Springboard Programme for UK-France partnerships

The Springboard Programme is designed as an à la carte scheme, allowing research teams to tailor the support they receive based on their project needs and priorities. It includes:

•  A Springboard meeting (compulsory element) between the French and UK collaborating team members, designed to: 

  -        enrich the project with expertise from other countries or the private sector

  -        prepare applications to large national, European or international funds

• An online communication skills training (optional element ) for the early career researchers who are part of the team;
• Research placements (optional element) in the partner’s lab or team for PhDs and postdocs involved in the programme.

Bilateral UK-France meetings will be held either at the researchers' labs, the Higher Education, Research and Innovation Department of the French Embassy in London or at the British Council in Paris. Meetings which include Scottish universities and French partners can be held at the Institut Français d’Ecosse in Edinburgh if needed.

• Travel, accommodation and meals during a two-day springboard meeting for all team members (up to 10 people for 2 nights maximum)
• Travel and accommodation for up to 2 French and 2 UK early career researchers (PhDs or postdocs) for specific research placements (for up to one week).
• Participation in communication skills training modules for early career researchers involved in the project
• Visa costs for travelling from the UK to France or vice-versa

Please consult the Springboard Programme guidelines at the bottom of this page to get more information about the eligible expenses.

Applicants may request accessibility adjustments or additional support for their application, the funded project activities and reporting stages.

Springboard accepts joint applications from directors and principal investigators at established research labs in the UK and France, who want to establish new collaborations or strengthen existing collaborations.

Each application can include up to 10 participants, including 6 early career researchers.

Partners based in other EU countries or the private sector can be added to the project.

Lead applicants are asked to also consider encouraging participation from researchers from under-represented groups in the teams implementing their proposed activities.

Applications in the fields from the six following Horizon Europe thematic priorities will be taken into consideration: 

• Health
• Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society 
• Civil security for Society
• Digital, Industry and Space
• Climate, Energy and Mobility
• Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

All disciplines are welcome (medicine, biology, social sciences, arts and humanities, physics, chemistry, environmental sciences …). Priority will be given to multidisciplinary proposals.

This call is especially intended for teams wishing to prepare applications for European and international funding (e.g. Horizon Europe).

The call for 2026 is now open. You can apply until 30 September 2025 online. 

The submitted proposals will usually include:

• names and affiliations of the researchers involved in the project (researchers from the same institution/laboratory must have complementary skills);
• description of the research project and skills of the various institutions/laboratories involved (with an emphasis on existing synergies and previous collaboration);
• brief description of existing links between the researchers involved (joint papers; joint PhD between labs; evidence of national funding);
• a specification of the types/sources of funding (e.g. UKRI, ANR international funding, Horizon Europe…) you intend to apply for as a follow up from this meeting.

All submitted proposals are evaluated for their scientific quality and relevance.