This scheme is now closed and will not be opening to applications.
The scheme provided funding to support research consortia involving groups in the UK and developing countries to address global challenges.
The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) is a £1.5 billion fund announced by the UK Government to support cutting-edge research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries. The Fund forms part of the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment which is monitored by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
As part of the GCRF, the UK National Academies launched the interdisciplinary Challenge-Led Grants with a focus on resilience.
This £8 million call invited proposals from researchers across all academic disciplines. The interdisciplinary consortia will generate new approaches to significant and complex resilience problems facing developing countries and consist of one UK research group and two developing country research groups.
Objectives of the Challenge-led Grants were:
The proposed research had to be interdisciplinary and fall within the remit of the UK National Academies:
Applicants could apply for the scheme if:
The scheme provided a contribution of up to £500,000 of support for two and a half years.
Funds could be used flexibly on activities directly relevant to the proposed research. Requests included: consumables, travel and subsistence, networking costs, small pieces of equipment, research assistant salary, training and skills development costs, contribution to the time of the applicant or co-applicant(s) and contribution to overheads.
The 15 Challenge-Led Grants were announced in April 2019.
Find further guidance about the Global Challenge Research Fund.