UKRI and DFG Strengthen UK-Germany Research Collaboration

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) have announced a new lead agency agreement to streamline joint research proposals between UK and German teams. Designed to reduce administrative barriers, the agreement allows researchers to apply through either funding body, with a single peer review process managed by the chosen lead agency.

The initiative is open across all themes within the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and is part of EPSRC’s responsive mode funding. Importantly, there is no fixed deadline, giving researchers greater flexibility in planning their applications.

While each agency will continue to fund its national component—EPSRC for UK-based research and DFG for German research—projects must meet the standard funding criteria and compete within existing budgets. The agreement aligns with DFG’s Research Grant Programme and EPSRC’s Standard Mode.

This development is set to encourage deeper UK-German collaboration by making it easier for research teams to work across borders on high-quality, jointly led projects.