Funding now open
We are looking to fund collaborative projects and activities that reflect a focus on Campylobacter and Salmonella, alongside other strategically important foodborne pathogens (foodborne viruses, Listeria spp. and pathogenic E. coli), data sharing and intelligence, and other important cross-cutting challenges
Rather than creating new objectives, this investment accelerates delivery of the highest-value opportunities already emerging from the FSRN, while creating new collaborative projects focused specifically on understanding and mitigating foodborne microbial risks.
We are looking to fund projects that relate to one or more of the following strategic aims:
- A Public Health Lens on Food Safety – This call treats the recent rise in foodborne disease as a public health issue, not solely a food-industry or microbiological one, and welcomes projects that draw on public health expertise and thinking alongside research, industry and policy perspectives.
- Focused Pathogen Priority – Priority is given to projects addressing Campylobacter and Salmonella, the two pathogens with highest recent changes of activity, while the call continues to welcome important work on foodborne viruses, Listeria, pathogenic E. coli and relevant cross-cutting food safety challenges.
- Translating Evidence into Policy and Practice – Projects that generate evidence capable of informing the decisions of food safety regulators and government bodies (such as the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, Defra and the MHRA) and shaping professional practice.
- Practical, Near-Application Value – Priority is given to projects that produce usable, near-term solutions and practical benefits for consumers, industry and public health.
- Leverage Towards Future, Larger Investment – Projects that build the partnerships, preliminary evidence and track record needed to attract further, larger-scale investment beyond this call, extending the impact of this funding well past its own lifetime.
Funding will be available for current Food Safety Research Network members and must represent a collaboration between an academic lead applicant eligible to receive BBSRC funding and at least one non-academic partner. You can join the UK Food Safety Research Network for free.
Multiple academic and non-academic partners are encouraged where it benefits the project.
Project applications should be for £10,000 to £50,000 representative of the scale and type of the project.
Applications close Friday 27 November 2026
