UUKi announces UK-France pump-priming scheme awardees

Funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) through the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), this scheme enables UK researchers to establish and develop partnerships with French institutions, with a particular focus on future participation in Horizon Europe.

The initiative follows the UK-France bilateral research dialogue which took place on 29 February 2024, where the UK and French governments committed funding to support bilateral research collaborations between the two nations.

Through the pump-priming scheme, selected UK institutions will receive funding to undertake activities such as project development workshops, partnership-building activities and visits, application training, and grant writing workshops. A key aim is to facilitate collaborative projects that will lead to the submission of Horizon Europe applications.  

The successful grant awardees are:  

• University of Manchester – M2P2 Laboratory
• University of Bristol – French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment
• University of Glasgow – IMT Atlantique
• Cardiff University – University of Lille
• University of Nottingham – Toulouse Biotechnology Institute
• University of Liverpool – University of Toulouse
• University College London – Sorbonne University
• University of Exeter – French National Centre for Scientific Research
• Royal College of Music – Rhone-Alpes Historical Research Laboratory  
• Queen Mary University of London – University Paris-Saclay
• Queen Mary University of London – Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC)
• Coventry University – The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission  

Jamie Arrowsmith, Director of Universities UK International, commented:

In addition to the pump-priming scheme, a second UK-France grant initiative – the UK-France Science, Innovation and Technology researcher mobility scheme – has also invited applications from UK higher education institutions. This scheme will fund researcher mobility periods aimed at enhancing innovation capabilities and expertise.

Applications for the mobility scheme have now closed, with grant recipients set to be announced later this month.

About Universities UK International:

Universities UK International (UUKi) represents UK higher education institutions (HEIs) globally and helps them flourish internationally. To do this we actively promote UK HEIs abroad, provide trusted information for and about them, and create new opportunities through our unique ability to act at sector level. We draw on UK university expertise to influence policy in the UK and overseas, delivering information, advice and guidance to facilitate mutually beneficial collaboration between UK HEIs and a broad range of international partners.