Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Biological influence on ocean carbon: novel modelling approaches

Opportunity status: Open Funders: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Co-funders: National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) Funding type: Grant Total fund: £1,000,000 Award range: £50,000 - £312,500 Publication date: 1 April 2026 Opening date:

1 April 2026 9:00am UK time

Closing date:

14 July 2026 4:00pm UK time

Start application Apply for funding for a UK-US project to develop new representations of key processes regulating ocean carbon storage for use in global models.

Project lead and UK researchers must be based at a UK research organisation eligible to apply for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be providing support. US researchers must be affiliated with a US institution at the time of application submission.

The full economic cost (FEC) of the UK component can be up to £312,500. We will fund 80% of the FEC.

You must provide a notification of intent (NoI) to be eligible to make a full application.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

For US applicants, please reach out to laura.lorenzoni@nasa.gov

Who is eligible to apply

Applications from individuals at any career stage, subject to eligibility criteria are welcome.

Who is not eligible to apply

Applications are ineligible if:

• you are involved in more than two applications submitted to this funding opportunity. Only one of these can be as project lead
• project partners do not fund their own involvement. We will only fund minor incidental expenses, such as some travel costs, if needed for project partners
• they have not submitted a notification of intent

International researchers

Project leads based outside the UK are not permitted. Project co-leads must be based in the UK or the US. US project co-leads must be affiliated with a US institution at the time of application submission. For eligibility, see section 9.3 of the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual. US applicants should contact Laura Lorenzoni at NASA for further details: laura.lorenzoni@nasa.gov

You should include all other international collaborators, or UK partners not based at approved organisations, as project partners. This includes organisations from the business or financial sectors.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

• career breaks
• support for people with caring responsibilities
• flexible working
• alternative working patterns UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

What we're looking for

Demand management

Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.

Scope

This funding opportunity aims to deliver novel modelling approaches to assess the biological influence on ocean carbon storage for the Biological Influence on Future Ocean Storage of Carbon (BIO-Carbon) research programme and NASA’s Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) programme.

The ocean stores huge amounts of carbon dioxide that could otherwise be in the atmosphere. Marine organisms play a critical role, but emerging evidence indicates that global coupled ocean atmosphere models are not fully accounting for their impact. BIO-Carbon and EXPORTS will deliver the new understanding of biological processes necessary to push beyond the state-of-the-art, to provide robust predictions of future ocean carbon storage.

Projects are expected to address one or more of the following questions:

• how does marine life affect the potential for seawater to keep taking up CO2, and how will this change?
• how will the rate at which marine life converts dissolved CO2 into organic carbon change?
• how do upper ocean ecosystem characteristics determine the vertical transfer of organic matter from the well-lit surface ocean?
• what controls the efficiency of vertical transfer of organic matter below the well-lit surface ocean?
• how will future induced shifts in respiration by the marine ecosystem affect the future ocean storage of carbon?
• how can the knowledge gained be used to reduce uncertainties in contemporary & future estimates of the export and fates of net primary production? BIO-Carbon and EXPORTS aim to deliver a fundamental understanding of the key biological processes that are relevant globally. By encapsulating this new knowledge in a robust modelling framework, these programmes will allow examination of the resulting feedback on future predictions for how global ocean carbon storage may change. Additionally, they will provide new parameterisations of key processes for inclusion in the next generation of global models and emergent constraints to identify clearly erroneous forecasts.

Applications will be expected to build on information produced by previous BIO-Carbon funding opportunities programme, the EXPORTS programme, and data emerging from other projects internationally.

Applications should demonstrate a novel modelling approach to tackling the question of how marine life helps store carbon in the ocean. Examples include new ways of representing key processes, new methods to quantitatively assess and inter-compare model performance and new approaches to modelling the ocean biological carbon system. All BIO-Carbon generated datasets can be found on the BIO-Carbon webpages.  All EXPORTS data are freely available on the SeaBASS website.

For this funding opportunity you are strongly encouraged to be collaborative and include UK and US researchers. One joint application should be submitted to the UKRI Funding Service detailing both the UK and US contributions to the project in the case of a UK-US collaboration.  Information on US collaborators should be included in the ‘Approach’ section of your application. US costs should be outlined in the ‘Resources and cost justification’ section.

NERC and NASA will aim to fund a balanced portfolio of projects which address the aims of both programmes.

Duration

The duration of this award is a maximum of 24 months.

Funding available

The FEC of the UK component can be up to £312,500.

The maximum cost of the US component across this opportunity and the linked ‘Biological influence on ocean carbon: multiple model assessments’ opportunity will be up to $1 million, pending funding availability. US applicants should contact Laura Lorenzoni at NASA for further details: laura.lorenzoni@nasa.gov

NERC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Applications including US researchers should include, in the ‘Approach’ section of their applications, a contingency plan for how their plans would be changed if NASA is unable to provide funding for US involvement in this opportunity.

It is strongly encouraged for contingency plans to still include contributions in-kind from US researchers. If it is not appropriate to include US researchers because the proposed work is not in scope for EXPORTS then this must be clearly stated and justified.

What UKRI will fund

UKRI will fund facilities costs.

What UKRI will not fund

UKRI will not fund:

• PhD studentship costs
• requests for equipment of £25,000. You should request smaller items of equipment (under £25,000 individually) under ‘Consumables (other directly incurred costs)’ in your application US applicants should contact Laura Lorenzoni to discuss eligible costs: laura.lorenzoni@nasa.gov

Services and facilities

You can apply to use a facility or resource in your funding application.

If you will need to use a UKRI facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. You should discuss your application with the facility or service in advance of submitting to the funding opportunity to:

• discuss the proposed work in detail
• receive confirmation that they can provide the services required within the timeframe of the funding You should ensure you have prior agreement from the facility before submitting to the funding opportunity and indicate this within your application.

The facility will provide a technical assessment that includes the calculated cost of providing the service. NERC services and facilities must be costed within the limits of the funding.

You should not submit the technical assessment with the application, but you must confirm you have received it.

For more information, see the NERC research grants and fellowships handbook.

Read the full list of NERC facilities that require a technical assessment.

High Performance Computing (HPC), Ship-Time or Marine Equipment (SME) and the large research facilities at Harwell have their own policies for access and costing.

For more information regarding the use of high performance computing services, see Applying to use high performance computing service.

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

How to apply

Stage one: notification of intent (NoI)

There is a mandatory notification of intent stage for this UKRI funding opportunity.

To submit an NoI, fill in BIO Carbon: Biological Influence on Ocean Carbon: Novel Modelling Approaches – Notification of intent form by 8 May 2026 at 4:00pm UK time. If a full application is submitted without a prior NoI by the stated deadline, it will be rejected.

The NoI form requests details of the proposed research projects team and a summary of the research project application. This information will not be assessed but will be used to inform plans for the assessment panel. Nothing provided as part of the NoI step is considered finalised. Therefore additional partners and project co-leads may be added at a later stage, and the application may change significantly as further details are prepared.

You will receive an automated email acknowledgement once you have submitted your NoI.

Feedback will not be given for the NoI, unless we have concerns regarding the fit to the funding opportunity scope.

Stage two: full application

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service, so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI. Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must:

• provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
• insert each new image on a new line

• use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
  Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:

• sentences or paragraphs of text

• tables

• excessive quantities of images
  A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

• how applicants use the Funding Service
• how research offices use the Funding Service
• how reviewers use the Funding Service

References

References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:

• references are easily identifiable by the assessors
• references are formatted as appropriate to your research
• persistent identifiers are used where possible

General use of hyperlinks

Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI)

Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.

Deadline

NERC must receive your application by 14 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Personal data

Processing personal data

NERC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email biocarbon@nerc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: the funding opportunity title; sensitive information.

Typical examples of confidential information include:

• individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
• declaration of interest
• additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
• conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Institutional matched funding

There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.

This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

Publication of outcomes

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:

• opinion-formers
• policymakers
• the public
• the wider research community

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

• context
• the challenge the project addresses
• aims and objectives
• potential applications and benefits

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

• project lead (PL)
• project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
• project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
• specialist
• grant manager
• professional enabling staff
• research and innovation associate
• technician
• visiting researcher
• researcher co-lead (RcL) Only list one individual as project lead.

UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

You should use the project co-lead (international) to include your US project lead.  However, in the ‘Resources and cost justification’ section, no costs should be included for this role.  You should include the costs to NASA in the section ‘International collaboration’.

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 1,000 word

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work:

• is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
• has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
• is timely given current trends, context, and needs
• impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

You should include details of your entire activity including the US part within this section.

Approach

Word limit: 2,000

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:

• is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
• is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
• uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
• summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
• will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
• describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
• includes information on US collaborators (if applicable), including affiliations and expertise References may be included within this section.

You should include details of your entire activity including the US part within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

• the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
• the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
• the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
• contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the R4RI format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:

• contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
• the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
• contributions to the wider research and innovation community
• contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit

Additions

Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

References may be included within this section.

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

You should include your US team within this section.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical and RRI considerations, implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

• the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project
• the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm
• how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation.

You should include details of your entire activity including the US part within this section.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 2,000

What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

• project staff
• significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
• any equipment that will cost more than £25,000
• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
• all facilities and infrastructure costs
• all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’ You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project. For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders. Where a funding limit is imposed on the opportunity, requested costs for reasonable adjustments may exceed the maximum funding amount.

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

• are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
• represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
• maximise potential outcomes and impacts You must not include costs and justification for your US team here. You should include this as indicated in the section ‘International collaboration’.

Project partners

Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or facilities. Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.

Add the following project partner details:

• the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
• the project partner contact name and email address
• the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 500

How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, through liaising with the appropriate data centre NERC data policy. Indicate:

• which NERC data centre is required to archive the data
• whether the total volume of data is likely to be larger than 1TB
• any other detail on how you will comply with NERC data policy
• requirements of the proposed sensing system or capability on current digital research infrastructure (including data and compute)
• how data accessibility for both private and public end users will be enhanced For further assistance, email data@nerc.ukri.org

Facilities

Word limit: 250

Does your proposed research require the support and use of a UKRI facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you will need to use a UKRI facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement before submitting to the call so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.

For each requested facility you will need to provide the:

• name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 42KB)
• proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
• confirmation you have their agreement Applicants requesting the use of ship time or marine equipment or will be required to attach a facility form, this will need to be uploaded as a PDF. If you need to upload multiple forms, then combine them into a single PDF, ensuring it is no larger than 8MB if applicable.

Information regarding NERC marine facilities availability

Facilities should only be named if they are on the UKRI facility information list above. If you do not need to use a UKRI facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

Word limit: 100

Does your proposed work relate to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate how your proposed work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles including:

• list any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research
• if this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, please list the area(s)
• please read the academic export control guidance and confirm if an export control licence is required for this project and the status of any application(s)
• if your project involves any items or substances on the UK strategic export control list, please provide a list We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information later, in line with UKRI TR&I principles and funding terms and conditions (RGC 2.6.2, 2.7.1 and 2.7.2).

International collaboration

Word limit: 200

Does the proposed work involve any international collaboration with NASA funding?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide details about your expected international collaboration or engagement, including:

• lead US applicant name
• lead US applicant institute
• lead US applicant job title
• lead US applicant email address
• total budget being requested from NASA You should include your lead US applicant only as a project co-lead (international) in your ‘Core Team’.  This role must be included with zero cost in the ‘Resources and cost justification’ section.  Please do not include details of the NASA funded applicant(s) in the Funding Service ‘Project Partner’ section.

You should include the NASA funded team’s activity within this project within sections on ‘Vision’, ‘Approach’, ‘Team capability to deliver’, narrative ‘Justification of resources’ and any other relevant sections.  Please do not include costs associated with the NASA funded team in the ‘Resources and cost justification’ section.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Panel

Your application will be considered at an assessment panel for how well it meets the published assessment criteria.  The panel will then make a funding recommendation to UKRI.

UKRI and NASA will make the final funding decision. UKRI reserves the right to change the process of assessment in case of high demand.

For more information on how we prioritise applications for funding please visit How we make decisions.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within 3 months of the closing date.

Feedback

We will give feedback with the outcome of your application.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review

Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment, including to correct language, spelling, grammar and formatting. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.

For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.

Sharing data with co-funders

We will need to share the application (including any personal information that it contains) with NASA so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how NASA uses personal information, visit NASA Science Information Policy

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

• Vision
• Approach
• Applicant and team capability to deliver
• Ethics and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

The helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility, content or remit of a funding opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your application please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact biocarbon@nerc.ukri.org

US applicants should contact Laura Lorenzoni to discuss eligible costs: laura.lorenzoni@nasa.gov

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

• Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
• Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm To help us process queries more efficiently, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.

Additional info

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

• breaks and delays
• disruptive working patterns and conditions
• the loss of ongoing work
• role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

Timeline

1 April 2026 9:00am Opening date 8 May 2026 4:00pm Notification of Intent closing date 14 July 2026 4:00pm Full application closing date

Print and download options

• Print this guidance or save as PDF

Guidance on good research

• Good research resource hub

Related content

• UKRI policies and standards
• NERC policies and standards
• BIO-Carbon programme website

Related opportunities

• Multiple model assessment of biological influence on ocean carbon

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