‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’: Catalyst Awards are designed to support community-led research.
Funding will be provided to support new and existing research projects that promote the health of individuals through fostering healthy environments and communities, and enabling access to healthy foods.
‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’: Catalyst Awards can be held in any discipline; however, they must speak to one of three topics:
- Climate
- Nature
- Food
The main themes for the awards are:
- People: awarded projects may identify neglected voices on particular topics and conduct research on this topic guided by these voices, taking a people-centred approach.
- Problem: awarded projects may address and identify issues through data collection and analysis.
- Practice: awarded projects may propose novel practical solutions to an established problem.
Community is defined as a group of people who share an identity-forming narrative. Research is defined here as the creation of new knowledge, or the use of existing knowledge, to help build practical solutions to targeted challenges.
Who can apply?
The awards are open to applications from groups or individuals who can demonstrate that they could lead and deliver on the proposed research project. Academics can apply for these awards provided the research is community-led.
Only incorporated community groups or organisations are eligible to apply.
For full guidance on who can apply, please visit the fund website.
How to apply
Apply online via the Royal Society of Edinburgh's website
Closing date: 11.59am on Tuesday 1 December 2026
