External funding deadlines calendar
The list below includes upcoming funding deadlines for the major funders/most popular funding schemes – visit Research Professional for more funding opportunities for your specific discipline. When planning your application, please remember that the Research Development team needs at least six working weeks notice of your proposal, so that we have adequate time to assist you with your application and complete the institutional approval process – get in touch as early as possible.
Need help with your research funding? Contact us.
External Funding Deadlines Live Calendar
View the External Funding Deadlines Calendar live in Research Professional calendar mode (requires login to Research Professional). The calendar provides a brief description of the funding opportunity when selected. Once open, you can view funding opportunities in calendar mode or subscribe to place all the deadline entries in your own calendar, which is automatically updated over time. The download option can also be used, however the deadline entries placed in your own calendar will not be updated automatically with this option.
(Updated 11 March 2026)
| ResDev Notification Date | Closing Date | Primary Funder Name | Funding Scheme |
| 11-Mar-26 | 22-Apr-26 | National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) | Fellowships |
| 11-Mar-26 | 22-Apr-26 | Division of Research Programs | Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan |
| 11-Mar-26 | 22-Apr-26 | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) | Early independence BBSRC fellowships outline |
| 12-Mar-26 | 23-Apr-26 | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) | Metascience research grants |
| 17-Mar-26 | 28-Apr-26 | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) | Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research in Japan - Standard |
| 17-Mar-26 | 28-Apr-26 | ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work | Marie Jahoda Innovation Fund |
| 19-Mar-26 | 30-Apr-26 | Cancer Research UK (CRUK) | Postdoctoral clinical fellows - route 1 |
| 20-Mar-26 | 01-May-26 | Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) (MND Association) | Healthcare research project grants |
| 20-Mar-26 | 01-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | NIHR Three Schools’ Dementia Research Programme Post-Doctoral Fellowship Scheme |
| 20-Mar-26 | 01-May-26 | Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) (MND Association) | Non-clinical research fellowships |
| 25-Mar-26 | 06-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | NIHR James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships rolling funding opportunity (HTA Programme) |
| 25-Mar-26 | 06-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | NIHR NICE rolling funding opportunity (HTA Programme) |
| 25-Mar-26 | 06-May-26 | Innovate UK | Advancing innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare |
| 25-Mar-26 | 06-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | HTA researcher-led – primary research |
| 25-Mar-26 | 06-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | Improving mobility and quality of life after stroke |
| 25-Mar-26 | 06-May-26 | Innovate UK | Contracts for Innovation in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare |
| 26-Mar-26 | 07-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | 2026 INSIGHT Competition (Cohort 2) |
| 26-Mar-26 | 07-May-26 | Wellcome | Establishing infrastructure hubs to power evidence synthesis in low- and middle-income countries |
| 26-Mar-26 | 07-May-26 | Innovate UK | Commercialising Knowledge Assets Fund (CKAF) |
| 27-Mar-26 | 08-May-26 | Leverhulme Trust | Major research fellowships in the humanities and social sciences |
| 01-Apr-26 | 13-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | Gambling evaluation team |
| 01-Apr-26 | 13-May-26 | UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) | Pre-announcement: UKRI Translation: Proof of Concept |
| 01-Apr-26 | 13-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | NIHR PGfAR Fast Track - Seed funded research |
| 02-Apr-26 | 14-May-26 | UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) | British Election Study 2027 to 2032 |
| 02-Apr-26 | 14-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | Improving access to, experience of, and outcomes from physical health services in prisons |
| 02-Apr-26 | 14-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | HSDR - Researcher-led |
| 02-Apr-26 | 14-May-26 | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) | Northern Ireland Election Study 2026 to 2031 |
| 02-Apr-26 | 14-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | NIHR James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships rolling funding opportunity (HSDR Programme) |
| 06-Apr-26 | 18-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | Evidence Synthesis Programme (ESP): Researcher-Led – Evidence Synthesis |
| 07-Apr-26 | 19-May-26 | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) | What Works Centre (WWC) for local employment support |
| 08-Apr-26 | 20-May-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | Programme Development Grants (PDG) |
| 17-Apr-26 | 29-May-26 | Cancer Research UK (CRUK) | Therapeutic catalyst |
| 20-Apr-26 | 01-Jun-26 | Diabetes UK | Project grants |
| 24-Apr-26 | 05-Jun-26 | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) | Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research in Japan - Short-term (PE) |
| 05-May-26 | 16-Jun-26 | UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) | Future leaders fellowships |
| 05-May-26 | 16-Jun-26 | Horizon Europe: Excellent Science | HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC - INFRAEOSC - Enabling an operational, open and FAIR EOSC ecosystem (2026- 27) |
| 05-May-26 | 16-Jun-26 | Horizon Europe: Excellent Science | HORIZON-INFRA-2026-SERV-01 - INFRASERV - Research infrastructures services to support a healthier future, a global climate and energy vision, a circular and resilient economy, and to advance frontier knowledge (2026-27) |
| 05-May-26 | 16-Jun-26 | Horizon Europe: Excellent Science | HORIZON-INFRA-2026-TECH-01 - INFRATECH - Next generation of scientific instrumentation, tools, methods, and advanced digital solutions of research infrastructures and fostering innovation and co-creation with industry (2026-27) |
| 05-May-26 | 16-Jun-26 | Horizon Europe: Excellent Science | HORIZON-INFRA-2026-DEV-01 - INFRADEV - Consolidation and evolution of the European Research Infrastructure landscape (2026-27) |
| 05-May-26 | 16-Jun-26 | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | NERC Independent Research Fellowship |
| 06-May-26 | 17-Jun-26 | ERA4Health | Multi-country Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trials in Cardiovascular, Autoimmune and Metabolic diseases (Trials4Health) call |
| 07-May-26 | 18-Jun-26 | Cancer Research UK (CRUK) | Biology to Prevention Award |
| 27-May-26 | 08-Jul-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | RfPB Commissioned - NIHR James Lind Alliance (JLA) rolling funding opportunity |
| 27-May-26 | 08-Jul-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | RfPB Commissioned - NIHR NICE rolling funding opportunity |
| 27-May-26 | 08-Jul-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | RfPB Commissioned - Building a health and social care system fit for the future 2026/352 |
| 02-Jun-26 | 14-Jul-26 | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | UK international ocean drilling programme site survey |
| 09-Jun-26 | 21-Jul-26 | Wellcome | Early-Career Awards |
| 19-Jun-26 | 31-Jul-26 | Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences | Call for Proposals |
| 20-Jun-26 | 01-Aug-26 | European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) | Global Lecture Courses |
| 07-Jul-26 | 18-Aug-26 | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | Loneliness in the community |
| 08-Jul-26 | 19-Aug-26 | Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) | Rights and justice programme grants |
| 08-Jul-26 | 19-Aug-26 | Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) | Peace and security programme grants |
| 08-Jul-26 | 19-Aug-26 | Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) | Northern Ireland programme grants |
| 08-Jul-26 | 19-Aug-26 | Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) | Sustainable future programme grants |
| 16-Jul-26 | 27-Aug-26 | Horizon Europe: Excellent Science | ERC-2025-ADG advanced grants |
| No deadline | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) | EPSRC programme grants | |
| No deadline | Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) | AHRC Responsive Mode: Collaborate with Researchers in Luxembourg | |
| No deadline | Vivensa Foundation | DMT Academy Ignition Fund | |
| No deadline | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) | Funding Opportunity for British-German Basic Research Projects in the Engineering and Physical Sciences (UKRI-EPSRC – DFG) | |
| Unknown | Medical Research Council (MRC) | MRC: research grant: applicant-led | |
| Unknown | Medical Research Council (MRC) | MRC: partnership grant: applicant-led | |
| Unknown | Cancer Research UK (CRUK) | Data for Children’s and Young People’s Cancer Pilot Award | |
| No deadline | Medical Research Council (MRC) | Collaborate with the functional genomics screening laboratory | |
| No deadline | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) | Mathematical sciences postdoctoral fellowship | |
| Unknown | National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) | MRFF and NHMRC – CTA Initiative – 2025 Aus-UK Platform Studies in Areas of Unmet Clinical Need Grant Opportunity | |
| No deadline | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) | ESRC responsive mode: secondary data analysis | |
| No deadline | Innovate UK | DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund | |
| No deadline | Cancer Research UK (CRUK) | Postdoctoral clinical fellows - route 2 | |
| No deadline | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) | ESRC responsive mode: working with Brazilian researchers round two | |
| No deadline | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) | Mathematical sciences open and open plus fellowship | |
| No deadline | Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) | AHRC responsive mode: UKRI NSF-SBE lead agency | |
| No deadline | Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung | Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel research awards | |
| No deadline | Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) | AHRC responsive mode: standard research grant | |
| Unknown | Medical Research Council (MRC) | MRC: new investigator research grant: applicant-led | |
| No deadline | Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) | UKRI Translation: AHRC Proof of Concept | |
| No deadline | Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) | Funding for farming in protected landscapes | |
| No deadline | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | NERC Urgency Funding | |
| No deadline | Advanced Research+Invention Agency (ARIA) | Rolling opportunity seeds | |
| No deadline | Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) | Collaborate with researchers in Norway | |
| No deadline | Scottish Government | Smart Scotland - feasibility and R&D grants |

