Grant of £40,000 for collaborative research addressing global challenges
Publication date: 22 July 2026 Application deadline: 17 September 2026
Applications are now open
The Researcher Challenges Grants 2026, delivered through the British Council's Going Global Partnerships programme, provide grants of up to £40,000 to support collaborative research between UK higher education institutions or not-for-profit research organisations and partners in Egypt, Brazil, Morocco, and Palestine.
About the programme
The programme is designed to strengthen international research partnerships while enhancing research capacity. It encourages collaborative approaches to addressing global development challenges, including climate change, sustainable energy transitions, public health, food security, and artificial intelligence for development.
Programme objectives
The Researcher Challenges Grants aim to:
- Strengthen the skills and capacity of early-career researchers through mentoring and engagement with experienced researchers.
- Promote knowledge exchange and foster mentoring relationships across different career stages.
- Encourage the development of new research networks and long-term institutional partnerships across participating countries.
- Support the co-creation of interdisciplinary research ideas that respond to global challenges in areas such as climate, energy, health, and AI for development.
- Enable collaborative project design that delivers innovative and locally relevant solutions to development challenges.
- Build lasting partnerships that continue beyond the duration of the programme.
Partnership activities
Successful partnerships are expected to deliver a range of collaborative activities, including:
- Organising a virtual workshop involving the UK lead institution and its international partner(s), bringing together senior researchers as mentors and early-career researchers as participants.
- Developing and delivering a Challenge Prize that supports early-career researchers in designing projects linked to the workshop theme.
- Promoting partnership activities, outputs, and outcomes to relevant stakeholders.
Key information
Grant value: Up to £40,000
Project duration: 12 months, beginning in January 2027
Eligible countries: UK institutions partnering with organisations in Egypt, Brazil, Morocco, or Palestine
Who can apply: Higher education institutions and eligible not-for-profit research organisations. Please refer to the Call Guidance for the full eligibility requirements.
Application deadline: Thursday, 17 September 2026, 11:00 a.m. BST
How to apply
Apply via our online application form
Application documentation (including an offline sample of the application form) is available to download below.
All applications must be submitted via our online grant platform (registration required).
Use the form 'Going Global Partnerships - Multi-country – Researcher Challenges Grants 2026'.
Online applications can only be started and submitted by the lead UK institution.
If you have any questions, please emails us.