in the ‘Governance, management and panels’ section.
Aims
FoF aims to fill that gap and support proof-of-concept work to a point where the route to application, including commercialisation, is clear.
FoF supports activity that will enable translation of previous BBSRC-funded research. For example, it might be used to scale up a process to demonstrate viability at industrial scale or to develop a prototype. At the end of the project, a route to application should be clear. This could include development of a spin-out company, social enterprise or a licensing agreement.
A FoF grant enables researchers who have a sound understanding of the market opportunity for their intellectual assets to execute a defined programme, which has clear complementary technical and business plan development milestones.
BBSRC FoF specifically aims to:
- increase and accelerate the uptake and practical application of past bioscience research outputs to deliver benefit and impact
- enable researchers to further develop their understanding of potential routes to impact, including identifying opportunities and markets, and engaging directly with key stakeholders, customers, enablers and users
- support translation activities, including collaborative projects with industry, the third sector and other users
- enable researchers to develop their enterprise and entrepreneurial skills and capabilities
The BBSRC Follow-on Fund (2025 round one) will open on 22 January 2025. The closing date for this opportunity is 26 March 2025.
For further information please visit the UKRI website.