Funding Opportunities Upcoming Dates
| Date | Funding Type | Award amount | Funder | Title | Link |
| 5/11/25 | Research & Development | £1-3 million | Defra | Farming Innovation Programme: Small R&D Partnerships (round 4) | Link to Defra |
| 6/11/25 | Fellowships | <£70K | Leverhulme Trust | Research Fellowships | Link to Leverhulme |
| 14/11/25 |
Pilot Studies |
<$10K |
Wild Animal Initiative | WAI Seed Grants | Link to WAI |
| 14/11/25 | Fellowships | <$180K | Wild Animal Initiative | WAI Fellowships | Link to WAI |
| 14/11/25 | Research Projects | <$50K | Wild Animal Initiative | WAI Discovery Grants | Link to WAI |
| 14/11/25 | Research Projects | <$100K | Wild Animal Initiative | WAI Challenge Grants | Link to WAI |
| 26/11/25 | Research & Development | <£20K | Innovate | Innovate SPARK Awards | Link to Innovate |
| 3/12/25 | Research & Development | £200K-£500K | Defra | Defra Farming Innovation Programme: Feasibility Projects | Link to Defra |
| 12/12/25 | Research Projects | <£20K | Petplan | Petplan Welfare Grants (charities only) |
|
| 15/12/2025 | Student Projects | $500-$2,000 | Animal Behavior Society | Various grants for graduate student research, including developing nations | Link to ABS |
| 14/01/25 | Student Scholarships | <$5,500 | Morris Foundation | Veterinary Student Scholarships (feline, canine, equid, wildlife only) | Link to Morris Foundation |
| 15/01/25 | Fellowships | < CHF 600K | Branco Weiss | Branco Weiss Fellowship (outside mainstream of discipline) | Link to Branco Weiss |
| 01/02/25 | Conference Attendance | <£500 | ASAB | Conference Grants (ASAB members) | Link to ASAB |
| 11/02/25 | Research Projects | – | Morris Foundation | Wildlife – Established Investigator | Link to Morris Foundation |
| 11/02/25 | Research Projects | – | Morris Foundation | Wildlife – First Award | Link to Morris Foundation |
| 11/02/25 |
Pilot Studies |
– | Morris Foundation | Wildlife – Pilot Study | Link to Morris Foundation |
| 11/02/25 | Fellowships | – | Morris Foundation | Wildlife – Fellowship | Link to Morris Foundation |
| 19/02/25 | Fellowships | <£140K | Leverhulme Trust | Early Career Fellowships | Link to Leverhulme |
| 28/02/25 | Student Scholarships | <£3,600 | UFAW | Animal Welfare Student Scholarships | Link to UFAW |
| 28/02/25 | Student Scholarships | <£3,600 | Humane Slaughter Association | HSA Student / Trainee Scholarships | Link to HSA |
| TBC | Large Research projects | >£2million | BBSRC | UKRI strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) grants |
More detail:
5th November 2025 – Defra Farming Innovation Programme: Small R&D Partnerships (round 4)
These are industry-led projects of £1-3million which will develop a new project or service.
6th November 2025 – Research Fellowships with Leverhulme Trust
These fellowships enable experienced researchers to complete a piece of research in any discipline.
Link to Leverhulme Fellowships
14th November 2025 – Wild Animal Initiative (WAI)
New call for proposals, WAI are accepting expressions of interest for research projects that will rapidly accelerate progress in the field of wild animal welfare science.
26th November 2025 – Innovate SPARK Awards
UK-registered academic institutions or Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) can apply for up to £20k of Innovate UK Business Connect funding to collaborate with a UK-registered SME to accelerate the development of innovative products, processes, or services to drive sustainable production within the UK farmed animal or aquaculture sectors.
2nd December 2025 – PetPlan Welfare Grants
Funding for registered charities to do work which will have direct benefits for dogs, cats, horses or rabbits incluidng funding for education in animal welfare.
3rd December 2025 – Defra Farming Innovation Programme: Feasibility Projects
Funding to support industry-led projects of £200,000 to £500,000 to check whether an idea works in practice.
Link to Defra Feasibility Projects
5th December 2025 – Laboratory Animal Science Research Grants from ACLAM
Funding for studies of analgesia and anaesthesia, behaviour and well-being, diagnostics and diseases, husbandry or 3 R’s in laboratory animals from the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. These are two stage applications starting with a letter of intent and only those invited to submit a full proposal.
15th December 2025 – Student and Developing Nations Research Grants from Animal Behavior Society
Up to $2,000 to support graduate student research, applicants must be active members of ABS.
14th January 2026 – Veterinary Student Scholarships from Morris Foundation
Up to $5,500 stipend for vet students to carry out a short research project on feline, canine, equid or wildlife health.
Link to Morris Foundation funding
15th January 2026 – Branco Weiss Fellowship
For researchers who received their PhD within the last 5 years to carry out a 5 year project studying something which is outside of the mainstream of research in your discipline.
Link to Branco Weiss Fellowships
11th February 2026 – Wildlife RFP from Morris Foundation
Funding for Established Investigator, First Award, Pilot Study and Fellowship Training – pre-proposals at this stage with full proposals 8th April to 20th May.
Link to Morris Foundation funding
19th February 2026 – Early Career Fellowships from Leverhulme Trust
Fellowships intended to assist those at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, hopefully leading to a more permanent position.
Link to Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships
28th February 2026 – Animal Welfare Student Scholarships (UFAW)
Up to £3,600 in total, made up of £350 per week subsistence for the student and £100 per week project expenses, for students to carry out a project aiming to improve or assess welfare of farm, companion, lab or zoo animals or free-living wild animals whose welfare is compromised by human factors.
Link to UFAW Student Scholarships
28th February 2026 – Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) Student / Trainee Scholarships
Up to £3,600 in total, made up of £350 per week subsistence for the student and £100 per week project expenses, for students to carry out a project aimed at improving the welfare of food animals in markets, during transport or at slaughter.
Link to HSA Student Scholarships
Deadline TBC (Opening date 8th April 2025) – 2025 to 2026 UKRI strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) grants
Apply for grants of at least £2,000,000 to undertake large team-based fundamental bioscience research projects which push the frontiers of human knowledge.
