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UK Research and Innovation (BBSRC), with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

BBSRC Brazil pump-priming award (FAPPA)

Small awards from BBSRC, co-funded with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), for BBSRC-funded research groups to pump-prime new collaborations with FAPESP-funded scientists in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The UK applicant must be a project lead who already holds a current BBSRC research grant, or a researcher at a BBSRC strategically supported institute working on Institute Core Grant projects. Up to £35,000 at 100% full economic cost is available over up to two years, mainly for travel, subsistence, workshops and exchanges, while the São Paulo partners get matching support from FAPESP. There is no closing date, but you must apply at least 12 weeks before the project starts.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£1 – £35,000
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Open to organisations with standard UKRI eligibility, and the application must be made by a UK project lead who is currently in receipt of relevant BBSRC research funding: either the holder of a current BBSRC research grant, or a researcher at a BBSRC strategically supported institute working on projects funded through Institute Core Grant Awards (for example Institute Strategic Programme Grants, Core Capability Grants or National Bioscience Research Infrastructures)
  • Applicants must meet standard BBSRC eligibility rules
  • You can only apply after your BBSRC grant has started, and at least six months must remain on it from the start of the FAPPA award
  • The project lead does not have to be the person travelling
  • Students cannot apply
  • The partner in São Paulo must currently hold a FAPESP research grant as project lead or project co-lead (FAPESP lists Thematic Projects, Young Investigator Awards, Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers, Engineering Research Centers and Institutional Research Development Plans), and should check eligibility with FAPESP at chamada-bbsrc-fappa@fapesp.br
  • UK eligibility questions go to bbsrc.iru@bbsrc.ukri.org

What it funds

Pump-priming interactions between BBSRC-funded research groups and FAPESP scientists in Brazil, including:

  • Travel and subsistence
  • Other collaborative activities, such as workshops or exchanges
  • A modest level of direct research costs, including consumables and access to specialist equipment, to gather preliminary data to support new applications under the FAPESP agreement with UKRI
  • Additional care costs for visits, meetings and overseas travel undertaken as part of the activity, within the overall budget

direct research costs may not account for more than 50% of the total requested from BBSRC, and the grant must primarily have a non-research focus. FAPESP gives priority to food security and bioenergy and industrial biotechnology, though other areas are considered. São Paulo counterparts apply to FAPESP for equivalent funding.

What it will not fund

  • Salary costs
  • Overheads
  • Equipment costs
  • Costs that form part of someone's normal care arrangements
  • Applications from students

FAPESP says these awards are not a vehicle for longer-term collaboration on existing projects (that is the Brazil Partnering Award) or a long-term substitute for full research funding.

How to apply

  1. Agree the collaboration with a FAPESP-funded partner in São Paulo, who confirms their eligibility with FAPESP
  2. Make sure your research organisation is registered on the UKRI Funding Service (Je-S is not used)
  3. Start an application on the UKRI Funding Service from the UKRI opportunity page and confirm you are the project lead (the named holder of the existing BBSRC grant)
  4. Answer the questions: summary, UK core team, Brazil team (names, institutes, roles, lead Brazilian applicant), purpose (why the travel and joint research are needed), resources and cost justification (100% FEC costs itemised under 'exceptions'), ethics and RRI, animal, GMO and human participation sections, your organisation's support, project partners, data management, facilities and Trusted Research and Innovation
  5. Upload the FAPESP SAGe online form, including the FAPESP budget for the São Paulo researchers, as a PDF
  6. Send the application to your research office for checking; they submit a single joint application to BBSRC at least 12 weeks before the project starts or you intend to travel
  7. The São Paulo researchers submit the same proposal to FAPESP through its SAGe system with FAPESP's other required documents

there is no closing date; the closing date shown in the Funding Service (28 July 2027 on Find a Grant) is a system date about a year after opening. Follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Have ready

  • FAPESP SAGe online form, including the FAPESP budget request for the São Paulo researchers, as a single PDF no bigger than 8MB, named with the Funding Service number followed by 'FAPPA SAGe online form'
  • Statement of support from your research organisation, approved by an appropriate institutional authority and giving a significant person's name, position and office address or web link
  • Letters or emails of support from any named project partners, in a single PDF, one side of A4 per partner, in English or Welsh

if the SAGe attachment does not meet the requirements, the application will be rejected. Brazilian collaborators do not need to be added as project partners.

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