Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund
This fund supports innovative engineering biology sandboxes which aim to accelerate pro-innovation regulatory reform and encourage business innovation and investment.
Documents
Details
Update: 29 April 2025
Round 2 of the Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund is now open.
Apply by 2:00pm on 18 July 2025.
Round 1 of the competition closed on 19 April 2024 – see the successful projects.
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.
Each application must have an individual lead applicant that meets the eligibility criteria in the competition brief.
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.
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 October 2027.
The cap for any single application is £1.6 million. There is no minimum spend requirement.
Please note that funding is not guaranteed and it may be that funding is not provided.
How to apply
The application is split into 3 sections:
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application details
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application questions
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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 second round about the awarding panel’s decision by end of August 2025.
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.
To apply, download the application form and send your completed form, along with supporting documents, to engineeringbiology@dsit.gov.uk. Deadline 2pm, 18 July 2025.
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.
Updates to this page
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Round 2 of the Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund is open for applications.
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Round 2 of the Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund will open in April 2025.
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Round 1 successful project announced.
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Draft statement of main terms published.
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Reference to the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement has been corrected to the Subsidy Control Act 2022 in the subsidy control section of the competition brief.
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Clarification questions published.
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First published.