NERC-NSF Lead Agency — Collaborative
Supports joint United Kingdom and United States environmental teams through the NERC NSF Lead arrangement for collaborative proposals and shared review.
Eligibility · United Kingdom, United States
The NERC-NSF Lead Agency arrangement is a permanently open bilateral scheme enabling UK and US environmental scientists to pursue collaborative research under a single coordinated review process, avoiding the duplication of parallel national applications. Under the arrangement, NERC and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) — specifically NSF's Geosciences (GEO) or Biological Sciences (BIO) directorates — jointly review proposals, with one agency acting as the administrative lead. There is no closing date; applications can be submitted at any time, and a full application must be submitted within one year of an approved expression of interest.
The financial terms differ by lead agency. In NERC-led applications, the UK component must represent at least 50% of the combined UK and US project budget; NERC funds at its standard 80% fEC rate. In NSF-led applications, the UK co-lead can request up to £300,000 from NERC at 100% fEC — meaning the host institution faces no co-funding requirement on the UK side. All proposals require both a UK lead at a NERC-eligible institution and a US lead at an NSF-eligible institution. For-profit companies, nonprofits, and individuals cannot apply; only universities and eligible research organisations on both sides qualify.
The scheme suits established or emerging transatlantic research partnerships where the scientific question genuinely requires UK-US collaboration — for instance, research involving both British and North American field sites, shared long-term datasets, or complementary methodological expertise. Applications are assessed against the standard scientific quality criteria of whichever council leads the review. Teams should agree budget allocation and the lead-agency designation early, as the 50% UK-budget threshold in NERC-led cases constrains how the work is divided between the two national teams.
Collaborative environmental science within both NERC's remit and NSF GEO or BIO scope. Requires both a UK and US co-lead.
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