UK Research and Innovation (NERC)

Resilient economy and security through ecosystem transitions grants

Strategic research projects under the NERC-Defra co-funded Resilient Economy and Security through Ecosystem Transitions (RESET) programme, studying how, when and why ecosystems transition, reorganise or collapse and what that means for economic prosperity, societal resilience and national security. Open to research groups and individuals at any career stage at UK research organisations eligible for NERC funding, with interdisciplinary teams strongly encouraged. Projects can cost up to £2.5 million full economic cost, of which UKRI pays 80%, last up to three years and must start by 14 February 2027. Applications are assessed by distributed peer review, so each team must nominate two to four reviewers who each review up to six other proposals between 9 November and 4 December 2026.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £1 – £2,500,000
Closes in: 4 days left; 22 October
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

Open to organisations with standard UKRI eligibility
The project lead must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for NERC funding, including eligible public sector research establishments and independent research organisations; only the lead research organisation submits
Defra's arm's length bodies that are approved UKRI public sector research establishments can apply if they meet wider UKRI eligibility, but Defra itself must not be a project partner
Applications are welcome from individuals at any career stage, subject to NERC eligibility criteria
There is no limit on project co-leads, but each must make a clear unique contribution
International researchers can join as project co-lead (international) under NERC's eligibility guidance; other international collaborators and UK partners not at approved organisations, including businesses and financial sector organisations, take part as project partners (minor directly incurred costs such as travel are acceptable) or subcontractors
Each person can be involved in no more than two applications across this opportunity and the related RESET Hub opportunity, and lead only one
Project leads must agree to take part in distributed peer review and should not apply if they cannot
No institutional matched funding is required beyond the 20% FEC contribution

What it funds

Interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research on UK and international ecosystems addressing one or more of three themes:

Theme one: predicting ecosystem change and transitions
Theme two: understanding ecosystem change through cascading risks
Theme three: building ecosystem resilience
Research on natural or semi-natural ecosystems in terrestrial, freshwater, or terrestrial-marine transitional environments including coastal seas (within three nautical miles of shoreline)
Costs for NERC non-ship marine facilities and equipment, counted within the funding limit
Eligible costs of project co-leads (international) at 100%, up to 30% of the overall project cost at 100% FEC

the majority of research must be within NERC remit, but wider disciplines (biological and social sciences, economics, arts and humanities) are strongly encouraged. Projects focused outside the UK must show how they support sustainable growth and security to the UK. Funded projects must work closely with the RESET hub and other parts of the programme, report to a Programme Executive Board and face a mid-term review.

What it will not fund

PhD studentship costs
NERC ship-time costs
Projects focusing primarily on urban built-up areas, intensive farming or aquaculture, intensive commercial forestry plantations, active mining or oil or gas extraction, or major infrastructure including major roads or active railway lines
Projects whose primary purpose is to develop operational nature security risk taxonomies, policy-facing early warning frameworks, government decision-support tools or applied ecosystem assessment toolkits, unless clearly positioned as research outputs providing underpinning evidence or methods for the wider programme
Defra as a project partner (it co-funds the programme)

How to apply

Make sure your research organisation is registered on the UKRI Funding Service (Je-S is not used)
If you need NERC marine facilities, submit a ship-time and marine equipment (SME) or autonomous deployment (ADF) form to NERC Marine Planning and have it approved before you submit; if you need other facilities or services, get the facility's agreement and technical assessment beforehand
Start an application on the UKRI Funding Service (https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1320/apply/1348) and confirm you are the project lead
Answer the questions in the text boxes: summary, core team, vision, approach, applicant and team capability (R4RI narrative), ethics and RRI, NERC collaborative centre, classification, expertise on your project team, facilities, data management and sharing, project partners, resources and cost justification, and Trusted Research and Innovation
Nominate two to four team members, including the project lead, as reviewers in the 'Expertise on your project team' section
Send the application to your research office for checking; they submit it to UKRI by 4pm on 22 October 2026
Nominated reviewers review up to six other applications between 9 November and 4 December 2026

the notification of intent stage (16 September 2026) was optional and its date has passed; it is not needed to apply. The latest date to contact NERC Marine Planning about coastal seas facilities was 31 August 2026, and the deadline for BAS Antarctic logistics questionnaires (OSPQ) was 20 August 2026, so projects needing those can no longer meet the requirements. Failing to deliver reviews on time means automatic rejection of the application the reviewer is on. There is no applicant response stage.

Have ready

Facility forms (for example the NERC ship-time and marine equipment form) as a single PDF no larger than 8MB, named with the Funding Service number followed by 'facility forms', if applicable

most of the application is answered in Funding Service text boxes, with images allowed but no text or tables in images. Facility technical assessments are not submitted, but you must confirm you have received them.

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