Research Development International Collaboration Awards

The next deadline will be announced once funding has been confirmed for 2026/27. This will be for activities and expenditure between 1^st August 2026 and 31^st July 2027.

The Research Development International Collaboration Awards (RDICA) are designed to catalyse, support and advance collaborative research development between University of Bristol (UoB) academics and colleagues from around the world, resulting in collaborative research funding bids. Applicants must demonstrate clear and explicit plans to work on eligible bids during the award period. Additional outputs can include policy briefings and/or international co-authored publications. The awards should be viewed as part of the first phase of funding that will enable longer-term research collaborations between UoB and international collaborators.

Supported activities

International visits for co-production of research bids.
Collaborative workshops/writing retreats to develop and inform bid development.

Please note that RDICA does not fund sustained research itself.

Level of funding available

Normally £2-3k, and up to £4k where fully justified.
Up to £5k for applications with an International Co-Applicant from a Low- or Middle-Income Country (LMIC), in recognition of additional/higher costs including flights and visa costs, and the lack of financial capacity in some LMIC universities to contribute to project costs. The RDICA scheme runs in line with UKRI’s policy; please check with us if you are not sure whether costs are eligible.

Who can apply

All applications must have a University of Bristol Academic Lead and one or more International Co-Applicant(s).

When to apply

The next confirmed deadline is 1^st February 2026. All funded activities and related spend for applications to the February 2026 deadline must take place between 1^st May 2026 and 31^st July 2026, with no exceptions. Please note that projects must start at least three months after the application deadline.
We normally aim to communicate decisions within eight weeks of the submission deadline.
We aim to review applications at quarterly deadlines, subject to funds being available.

How to apply

You must read the Call Specification and Application and Costings Guidance documents before starting your application, paying particular attention to eligibility requirements, application guidance and costing requirements:

For all queries, please contact the Research Development International team via rd-international@bristol.ac.uk

We have a parallel RDICA call, which specifically supports early career researchers to establish international research collaboration.

University of Bristol academics wishing to develop collaborations for Horizon Europe should visit the intranet page on pump priming funding.

Browse the awards that have been made so far this year.

With thanks to funds from Research Development International, I was able to deliver a collaborative workshop with colleagues from the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN), the National Composites Centre (NCC) and the Bristol Composites Institute (BCI). We enjoyed a fantastic day of fascinating and very productive conversations. Bringing together these colleagues has been incredibly useful on all sides and has confirmed our strong desire to work together to build further collaborations.

Dr Laura Pickard

School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering, University of Bristol