FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Explore our funding opportunities and learn about previously funded calls and their impact. Be sure to check out our SULSA Activity Planner to plan for the year ahead.
01
SULSA Innovation Seed
Run in collaboration with The Data Lab, this funding aims to foster new collaborative projects across the academic and industrial sector and drive novel and exciting research and innovation. Applications must focus on a topic that belongs to or is for the benefit of life and health sciences with a strong data or digital element.
Fund Available: Between £5,000-£15,000 available for 2-3 projects.
Open to: Senior Postdoctoral Researcher that has secured more than £50,000 in independent research funding (not including fellowship grants) or a Principal Investigator that has secured less than £500,000 of independent research funding.
Status: Call opens Monday 5th May 2025
02
SULSA Network Support
SULSA wish to support new and existing Life Sciences Networks with our SULSA Network Support by providing funds towards the running of a network event. The Network must fall within the SULSA Life Sciences remit which includes everything from human health to animals, plants, and microbes. Networks must be led by a Scottish University(ies) but can include members from across the UK and internationally.
The funds must be used towards the costs associated with running a network event.
Funds Available: Networks are invited to apply for up to £1,000 with a maximum of 3 networks being awarded per round.
Open to: All levels but the lead applicant must work within the Life Sciences.
Call Status: Call now open and closes Monday 18th August 2025
Comments: Round two of this call will open in March 2025 and close in August 2025 with the event taking place by 31st January 2026.
03
SULSA Postdoctoral Prize
SULSA wish to award outstanding Postdoctoral Researchers whose work shows excellent potential to make an impact in the field of life sciences.
Formerly known as the SULSA ECR Prize, this prize allows exceptional Postdoctoral Researchers to raise their profile in Scotland and have a prestigious award on their CV. It includes a fully funded tour (worth £1,000) of three Scottish universities where the awardee will deliver a seminar and meet with staff to raise their profile around Scotland and develop their independent networks. In addition, the awardee will receive £1,000 of flexible funding to be used at their discretion for attending conferences, buying consumables, attending training courses or visiting collaborators etc.
Funds Available: £2,000 will be awarded to a maximum of four ECRs.
Open to: Postdoctoral Researchers in the Life Sciences holding a PhD.
Status: Call now closed and will likely re-open in Spring 2026.
Comments: This call is likely to run again.
04
Rheinland-Pfalz & Scotland x Life Sciences
This fund has been jointly funded by the Ministry of Science and Health in Rheinland-Pfalz and the Scottish Government Office in Berlin to support research collaborations between academic institutions in the Rheinland-Pfalz (RLP) land of Germany and Scotland.
PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers can apply for a maximum of €8,000 to complete a research exchange project as a visiting researcher. Exchanges can range in length from 2 weeks to 3 months and must be bilateral in nature.
Why not start making some connections now via our RIS Coffee Break?
Funds Available: Maximum of €8,000.
Open to: Scotland-based applicant must be a PhD student or Postdoctoral Researcher at a SULSA university or institute
Call Opens: Call closed February 2025
05
RS Macdonald Facility Access
SINAPSE (Scottish Imaging Network: A Platform for Scientific Excellence) and SULSA (Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance) wish to support access to Scottish facilities and support research projects within the RS Macdonald scope of neurological conditions, disease of the visual system, spinal cord injury and stroke.
Funds Available: Applicants are invited to apply for up to £10,000 for research projects within the scope, we will fund between 8-10 applications.
Open to: Various depending on Research Pool. Please see full guidelines for more information.
Call Status: Call currently closed. Keep an eye on SULSA’s website for updates on this call potentially re-opening late 2025.
06
SULSA Early Career Development
This funding aims to support researchers in their endeavours to develop their own independent academic research track. The funds can be used for a variety of activities such as travel, training in new techniques/skills, consumable costs, and facility access.
Projects should aim to build a new collaboration, upskill the applicant or generate pilot data/develop a pathway to commercialisation.
Funds Available: Applicants are invited to apply for up to £4,000 and we hope to award a minimum of 5 projects.
Open to: Postdoctoral Researchers, Research Assistants, Technical Staff Member or Teaching Fellow actively pursuing an independent academic career trajectory and employed within a SULSA university or institute.
Status: Call now closed and will re-open early 2026.
Comments: This call is likely to run again in the future.
07
Forging Futures Scheme
SULSA, in collaboration with Interface, SkillFluence and MyFuture Plan have created the Forging Futures scheme to support and develop a cohort of researchers by enabling them to explore the opportunities available to them in academia and industry and equipping them with the tools to work effectively between the two. After training, recipients of this scheme will become SULSA Ambassadors for Industry Engagement.
Date: This scheme is currently closed for applications.
Target Audience: Post Docs and PhD Researchers.
Status: This call will re-open for a new cohort on Monday 25th August 2025.
08
Scotland-Germany Research Collaborations
Visit this page to learn more about the funding opportunities available for Scotland-Germany research collaborations from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Research Foundation (DFG) and SULSA.
Open to: Postgraduate Students, Postdoctoral Researchers and Academic Staff.
Status: Ongoing.
