Funding
The STAR Hub offers a variety of funding opportunities during its 5-year life span to develop long-term partnerships and to support collaborative projects between UK-based academics and UK-registered businesses operating within the plant/fungi/algae-based food and drink sector.
Competitions open for applications
Joint STAR Hub and Biofortification Hub 2025 Funding call
Improving the nutritional, health and sustainability profile of existing or novel plant/fungi-based foods through Biofortification
Interest and uptake of plant-based diets has grown significantly in recent years. Ensuring nutritional adequacy, however, particularly with respect to micronutrients, remains a significant concern and it remains unclear as how best to incorporate more plant-based substitutes into our diet whilst maintaining sufficient intakes of key nutrients. For example, plant-based milks (soy, coconut, oat, pea, etc.) differ considerably from normal milk in terms of nutritional content and thus their suitability for specific population groups may be questionable.
Biofortification is an enabler of the Green Revolution (2.0) which can potentially increase the nutritional value of foods by improving the plants and crops which are used to produce them. Its major strength is in serving to improve both public and planetary health through biofortifying plants to make staple crops/plants more nutritious as they grow. As well as increasing nutrient levels, biofortification can also encompass improved bio-availability (by mixing or improving food), fermentation or reformulation of existing food and feed products without direct fortification. So, biofortification can have a marked impact on a key challenge of our time which is that certain nutrients (for example, protein and specific vitamins) that have important functional roles for older people are derived from food groups for which sustainability scores are low, and which therefore may not be favourable to the environment.
Therefore, a specific remit of this joint STAR and Biofortification Hubs initiative is to promote the use of biofortification to:
- Provide the food industry with robust evidence for biofortification to support novel reformulations based on nutritional needs appropriate for different age groups (e.g., plant-based milks for children)
- Address the issue that (highly processed) plant-based foods can be high in salt, sugar or saturated fat
- Address the dual challenge of sustainability and meeting nutritional needs at critical stages of the lifecycle.
| Joint funding call submission cut-off date |
|---|
| 12 May 2025, 12pm |
Business Interaction Voucher open call
The purpose of the BBSRC-funded STAR Hub Business Interaction Vouchers (BIVs) is to foster and support new collaborations between academia and industry, to boost the UK economy and to create positive social and environmental impact.
Demonstrably falling within the remit of and being relevant to the aims of the Hub, the Vouchers will help resource small, confidence-building activities between an academic partner and a business, addressing a genuine challenge faced by the industry partner. Supported projects are expected to result in outcomes of:
- A longer-term relationship between the partners
- Improved interaction
- New research technology transfer projects.
Vouchers are allocated in an open call, the submission cut-off dates of which are:
| BIV open call submission cut-off dates |
|---|
| 25 May 2025, 12pm |
Summary
- Projects may be valued at a total of £50,000 max., costed at 100 per cent full economic cost (fEC)
- Award: Directly Allocated and Directly Incurred Costs up to 100 per cent fEC are funded by BBSRC/the STAR Hub
- Applicant Research Organisation (RO) contribution: all Estate Costs and Indirect Costs (100 per cent fEC)
- Project duration: 6 months max.
- BIVs are available to:
- Academics, who are based at a UK research organisation when carrying out the project, and who will be working in collaboration with a
- UK-registered business of any size, from micro businesses and small to medium sized enterprises (SME) to large organisations
- Academics and their research organisations need to be eligible for BBSRC funding
- Cash and/or in-kind contribution by the industry partner(s) is required
- Applicants need to be STAR Hub members
- Online BIV Application Form (via REDCap)
- Detailed information about the BIVs and how to apply can be found in the STAR Hub guidance notes for BIV applicants below.
Please get in touch with the Hub Manager if you have any queries: star.ukri-oirc@surrey.ac.uk.
Feasibility Award (FA) open call
The purpose of the BBSRC-funded STAR Hub Feasibility Awards (FAs) is to foster and support new collaborations between academia and industry, to boost the UK economy and to create positive social and environmental impact.
Demonstrably falling within the remit of and being relevant to the aims of the Hub and addressing a genuine challenge faced by the industry partner, the Awards support translation and commercialisation activities to help bridge the gap towards later stage innovation, i.e. to move programmes/concepts to validation, prototype development, etc. Supported projects are expected to result in:
- Longer-term relationship between the collaborators
- Translation of academic research into industrial application and product development/ enhancement
- Route towards commercialisation
- Clear potential for further funding
- New research technology transfer projects.
Feasibility Awards are allocated in an open call, the submission cut-off dates of which are:
| FA open call submission cut-off dates |
|---|
| 25 May 2025, 12pm |
Summary
- Projects may be valued at a total of £100,000 max., costed at 100 per cent full economic cost (fEC)
- Award: Directly Allocated and Directly Incurred Costs up to 100 per cent fEC are funded by BBSRC/the STAR Hub
- Applicant Research Organisation (RO) contribution: all Estate Costs and Indirect Costs (100 per cent fEC)
- Project duration: 9-12 months
- FAs are available to:
- Academics, who are based at a UK research organisation when carrying out the project, and who will be working in collaboration with a
- UK-registered business of any size, from micro businesses and small to medium sized enterprises (SME) to large organisations
- Academics and their research organisations need to be eligible for BBSRC funding
- Cash and/or in-kind contribution by the industry partner(s) is required
- Applicants need to be STAR Hub members
- Online Feasibility Award Application Form (via REDCap)
- Detailed information about the FAs and how to apply can be found in the STAR Hub guidance notes for FA applicants below.
Please get in touch with the Hub Manager if you have any queries: star.ukri-oirc@surrey.ac.uk.
Flexible Mobility Awards
These grants are to provide short term support for mobility between academia and industry; Early Career Researchers wanting to explore working in industry, or industry staff wanting to gain experience in a public research organisation.
- Up to £100k per placement
- Up to 9 months.
If you are interested in this call, please e-mail the STAR Hub manager (star.ukri-oirc@surrey.ac.uk.) to discuss your particular application.
Become a member of the STAR Hub
Membership is free and open to any organisation, of any size, anywhere in the world, that can demonstrate a strategic commitment to collaborative research and innovation.
Collaborators
