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The Royal Society, in collaboration with the National Academies, invites applications for its global challenges research fund challenge-led grants. These support research consortia involving groups in the UK and developing countries in addressing global challenges with a focus on resilience. The objectives of the challenge-led grants are:

•funding excellence – generate excellent and novel research on global challenges directly and primarily relevant to developing countries that cuts across multiple thematic areas covered by the sustainable development goals;

•supporting collaboration – support the development of sustainable consortia comprising outstanding researchers in the UK and the best research groups in development assistance committee list countries to generate new approaches to the most significant and complex problems faced by developing countries;

•promoting interdisciplinary approaches – promote collaboration across different disciplines to take an interdisciplinary approach that generates new knowledge and insights from across different research disciplines;

•strengthening research capacity – strengthen research capacity in developing countries through collaboration, sharing of knowledge and skills, and exchange of staff between research groups in the UK and their partners in developing countries.

Researchers across all academic disciplines may apply. The teams must consist of one UK research group and two developing country research groups. The proposed research must address two or more GCRF thematic areas and be interdisciplinary, and it must ultimately benefit the economic development and welfare of developing countries.

Grants are worth up to £500,000 each for a period of two and a half years. Requests can include consumables, travel and subsistence, networking costs, small pieces of equipment worth up to £10,000, research assistant salary, training and skills development costs, contribution to the time of the applicant or co-applicants, and contribution to overheads. The total budget is £8 million.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council, under the Global Challenges Research Fund, invites applications for its award. This supports projects which seek to maximise the practical impact of STFC-funded research and innovation to improve the lives and opportunities of the global poor. Proposals should:

•address challenges faced by countries on the Development Assistance Committee list through disciplinary and interdisciplinary projects;

•strengthen capability for research and innovation in support of economic development and welfare, within both UK and countries on the DAC list.

The lead research organisation must be eligible to hold research council grants. Lead applicants must be employed within a research organisation group previously or currently funded by the STFC core science programme, such as nuclear physics, particle physics and particle astrophysics, astronomy and space science, and accelerators and computing in support of these, or employed within STFC laboratories or facilities and must show that the work proposed will develop technologies and expertise directly from this research. Interdisciplinary projects are welcomed, where appropriate.