NERC Funding: Frontiers, Urgency and Infrastructure Grants

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funds research into the environment, from climate, oceans and ecosystems to natural hazards. Several of its schemes are getting attention right now: Exploring the Frontiers has a round closing in November 2026, Pushing the Frontiers moved to an open, no-deadline model in September 2026, and an infrastructure renewal round has recently closed. This guide explains each scheme, who can apply and where charities and businesses can take part. Every figure comes from NERC's pages on the UKRI website, checked on the date shown on this page.

What NERC funds

NERC is one of the nine councils of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It funds environmental science across universities and research centres, as well as the research infrastructure the community uses, such as facilities and data services. Where a proposal sits close to the boundary with another council, NERC says it works with the other councils so the right one assesses it, and it encourages you to get in touch first.

The main NERC schemes at a glance

Scheme	Size (FEC)	NERC pays	Length	Deadline
Exploring the Frontiers 2026	£100,000 to £200,000	80%	Up to 2 years	4pm, 12 November 2026
Pushing the Frontiers	Up to £950,000	80%	Usually 3 to 4 years	None
Urgency funding	Up to £100,000	Up to 80%	Up to 1 year	None, processed as received
Research Infrastructure Renewal	£300,000 to £1 million	100%	3 to 12 months	Closed 21 October 2026

FEC means full economic cost: the full cost of the project to the research organisation, of which NERC pays the stated share.

Exploring the Frontiers

Exploring the Frontiers of Environmental Research 2026 funds early-stage, curiosity-driven research that could be ground-breaking but is not yet developed enough for standard funding. NERC says ideas must be early stage and untested, lacking preliminary data and possibly involving creative or unconventional approaches. It describes a high tolerance for risk, and says assessment focuses on the potential reward rather than the likelihood of success.

Key points from the 2026 round:

• Size and length. £100,000 to £200,000 FEC, with NERC funding 80%, for up to two years, from a total fund of £8 million.
• Deadline. 4pm UK time on 12 November 2026.
• Who. Researchers at any career stage are welcome.
• Novelty statement. You must include a clear, evidenced statement of the novelty of your idea that UKRI staff and generalist assessors can follow. Leaving it out can lead to rejection before review.
• Limit on applications. Each person can appear on no more than two applications to this round, and can be project lead on only one.

Pushing the Frontiers

Pushing the Frontiers of Environmental Research is NERC's main open scheme for discovery science. It opened on 23 September 2026 with no deadline. Because of how the UKRI Funding Service works a closing date appears in the system, but NERC says there is no deadline for applications.

Projects can be up to £950,000 FEC, with NERC paying 80%. There is no fixed length, but NERC says awards are usually three to four years. It accepts that a few projects have exceptional costs, for example to use large research infrastructure, and if you plan to ask for more than £950,000 you must get NERC's approval first. Individuals at any career stage and research groups can apply, and NERC says it is increasingly supporting multidisciplinary work delivered in partnership with other funders and research users.

Urgency funding

NERC urgency funding lets researchers respond quickly to research opportunities created by unexpected natural events, such as earthquakes, droughts, floods or short-lived events in ecosystems, so that critical early data is not lost. Projects can ask for up to £100,000 FEC, with NERC paying up to 80%, and should last no more than a year, focusing on urgent data collection and essential first analysis. You need a clear plan for taking the research forward afterwards.

It is not for everything that feels urgent. NERC says it will not fund, among other things, events that could have been planned for through other schemes, including seasonal or periodic events you expect to happen soon, operational monitoring to forecast hazards, responses to unexpected research findings, or data collection to inform urgent policy decisions. You cannot be named on an application if you have led or co-led another full application to this scheme in the previous two years.

Research Infrastructure Renewal

The 2026 Research Infrastructure Renewal round offered targeted capital investment to renew, replace or improve existing environmental research infrastructure that is available to the wider environmental science community. Awards were £300,000 to £1 million, with NERC paying 100% of FEC from a total fund of £8 million, for projects lasting three to 12 months. Applications had to come on behalf of a facility or infrastructure rather than a research group, with one coordinated application from each. The round closed at 4pm on 21 October 2026, so watch for future rounds.

Who can apply

For all of these schemes, the project lead must be at a research organisation eligible for UKRI funding, which usually means a university or a research centre. That means a charity, CIC, landowner or business cannot lead an application.

There are still good reasons to know these schemes. Environmental charities, land managers and businesses often hold the sites, data, volunteers and local knowledge that research teams need. UKRI applications can include project partners who contribute cash or in-kind support, and UKRI encourages these contributions. If you have a site or a question that a university team could help with, these are the schemes they may use. Our guide to letters of support for grant applications explains what a strong partner letter covers.

For funding your own environmental project, rather than research, see our guide to capital grants or browse environmental grants for community groups.

Tips for NERC applications

• Pick the right scheme for the idea. Exploring the Frontiers is for untested ideas without preliminary data. If you already have results and a clear plan, Pushing the Frontiers is likely to be the better fit.
• Make the novelty obvious. For Exploring the Frontiers, write the novelty statement so a generalist can follow it, and back it with evidence.
• Check the application limits. Each person can be on only two Exploring the Frontiers applications and lead only one, so agree with colleagues who leads what.
• Talk to NERC early about large costs. If a Pushing the Frontiers project needs more than £950,000, for example to use large infrastructure, you need NERC's approval before you apply.
• Have urgency plans ready. Urgency funding depends on speed, so it helps to know in advance what you would measure if an event happened in your field.

Costs and the 80% rule

On most NERC schemes the council pays 80% of FEC and the research organisation covers the rest. UKRI says there is no requirement for matched funding from the host beyond that standard 20%, and reviewers must not take it into account. Research Infrastructure Renewal was an exception, at 100% of FEC.

Finding NERC opportunities

Follow all live NERC opportunities on GrantMatch, including fellowships such as the NERC independent research fellowship. You can also browse funding for universities and research organisations or environment grants by sector.