BU Research Blog

The Sandpit will seek to address the following question:

How can we transform our food system so it is based on healthy and sustainable diets and how would this impact on sustainable and resilient food production and supply?

We welcome applications from early career researchers at lecturer level or equivalent with expertise in any research area covered by BBSRC, NERC or ESRC. The Sandpit will develop outline proposals, a number of which will be invited back to be developed into full proposals that are two years in duration. Successful proposals developed through the Sandpit process will be jointly funded by BBSRC, ESRC, NERC and the Scottish Government, and up to £1.8 million (80% FEC) is available to support the proposals selected.

The research supported will identify interventions that might lead to improved outcomes for health, sustainability and resilience across the supply chain and help us to understand the dynamics, trade-offs and tensions between production, supply and demand that are crucial for the resilience of the UK food system.

The Sandpit will aim to develop proposals that answer:

• How can we transform our food system so it is based on healthy and sustainable diets and how would this impact on sustainable and resilient food production and supply?
• What should we be eating, and producing sustainably, and where in the world would those crops be grown, those livestock reared, or those fish be caught to ensure UK food system resilience? What impact would this have on livelihoods?
• What level of demand change would be required to have a major impact on resilience and sustainability, and what would be the potential benefits/dis-benefits to nutrition and/or the environment of different scenarios?

How to apply

This Sandpit is for early-career researchers working at lecturer level or equivalent.

Further details, including how to apply, can be found on the Global Food Security (GFS) website.