Grant opportunity

CfI: Boosting fathers' engagement to improve child outcomes

UKRI cross-research-council funding to test new ways of increasing fathers' engagement in services, with the aim of improving child outcomes and reducing inequalities.

GrantSocial sciencesChildren and familiesEIPMEIDMUnited Kingdom
Funder
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Deadline
Jul 22, 2026
Award
GBP 500,000 to GBP 970,000; 100% FEC for eligible costs
Applicant
Research teams & consortia
Discipline
Social Sciences, Policy & Governance
Region
United Kingdom
Posted
May 19, 2026

Call summary

Overview

UKRI is inviting applications for collaborative research that tests approaches to boosting fathers' engagement in services and strengthening evidence about what improves child outcomes.

Who can apply

  • Project leads must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding.
  • Applications should bring together relevant research expertise and partners able to test, implement, or use evidence on fathers' engagement and child outcomes.

What it supports

  • Research, intervention, evaluation, and partnership work focused on fathers' engagement with services and support systems.
  • Projects should generate useful evidence for policy, practice, and service delivery, including work relevant to reducing inequalities in child outcomes.

Funding and duration

Applicants can request between GBP 500,000 and GBP 970,000 for projects lasting up to 18 months. UKRI states eligible project costs are funded at 100% full economic cost.

Application deadline

Jul 22, 2026

How to apply

Use the official UKRI Funding Finder page and submit through the UKRI Funding Service by 22 July 2026 at 4:00 pm UK time.

Call details

About the opportunity

UKRI is inviting applications for collaborative research that tests approaches to boosting fathers' engagement in services and strengthening evidence about what improves child outcomes.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) lists this opportunity for Research teams & consortia, Social Sciences, Policy & Governance, United Kingdom.

This listing is written for researchers, students, universities, NGOs, research teams, policy professionals and academic institutions searching for Social Sciences, Policy & Governance grants, fellowships, scholarships, conferences, workshops and funding opportunities in United Kingdom contexts.

Eligibility

Project leads must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding.

Applications should bring together relevant research expertise and partners able to test, implement, or use evidence on fathers' engagement and child outcomes.

Funding and benefits

Applicants can request between GBP 500,000 and GBP 970,000 for projects lasting up to 18 months. UKRI states eligible project costs are funded at 100% full economic cost.

Themes and supported activities

Research, intervention, evaluation, and partnership work focused on fathers' engagement with services and support systems.

Projects should generate useful evidence for policy, practice, and service delivery, including work relevant to reducing inequalities in child outcomes.

Deadline and timeline

Application deadline: Jul 22, 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

Use the official UKRI Funding Finder page and submit through the UKRI Funding Service by 22 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.