Doctoral focal award: chemical threat reduction
- Funder
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- Award amount
- Up to £12,525,000
- Deadline
- January 19, 2027
- Eligible countries
- United Kingdom
Real odds
About 1 in 5 funded · 21% · Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), all funding decisions, 2024-25
Source: UKRI investment and outputs data, table 2.1
What this number means
This is the funder’s published average for the whole program in a past year, not a prediction for any one application. Targeted calls, resubmissions and how well a proposal fits all change the picture.
UKRI divides applications awarded by applications assessed in the financial year, across all of the council’s schemes (research grants, fellowships and directed calls).
2024-25: 659 funded out of 3,187.
The year before (2023-24): 28%.
Summary
Open UKRI funding opportunity · Grant. Closes 2027-01-19. Total fund £12.53 million. Opportunity page: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/doctoral-focal-award-chemical-threat-reduction/
Apply for funding to deliver a doctoral focal award (DFA), offering high quality, cohort-based doctoral training in chemical threat reduction skills related to the defence section of the Government’s Industrial Strategy and the protection of UK health and national security.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) expect up to £14.275 million funding to be available for this opportunity.
As a non-full economic cost award, UKRI will fund 100% of eligible costs listed in the opportunity. Estates and indirect costs will not be funded.
An expression of interest must be completed by 1 December 2026, 11:59pm UK time.
What we're looking for Scope
Developing sovereign capability to respond to and recover from chemical incidents and threats requires a specialised pipeline of research scientists trained to doctoral level. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified the need to strengthen national capacity by increasing trained CBRN specialists to respond effectively to chemical incidents. The Strategic Defence Review 2025 highlights that sovereign skills in chemical defence are essential and urgent and calls for dedicated partnerships with universities to develop this talent.
UKRI, in collaboration with Ministry of Defence (MOD), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), are looking to fund a dedicated DFA in chemical threat reduction to invest in sovereign expertise, sustain capability and support future rapid national response.
This opportunity will support a DFA to train the next generation of researchers and innovators. DFAs provide support for areas that require a concentration of studentships in combination with a highly tailored training programme.
We welcome applications from new collaborations, as well as…
Summary as listed by the funder. Always read the full announcement for eligibility, limits and how to apply.
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