Grant opportunity
Doctoral focal award: environmental evidence synthesis
NERC and ESRC funding for doctoral focal awards that train researchers in advanced environmental evidence synthesis, critical appraisal, communication, and use of diverse environmental information.
- Funder
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) / Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Full application deadline
- Full application deadline: Jul 15, 2026
- Award
- Up to GBP 4.072 million per award; total fund GBP 8.144 million
- Applicant
- Research organisations & consortia
- Discipline
- Environment and Sustainability
- Region
- United Kingdom
- Posted
- May 20, 2026
Call summary
Overview
This doctoral focal award will build capacity in environmental evidence synthesis by supporting training grants that equip researchers to appraise, synthesise, and communicate environmental evidence for research, policy, and practice.
Who can apply
- Applications must be led by organisations eligible to receive UKRI funding, including eligible higher education institutions, research council institutes, independent research organisations, Catapult centres, and some public sector research establishments.
- Applicants may apply as a single institution or a multi-institution consortium; the lead organisation will hold the training grant.
- A notification of intent must be completed by 27 May 2026.
What it supports
- Training in advanced evidence synthesis methods, critical appraisal, communication of environmental information, and use of diverse sources of evidence.
- Up to two doctoral focal awards are expected, each supporting 30 notional studentships across three annual intakes.
Funding and duration
The total fund is GBP 8.144 million, with a maximum award of GBP 4.072 million per doctoral focal award.
Full application deadline
Full application deadline: Jul 15, 2026
How to apply
Submit the notification of intent by 27 May 2026 and the full application through the UKRI Funding Service by 15 July 2026 at 4:00 pm UK time.
Call details
About the opportunity
This doctoral focal award will build capacity in environmental evidence synthesis by supporting training grants that equip researchers to appraise, synthesise, and communicate environmental evidence for research, policy, and practice.
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) / Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) lists this opportunity for Research organisations & consortia, Environment and Sustainability, United Kingdom.
This listing is written for researchers, students, universities, NGOs, research teams, policy professionals and academic institutions searching for Environment and Sustainability grants, fellowships, scholarships, conferences, workshops and funding opportunities in United Kingdom contexts.
Eligibility
Applications must be led by organisations eligible to receive UKRI funding, including eligible higher education institutions, research council institutes, independent research organisations, Catapult centres, and some public sector research establishments.
Applicants may apply as a single institution or a multi-institution consortium; the lead organisation will hold the training grant.
A notification of intent must be completed by 27 May 2026.
Funding and benefits
The total fund is GBP 8.144 million, with a maximum award of GBP 4.072 million per doctoral focal award.
Themes and supported activities
Training in advanced evidence synthesis methods, critical appraisal, communication of environmental information, and use of diverse sources of evidence.
Up to two doctoral focal awards are expected, each supporting 30 notional studentships across three annual intakes.
Deadline and timeline
Full application deadline: Full application deadline: Jul 15, 2026.
Applicants should confirm the exact deadline time, time zone, required documents, portal steps and any institutional approvals on the official call page before submitting.
How to apply
Submit the notification of intent by 27 May 2026 and the full application through the UKRI Funding Service by 15 July 2026 at 4:00 pm UK time.
Before applying, check eligibility rules, budgets, attachments, page limits, partner requirements, cost-share conditions and whether the opportunity uses an expression of interest, full proposal, registration or nomination stage.