What Works Centre for a Climate Resilient UK

What Works Centre for a Climate Resilient UK

What is this opportunity?

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are funding a single What Works Centre for a Climate Resilient UK. The centre is intended to strengthen the evidence used to choose and evaluate practical climate-adaptation action. The opportunity is a grant, not a programme of multiple awards: the funders expect one centre to build evidence, help put it to use, and assess interventions across the UK. (Official opportunity: UKRI — What Works Centre for a Climate Resilient UK.)

The centre’s work is expected to span three connected areas: a healthy natural environment and food systems; thriving places; and services and infrastructure. It must explore all three and include pilots across each topic. Its remit includes synthesising and mobilising evidence, evaluating adaptation interventions, and developing standards and methods for evaluating resilience actions. These requirements make the opportunity relevant to applicants able to connect research with decisions and implementation, rather than to a project focused on producing evidence without a plan to make it usable. (UKRI opportunity, benefits and scope.)

The award offers up to £21.1 million in funder contribution for 44 months. The funders normally cover 80% of full economic cost, so applicants should not treat the headline contribution as the total project cost or assume that every proposed cost will be funded in full. The award must start by 1 August 2027. The funding remains subject to final business-case approval and future spending-review settlements, so the stated maximum is an opportunity limit, not a guarantee that the award will proceed unchanged. (UKRI opportunity, benefits and unknowns.)

At a glance

Applications must be received by 4:00 p.m. UK time on 15 December 2026. A saved draft is not a submitted application. (UKRI opportunity, timeline.)

Who is a good fit?

A credible applicant needs both relevant research capability and a practical route into climate-adaptation decisions. The published application should explain the centre’s evidence-to-policy vision, delivery approach, team capability, resource justification, partnerships, and plan for membership of the What Works Network. The centre’s remit also calls for evaluation methods and pilots across all three specified topic areas. Together, these points indicate that applicants should be ready to describe an integrated centre with a clear use for its evidence, not simply a collection of independent research themes. (UKRI opportunity, application and benefits.)

The opportunity may suit a research organisation able to coordinate a cross-sector partnership and sustain evidence mobilisation. Collaborators may contribute research, policy access, implementation experience, or evaluation expertise. This is preparation advice; the brief does not prescribe a discipline mix, consortium size, or partner type beyond the required co-lead categories.

Organisations outside the lead category may participate as co-leads or partners. Non-UK research co-leads are allowed, but cannot replace the required UK-based co-lead from business, the third sector, or government. Map roles and locations against the published rules. (UKRI opportunity, eligibility.)

Who can lead, and what partnership is required?

The project lead must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding. UK-based businesses, third-sector organisations, government bodies, and non-UK organisations cannot lead this application. A prospective lead should confirm that its host organisation is eligible and that the individual meets the organisation’s and UKRI Funding Service’s requirements before drafting a full proposal. The supplied brief establishes the organisation category; it does not identify every eligible institution or spell out all individual role rules. (UKRI opportunity, eligibility.)

Applications must include at least one significant UK-based co-lead from business, the third sector, or government. The contribution must be significant; merely listing an organisation or adding a nominal collaborator would not demonstrate the role described by the call. The lead needs to show what the co-lead contributes to the centre and how that contribution informs its evidence, delivery, partnerships, or use of findings. The brief also requires applicants to demonstrate relevant ESRC research remit. These are requirements from the opportunity, not optional ways to strengthen a proposal. (UKRI opportunity, eligibility.)

Non-UK research co-leads may also be included. Their possible inclusion does not change the requirement for a UK-based co-lead from one of the specified sectors, nor does it make a non-UK organisation eligible to lead. If an organisation’s classification, UK base, research eligibility, or role is unclear, verify it with the lead research organisation’s research office and consult the official opportunity information before submission rather than relying on a partnership label. (UKRI opportunity, eligibility and application.)

How to apply

Applications go through the UKRI Funding Service. The project lead completes the application, while team members and partners contribute. The lead research organisation’s research office checks the application and submits it. Partners may contribute, but only the lead organisation submits. Start with the call page for current instructions. (UKRI opportunity, application.)

Set out the centre’s evidence-to-policy vision, delivery approach, team capability, resource justification, partnerships, and plan for What Works Network membership. Show how it will address all three topic areas and include pilots across them. Explain how evaluation and evidence mobilisation fit into delivery. (UKRI opportunity, application and benefits.) (UKRI opportunity, application and benefits.)

The brief does not enumerate every Funding Service question or prescribe an attachment list. Check the live call and the service for current fields; do not assume another UKRI call’s documents apply. Ask the research office for its internal deadline, which is not stated in the brief.

After the award starts, the centre must apply for official What Works Centre status within 12 months. This is a post-award obligation described in the brief, not a substitute for explaining the membership plan in the application. The brief does not say that official status is automatically conferred by receiving the grant. Applicants should therefore describe a realistic plan to make the application within the required period and verify any detailed status process with the funders. (UKRI opportunity, application.)

Timeline and deadline

The opportunity opened on 1 October 2026 and closes on 15 December 2026 at 4:00 p.m. UK time. Applications must be received by the deadline. The award must begin by 1 August 2027 and will run for 44 months. Those are the confirmed dates in the supplied opportunity brief; it does not give an assessment timetable, decision date, or expected notification window. (UKRI opportunity, timeline and benefits.)

Work backwards using the lead organisation’s process: agree an internal date, reserve partner review time, and confirm who submits. This is advice, not a funder schedule. The research office can provide its own cut-off; do not confuse it with the official deadline.

Preparation and common mistakes

Preparation advice: Map each topic area to evidence work, a pilot, evaluation, and intended users. The brief requires pilots across all three but does not specify their number or design.

Preparation advice: Record each partner’s role and contribution to the evidence-to-policy plan. Explain the required UK co-lead’s significant contribution, confirm lead eligibility, and demonstrate ESRC research remit.

Preparation advice: Reconcile the scale of the work, staffing, partnerships, and requested resources. The £21.1 million figure is the maximum funder contribution and the normal funding rate is 80% of full economic cost. Build the resource case against the centre’s actual delivery plan and ask the research office to confirm how the applicable full economic cost and funding contribution should be presented. The brief does not give a detailed cost-category list or confirm that any particular item will be accepted.

Avoid treating the maximum contribution as guaranteed or as 100% of full economic cost; proposing an ineligible lead; omitting the qualifying UK co-lead; overlooking a topic or its pilots; or confusing the membership plan with the later status application. Check open questions with the research office or funder.

Frequently asked questions

Can a business or government body lead?

No. The project lead must be based at a UKRI-eligible UK research organisation. Businesses, third-sector and government bodies, and non-UK organisations are not eligible as project leads. A UK-based organisation in one of those sectors can instead meet the required co-lead category if it has a significant role. (UKRI opportunity, eligibility.)

Is the grant worth £21.1 million to every applicant?

No. This is a single award with up to £21.1 million in funder contribution. Funders normally cover 80% of full economic cost. The amount is a maximum contribution, not a stated guaranteed award value or a promise of full-cost coverage. Funding is also subject to final business-case approval and future spending-review settlements. (UKRI opportunity, benefits and unknowns.)

Does the centre need to cover every topic?

The centre must explore healthy natural environment and food systems, thriving places, and services and infrastructure, including pilots across each topic. The supplied brief does not specify a required number or design for those pilots. (UKRI opportunity, benefits.)

Can a non-UK researcher participate?

Non-UK research co-leads may be included, but a non-UK organisation cannot lead and the required significant co-lead from business, the third sector, or government must be UK-based. Check any specific role arrangement against the full call instructions. (UKRI opportunity, eligibility.)

When will applicants hear the result?

The supplied brief does not state an assessment or notification date. Check the official opportunity page for updates and ask the funder or lead organisation’s research office if a decision timetable is needed. Do not infer one from the closing date.

Is official What Works Centre status automatic?

The centre must apply for official status within 12 months of the award start. The brief does not confirm that status is automatic or describe the full assessment process, so applicants should verify the detailed process with the funders. (UKRI opportunity, application.)

What remains unconfirmed

The award is subject to final business-case approval and future spending-review settlements. The supplied information does not confirm the final award amount, decision date, success rates, scoring criteria, all eligible lead institutions, exact application questions, complete document list, or internal research-office deadline. These details should be checked on the official opportunity page, in the Funding Service, or with the lead organisation’s research office; where appropriate, ask the funders directly. Treat any later update on the official page as controlling over this summary.

Official source

Read the full call and current application instructions on the UKRI opportunity page for the What Works Centre for a Climate Resilient UK. The funders are ESRC, UKRI, and Defra. The deadline stated in the supplied brief is 15 December 2026 at 4:00 p.m. UK time.