Apply Now: International Science Partnerships Fund – International Collaboration Awards (UK)

The ISPF International Collaboration Awards provide funding to enable outstanding emerging research leaders in the UK to develop research collaborations with international partners. The grants are open to newly independent researchers building their own group, who are ready to lead and drive the research vision of an international research programme.

Aim

• The International Collaboration Awards will provide funding to enable outstanding emerging research leaders in the UK and South Korea jointly to develop bilateral research collaborations.

Objectives

• The objectives of these awards are to:
  • Supporting collaboration: support the development of sustainable and mutually beneficial collaborative partnerships and growth of international research networks;
  • Funding high-quality and original research: enable newly independent researchers to generate new approaches to challenging research questions;
  • Nurturing talent: build the capabilities of newly independent researchers and their groups to conduct, manage, share and apply high quality research through sharing of knowledge, skills and exchange of people.

Funding Information

• Applicants are permitted to apply for up to £225,000 (£75,000 per year) from the Royal Society. And to apply for up to 360 Mil. (120 Mil. per year) South Korean Won (KRW) from NRF. Therefore the Royal Society and NRF will jointly make approximately £450,000 available for each award (subject to exchange rate variances).
• Duration:
  • Awards are expected to commence by 1 October 2025
  • The award is available for three years.

Eligibility Criteria

• The UK lead applicant and Korean lead applicant must both be newly independent researchers building their own group, who are ready to lead and drive the research vision of an international research programme.
• They would typically expect UK applicants to have a minimum of three years and maximum of eight years of active research experience since completing their PhD by the time of application (career breaks will be taken into consideration) or no more than 5 years of an independent research career.
• The UK lead applicant must hold a permanent or fixed-term independent academic research post, or named independent research fellowship, for the duration of the award. This grant does not support salary of the UK lead applicant.
• Applicants should have access to their own lab space and the ability to recruit research staff and students.
• Eligible Korean applicants are full-time faculty members in the field of science and technology at domestic universities and full-time researchers at national and government-funded research institutes, who are within seven years of receiving their doctorate, or within five years of being initially appointed to a position above the assistant professor.
• Applicants and Participants are not permitted to submit more than one application to this call.

Ineligibility Criteria

• The scheme is not for post-doctoral researchers or researchers whose salaries are paid by a grant for which someone else is the principal investigator. These individuals are not eligible to apply.
• Current ISPF International Collaboration Award lead researchers and participating researchers are not eligible to be a lead or participant in this call.

For more information, visit The Royal Society.