Nuffield Foundation grants
Nuffield Foundation is a national family foundation funding UK research, giving around £14.86 million a year, with grants of up to £500,000 through its Main Grants fund.
Guidance last checked 16 July 2026· from the funder’s own website
Overview
Nuffield Foundation is a national family foundation (charity number 206601) that funds research and analysis intended to improve lives across the UK. It made grants to organisations totalling around £14.86 million in its latest year. Its Main Grants (Research, Development & Analysis Fund) offers funding of up to £500,000, while its Strategic Fund makes larger grants of £1 million to £3 million. Recent grants have typically been around £190,000, with the middle half of awards ranging from about £77,000 to £301,000.
What they fund
Nuffield Foundation funds research projects that address its priority questions to improve lives across the UK, spanning general charitable purposes, the prevention or relief of poverty, and education and training.
Who and where
It funds throughout England and Wales, and its grants also reach organisations in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Who they help
Where they fund
What Nuffield Foundation says in its own guidance
Quoted directly from the funder’s own website, with a link to the page each quote came from. Always the most current word is theirs — check the source before you apply.
Who they say they'll fund
“Funding for research projects that address one or more of our five interconnected priorities and aim to improve lives in the UK”
Source: nuffieldfoundation.org — Research Funding | Apply for Funding | Nuffield Foundation →
What they say they won't fund
“Individuals without formal employment or contractual relationship with the institution hosting the grant for at least the duration of the project.”
Source: nuffieldfoundation.org — Main Grants (Research, Development & Analysis Fund) | Nuffield Foundation →
“Projects led by schools or further education colleges.”
Source: nuffieldfoundation.org — Main Grants (Research, Development & Analysis Fund) | Nuffield Foundation →
“Projects led by individuals unaffiliated to any particular organisation.”
Source: nuffieldfoundation.org — Main Grants (Research, Development & Analysis Fund) | Nuffield Foundation →
“PhD fees or projects where the main purpose is to support a PhD.”
Source: nuffieldfoundation.org — Main Grants (Research, Development & Analysis Fund) | Nuffield Foundation →
“Ongoing costs or the costs of 'rolling out' existing work or services (unless explicitly agreed with the Foundation in advance of an application being submitted).”
Source: nuffieldfoundation.org — Main Grants (Research, Development & Analysis Fund) | Nuffield Foundation →
Grant sizes they mention
Deadlines they mention
“Outline application deadline: 5 October 2026”
Source: nuffieldfoundation.org — Research Funding | Apply for Funding | Nuffield Foundation →
What a typical grant looks like
| Typical (median) grant | £190,121 |
|---|---|
| Middle half of grants | £77,113 – £300,598 |
| Grants published openly | 423 |
| Most recent published grant | 2026 |
Recent grants
- Institute of Health VisitingTowards Co-designing HV support for families in temporary accommodation£188,967July 2026
- Queen Mary, University of LondonTowards Optimising Cognitive Challenge in Early Digital Experiences£364,238June 2026
- Newcastle UniversityTowards The Financial Challenges of Adoption: Practice & Policy Implications£111,172June 2026
- King's College LondonTowards Using AI in Administrative Tribunals: A Grounded “Scan” of Use Cases£74,122June 2026
- Wellbeing Research CentreTowards AI, Performance, and Wellbeing: A Field Experiment£324,419June 2026
- Crest AdvisoryTowards Foundations for an Evidence-Based Extremism Resilience Framework£76,447June 2026
From grants Nuffield Foundation publishes openly via 360Giving (the UK open grants-data standard), used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
Their charitable objects
As registered with the Charity Commission (their formal purposes):
Advancement of health and prevention and relief of sickness. 2. Advancement of social well being. 3. Advancement of education. 4. Care and comfort of the aged poor. 5. The relief of the blind; the relief of the profoundly deaf; the relief of those who are both deaf and dumb; the relief of children suffering from…
How to approach them
Start with the official sources — they’re always more current than any directory, including this one.
Common questions
How much does Nuffield Foundation typically give?
Across a recent sample of 423 grants, the typical (median) award was around £190,000, with the middle half of grants falling between roughly £77,000 and £301,000. Its Main Grants fund offers up to £500,000, and its Strategic Fund makes grants of £1 million to £3 million.
What does Nuffield Foundation fund?
It funds research projects that address its priority questions to improve lives across the UK, spanning general charitable purposes, the prevention or relief of poverty, and education and training.
What won't Nuffield Foundation's Main Grants fund?
Its Main Grants (Research, Development & Analysis Fund) does not fund projects led by schools or further education colleges, projects led by individuals unaffiliated to any organisation, PhD fees or PhD-only projects, ongoing costs or the rolling out of existing work, or individuals without a formal employment relationship with the host institution.
How do I apply to Nuffield Foundation?
Applications are made through the funder's own website, nuffieldfoundation.org, and trustees can check its entry on the Charity Commission register (charity number 206601). Deadlines and rules do change over time — for example, its Main Grants fund has listed an outline application deadline of 5 October 2026 — so always confirm current dates directly with the Foundation.
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Contains public sector information from the Charity Commission for England and Wales licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and grants data from 360Giving used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Figures are derived (filtered and summarised by TrusteeMeetings), not republished unchanged. About the data · Terms of use. This page is a starting point for your own research, not a promise of funding, and is not endorsed by or affiliated with Nuffield Foundation.