BBSRC/DBT India-UK Partnership to Address Farmed Animal Diseases and Health

UK-India funding to advance the mechanistic understanding of host-pathogen interactions in farmed animals or to tackle veterinary antimicrobial resistance (Vet-AMR) or both.

BBSRC and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) seek to bring research groups in the UK and India together to build on their combined strengths and work on projects, engaging with users, in particular farmers, with the aim of improving farmed animal health and welfare. Projects should build new links or strengthen existing links between India and the UK, and demonstrate how research in the two countries would be integrated.

The aim of this programme is to advance the mechanistic understanding of susceptibility of farmed animals to infectious diseases and resistance to disease treatment with a focus on understanding host factors and farming practices that promote and prevent these.

The scope of the programme covers two research areas:

• Research area one: enhancing mechanistic understanding of host-pathogen interactions.
• Research area two: tackling Vet-AMR (includes bacterial, parasitic and viral pathogens) for the purpose of improving animal health.

BBSRC and DBT expect to fund a range of proposals which span the two research areas. Proposals may focus on either one of the two research areas or work across both of them.

Larger multidisciplinary consortia proposals are encouraged.

Projects must commence no later than 1 April 2024.