All grant awards are funded at 100% FEC for directly incurred and directly allocated costs.
Business Interaction Vouchers (BIVs), with a maximum grant award of £50,000, are available to fund proof-of-principle projects. These projects, lasting up to six months, should foster stronger collaborations between academia and industry. A key focus is addressing significant scientific questions relevant to INFORM. While not mandatory, in-kind industrial contributions, such as access to facilities or materials, are strongly encouraged and welcomed.
Feasibility Awards Collaborative Research and Innovation
Feasibility Awards of up to £100,000 each are available to support projects that have progressed beyond the Business Interaction Voucher (BIV) stage. These awards focus on advancing translational and commercialization activities that drive innovation. Projects may include, for example, the development and validation of target populations for novel functional foods. A key requirement of Feasibility awards is that industrial collaborators provide matching contributions, either in cash or in-kind.
Flexible Mobility Awards (FMA)
Flexible Mobility Awards (FMAs) are available to facilitate collaboration and exchange between academia and industry within the INFORM remit. These awards support the professional development of early-career researchers, technicians, and industry professionals seeking to expand their skill sets. The acquired skills should contribute to professional growth, advance research within the field, broaden collaborative networks, strengthen industry/academic relationships, and gather practical evidence on the health benefits of functional foods.
We are offering two types of FMAs:
- Flexible mobility award – placements
FMA placements, valued up to £40,000, are available to support professional development. These placements are designed for:-
Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and technical staff from academia seeking experience in a company or private organization.
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Industry staff (including technicians, specialists, engineers, and researchers) aiming to advance their careers through work experience in a public research organization.
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- Flexible mobility award – Impact reports
To effectively influence policy, evidence must be clearly communicated to decision-makers. INFORM’s FMA-Impact awards, offering up to £25,000 for six-month projects, will support the formation of working groups tasked with developing impactful documents. These documents will synthesize existing evidence from published trials demonstrating the benefits of gut-modulating products (pre/probiotics). Critically, they will also include a cost analysis estimating potential NHS savings (or reductions in lost workdays) based on population consumption data for these functional foods.
For grant eligibility, the definition of an ECR is someone who is either:
- Within eight years of their PhD award (this is from the time of the PhD ‘viva’ oral test) or equivalent professional training
- Within six years of their first academic appointment (the first full or part-time paid employment contract that lists research or teaching as the primary function).
You must be a Hub member to apply for these funding opportunities.
All applications will go through a peer-review process by four independent reviewers who are experts in the project’s field. The application assessment criteria will include scientific excellence, timeliness, importance to the theme, and industrial relevance.
Are you looking for a collaborative partner?
Are you interested in exploring a research topic further?
Complete our Collaboration Enquiry Form and we will try to assist your search for a collaborative partner from INFORM Hub’s members and associations.