MRC/BBSRC/AHR/ESRC/CONCYTEC Call: Relationship between Food, Nutrition and Health (EOI: 18th Aug 2018)

Several UK research councils and Peru’s Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica (CONCYTEC) jointly invite research proposals to the UK-Peru: Relationship between Food, Nutrition and Health call through the Newton Fund.

      Objectives and scope

‘Dietary risks’ are the single biggest risk factor driving death and disability in Peru. In this context, Peru faces significant maternal, neonatal and nutritional challenges, as well as an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including major Peruvian public health challenges such as anaemia, obesity and chronic malnutrition.

Tackling Peruvian nutrition challenges must be founded on both an in-depth understanding of the links between diet, nutrition and health, and an understanding of the geographical, socio-political, cultural, policy and economic context of Peru, particularly the diversity of its people, landscapes, and multiplicity of diets, as well as other factors that determine nutritional patterns. Such understanding must rely on a holistic approach to nutrition research, requiring strong interactions between disciplines such as biological, nutritional, health and medical sciences, food production and supply systems, and the social sciences, as well as a greater understanding of relevant historical and cultural factors.

Eligibility

This call will fund partnerships between UK and Peru based researchers working in the areas of food, nutrition and health. It is important to note that:

  • this is an open call; applicants do not need to have attended a prior UK-Peru workshop in order to apply
  • the funding agencies will not play a further brokering role in this call
  • the proposal should be jointly developed by a Peruvian director and a UK principal investigator (PI).

Level of funding

In total, up to approximately £5 million will be made available for this initiative: up to £3 million of MRC funding; and up to 9,000,000 Sol (approximately £2 million) from CONCYTEC.

The funding agencies intend to use these available funds to support a minimum of five collaborative projects of up to three years duration, subject to quality.

For further details please visit the MRC website.