EPSRC: Building collaboration at the physics of life interface

15/04/2021

02/06/2021

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council, on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, invite applications for their building collaboration at the physics of life interface call. This supports cross-disciplinary research between physics and the life sciences. The total budget is £18 million, to fund six to 12 projects. Grants are worth between £1.5m and £2.95m each for up to three years.

Proposals must: ▪improve our understanding of living systems, through combining of novel perspectives and expertise from physics and the life sciences; ▪demonstrate co-creation of research questions, approaches and outcomes across the team of investigators; ▪be of sufficient ambition that it requires the contribution of substantive expertise and research activity from both physics and life sciences disciplines, to yield interdisciplinary outcomes which are greater than the sum of their parts; ▪include physics research which is in remit for the EPSRC biophysics and soft matter physics portfolio, integrated with research questions or applications within BBSRC or MRC remit; ▪include a strong commitment to supporting the development of researchers regardless of their career stage, providing increased opportunities for professional development of established investigators, and capacity-building for stakeholders engaged in the project.

Applications are open to researchers from UK HEIs, research council institutes, UKRI-approved independent research organisations, NHS bodies with a research capacity and public sector establishments with 10 or more researchers with PhDs.