BBSRC Follow-on Fund

BBSRC Follow-on Fund sits under the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and is run through UKRI. It helps researchers at eligible UK research organisations turn prior BBSRC-supported discoveries into commercial, economic, or societal value. The scheme is explicitly follow-on work, so the point is to bridge existing research into use rather than to back a fresh discovery project. The 2026 Round One budget was GBP 3m, with awards from GBP 100k to GBP 800k and projects of up to two years. BBSRC funds 80 percent of full economic cost, and the scheme runs about twice a year, with Round One closing on 31 March 2026 and Round Two expected in autumn 2026. The lead must be based at an eligible UK research organisation, and a direct link to current or prior BBSRC-supported funding is mandatory. This fund is strongest when the underlying science is already credible and the remaining gap is translational rather than exploratory. Teams that can point to a clear application, a practical milestone, and a route to commercial or societal benefit tend to be the best fit. The UKRI Funding Service is the application route, so the winning submissions are usually the ones that present a tight case for value, relevance, and next-step execution.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.