Spring 2026 FMA Placement Funding Call:
Open 9:00 AM, 16th February – 5:00 PM, 24th April 2026
These awards, offering up to £40,000, aim to promote and support mobility between academia and industry within the INFORM framework. FMAs are designed for Early Career Researchers (ECRs), technicians, and industry professionals looking to enhance their skill sets through placements of up to six months.
The new skills acquired should be relevant to developing professional profiles, fostering research growth in the field, expanding collaborations, and strengthening industrial-academic relationships. Additionally, these placements should aim to gather evidence on how functional foods can support health in practice.
Priority will be given to ECRs and technical staff from academia, as well as technicians, specialists, engineers, and researchers from industry. While FMAs will primarily focus on UK-based organisations, placements at the overseas partners of UK companies will also be considered.
We encourage applications for smaller awards to increase the number of FMA placements funded.
*Note the application review process can take 8-12 weeks. Please consider this with the potential project start date on your application
Who can apply?
Funding is available to staff and researchers from any public or private UK organisation with an activity in the areas of functional foods, gut health and recovery. Priority will be given to Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and technical staff from academia, and technicians, specialists, engineers, and researchers from industry. FMAs will prioritise UK-based organisations (academic or industry) but will also consider placements at overseas partners of a UK-based company.
The successful academic and industrial partner will agree on a start date and need to have a signed Collaboration Agreement and, when applicable, a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in place before the project commences. The Hub Manager will require evidence that these are in place before releasing funds.
You do not need to be a member of the INFORM ORIC to apply, but we would recommend it, and if you are successful, you would need to join. It’s simple to join and lets you hear about our funding calls and events before anyone else. You can be a member of other ORIC hubs, too. If you haven’t already, please sign up here.
Duration FMA Placements:
FMA Placement funding will support placement opportunities for up to six months. Applications for shorter durations are encouraged to enable multiple awards to be made.
Costs the funding will cover
Funds for the Flexible Mobility Awards can be used for Directly Incurred costs, including salary, reasonable travel, and subsistence. The award can also be used to support consumables and expenses of the host institute.
Researcher time can be bought out, and funds can be used to support a researcher to work on an industry-relevant project.
If further financial support is needed, the industrial partner would be expected to support these costs.
Costs that cannot be claimed
Please note funding will not cover:
- Indirect or estate costs at the research organisation
- Any costs relating to intellectual property protection, including but not limited to registering, maintaining, or supporting patents or property rights
- Equipment with a value of £10,000 or more
- Undergraduate or postgraduate activities, training, or core PhD training, including tuition or bench fees.
Review and assessment
When we receive your application, our Hub Manager will ensure the eligibility criteria are met, the application is complete, and full financial information is included.
FMA Placement applications will be peer-reviewed by four members of our panel.
The placement should be within the scope and support INFORM’s aims. On passing these requirements, applications will be assessed across the following areas.
- Eligibility
- Status of candidates
- Project in scope
- Quality of the project
- Potential outcomes (benefit to ECR, long-term collaboration, advancing research in the field)
The Hub Management Committee will further assess the applications for the awards.
Reviewers will be expected to adhere to the highest standards of scientific integrity. In the event of a conflict of interest, this must be declared to the hub manager, who will reassign the proposal to an alternative reviewer.
Application Process:
Applications must be submitted in full via the online portal by 5 PM on Friday, 26th April 2026.
You can save your application at any stage. We will email you a login link, but your return code will only be displayed on-screen. Please note it down, as it is required alongside the link to resume your application.
If you are collaborating with others, you may also share the link and the code with them to access the form and update/complete the required information. If you lose your code, contact the Hub Manager for assistance.
A copy of the application form and FMA Placement Guidance document can be downloaded from the links below to assist with your application submission.
BBSRC INFORM Hub – FMA-Impact Report Guidance Document Feb26 v3.00
BBSRC INFORM Hub – FMA-Impact Report Application Template