UK regulators can apply to the Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund (EBSF) with sandbox projects that accelerate regulatory reforms for engineering biology-derived products and improve the quality of decision-making when assessing these products.

The Fund will invest up to £5 million which will be delivered across two rounds.

• The first round will invest up to £1.8 million
• The second round will invest up to £3 million

A third smaller round may be held if sufficient funding remains available after the second round. Up to £200,000 has been reserved to cover programme costs across both rounds.

The first round of the competition closed on 19 April 2024 at 12pm GMT. The second round of the competition is expected to open inat Aprilthe end of 2024 or early 2025. An updated competition brief will be published when the second round opens.

All activities associated with the EBSF will need to be completed by 31 March 2027.

Eligibility

This is a summary of the minimum requirements for ‘in scope’ sandboxes (read the scheme guidance for full details).

To be eligible for funding you (the lead applicant) must be a body which meets the following criteria:

• exercises a ‘regulatory function’, as defined in section 32(2)-(4) of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006;
• performs that regulatory function in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England or across the UK;
• is subject to and follows the guidance in HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money handbook, or, if not subject to that guidance, is able to demonstrate compliance with Managing Public Money principles with respect to any funding received from Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT); and
• is compliant with due diligence checks.

We encourage regulators to involve other organisations where such participation is relevant to the purpose of the project and would be expected to improve or enhance the outcomes sought.

However, each application must have individual lead applicant (who meets the minimum eligibility criteria above).

Funding

All sandboxes should aim to ensure timely delivery of regulatory reforms to support the growth of the UK’s engineering biology sectors.

Sandboxes must be a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 24 months. All activities associated with the EBSF will need to be completed by 31 March 2027.

The cap for any single bid is £1.6 million. There is no minimum spend requirement.

How to apply

If you meet the minimum eligibility criteria above please download the application form for the EBSF competition, which is available on this page. Please send your completed application form, along with supporting documents, to engineeringbiology@dsit.gov.uk.

The application is split into three sections:

• application details;
• application questions; and
• project financial information

Only applications that meet the eligibility criteria will be sent for assessment. You will be notified if your application is out of scope with feedback.

Following an assessment of proposals with respect to the criteria set out in the competition brief, an awarding panel will make the final decision on funding. We aim to notify applicants in the first round about the awarding panel’s decision by end of May 2024.

Successful projects will be required to work with DSIT’s independent evaluation partner to participate in the evaluation of the programme.

You will be expected to report on your progress and financial spend to DSIT monthly. Payments will be made quarterly.

The model grant funding agreement document will be published in due course. If you have any questions about this document, please email engineeringbiology@dsit.gov.uk.

Sandboxes explainer

The concept of a ‘sandbox’ is defined by regulators in different ways, but all sandboxes facilitate extensive dialogue between industry and a regulator to inform regulatory actions that strike the right balance between facilitating innovation and mitigating risk.

A sandbox does not necessarily require legislative change or ‘relaxing’ regulations. Additionally, the outcome of a sandbox project should be uncertain as it is a research and development project.

If you require further information, please email engineeringbiology@dsit.gov.uk.