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Horizons Platform Future-Focus Awards

Future-Focus Awards are available to Horizons Platform participants to support output-focused activity that builds on existing research collaborations developed through the programme.

Such activities may include but are not limited to:

  • preparation and submission of publications or patents 
  • the development of external funding applications
  • progressing research-informed policy changes
  • exploring commercial or innovation potential
  • dissemination of research findings.

The aim of these awards is to develop impact from existing cross-institutional research and support the sustainability of collaborative research between Leeds and Wits.

Funding information

Applications for Future-Focus Awards can be between £1,000 to £5,000. We expect to make three to five awards.

  • The awards will run for six months from the agreed start date. Projects must start by 1 January 2027. 
  • Requested costs should be fully justified. The process of administrating funds will be agreed at the award stage. 
  • Applicants can be involved in more than one proposal and are also able to apply to the other schemes open to Platform participants (mobility awards and exploratory funding awards). Please do ensure you consider how the awards might work together and the time commitments to carry out the work. 
  • Please ensure you discuss your intention to apply with your line-manager and, if necessary, obtain appropriate costings through your finance teams. 
  • Details of the application process and criteria are provided on this page. Applications must be submitted, by the deadline, using the Horizons Platform: Future-Focus Awards Microsoft form. If you have any queries or concerns, please email the Horizons Institute team: horizons@leeds.ac.uk.
  • Further information about in-scope costs can be found on our website.  
  • Where funding is requested for travel, applicants should include details of the intended purpose, for example who they will travel to meet and why. Researchers based at the University of Leeds are required to book their travel through provider Key Travel. When costing your project, please refer to Key Travel for estimated costs. Please note travel can also be funded through an application to the mobility scheme. 
  • Where funding is requested for staff time all contractual issues and appropriate costings must have been discussed with your Faculty Research Office.

Key dates

The deadline for applications is Thursday 30 April 2026 at  5pm (GMT+1) 6pm (SAST). All applicants will be notified of the outcome of applications in the week commencing 15 June 2026.

How to apply

In the following sections, you will find details about the application process, eligibility criteria and how the applications are assessed. 

Application process

  • To submit an application for a Future-Focus Award, please complete the Horizons Platform: Future-Focus Awards Microsoft form by Thursday 30 April 2026 at  5pm (GMT+1) 6pm (SAST).
  • You will receive an email to acknowledge receipt of your application – please get in touch if you do not receive this within 48 hours of submitting your proposal by emailing the Horizons Institute team: horizons@leeds.ac.uk.
  • All proposals received by the deadline will be assessed for eligibility against the essential criteria by a Horizons Institute Research Manager. This will include checking that character count and page limits have been met. Any information provided that is not within the set limits will not be reviewed for assessment. 
  • All eligible proposals will then be assessed by a Leeds-Wits assessment group who will evaluate whether proposals meet the threshold for funding against the assessment criteria.  
  • The assessment group will include an impartial observer to ensure consistency and transparency. 
  • All proposals that meet the threshold for funding will be put forward to receive funds. If there are more applications meeting the threshold than there are funds available, the Horizons Institute will use randomisation to allocate funding. 

Essential criteria

All essential criteria must be met for the application to be eligible for assessment:

  • The research must be interdisciplinary in nature and focus on an area linked to climate, sustainability or inequality. 
  • The lead applicant must be a colleague on the Horizons Platform programme. 
  • The project team must include investigators from both Leeds and Wits.

Please note that your collaborators do not need to be recruited to the Platform programme. The research collaboration you are proposing does not need to have been previously funded by the Horizons Institute. 

Assessment criteria

Proposals will be assessed against the following assessment criteria:

  • The project addresses a clear challenge or research gap in an area linked to climate, sustainability or inequality. 
  • The proposal provides a clear articulation of the interdisciplinary nature of the research, indicating how the project has integrated disciplines through their methods and approaches. 
  • The additional funding will be transformative in enabling the project team to move to the next stage. For example, including, but not limited to, dissemination, and/or implementation of research findings, developing the research towards application to external funding schemes (details of proposed schemes should be provided), or innovation development. 
  • There is evidence that the collaborative research team have worked together successfully and have a clear plan for next steps. 
  • There is a clear implementation plan for the funding requested and clear justification of resources.

All proposals that are deemed to have met these criteria will be submitted for funding.

Randomisation will be used to award funding if there are more proposals meeting the threshold than there are funds available. 

If you have any questions about the Horizons Platform Mobility Fund, please email the Horizons Institute team via horizons@leeds.ac.uk