Microbiome Engineering for Resilience and Performance
The Innovation Exchange (iX) Programme is supporting Dstl to find innovators who can help to enhance the resilience and/or performance of UK Defence personnel using microbiome engineering.
Opportunity
Challenge opens
29/10/2025
Challenge closes
05/12/2025
Benefit
Dstl is seeking to encourage innovation in microbiome engineering for the benefit of UK Defence personnel. Funding will be made available to support concept maturation activities following the sandpit event. Successful projects that arise from the sandpit can receive up to a maximum of £300K.
Background
Dstl is the Ministry of Defence (MOD)’s science and technology organisation, delivering innovative solutions that are essential for maintaining UK readiness in an increasingly dangerous and complex world. Given that people are the foundation of UK Defence’s capabilities, developing strategies to protect and improve their health and performance is a critical part of achieving this.
Research suggests that the composition and activity of the microbiome influences a potentially wide range of biological processes in humans, including immune regulation, cognitive function and the stress response. This has also prompted a wave of innovation, with a growing number of approaches and tools being developed to modify the microbiome with a view to improving health outcomes. Considering these developments, Dstl is keen to explore how engineering of the human microbiome could be used to enhance the resilience and performance of Defence personnel.
This challenge therefore invites applicants to participate in a two-day sandpit event which aims to connect cutting-edge discovery research with innovative solution providers against a backdrop of Defence requirements. Over the course of the event, it is expected that the activities planned will enable attendees to develop novel microbiome engineering concepts that are aligned to these requirements. Collectively, this will help to establish “the art of the possible” in terms of microbiome engineering for Defence personnel, as well as cultivating new partnerships with the necessary expertise to deliver this.
Attendance at the sandpit is free of charge, with overnight accommodation and on-site catering being funded by the challenge holder for the duration of the event. Attendees are responsible for their own travel costs and any additional subsistence costs incurred (e.g. off-site catering, additional nights).
More detailed contextual information can be found in the following: Templeman, I., Parish, E., Rimmer, J., Clarke, G., Troth, T., Goodson, M.S., Soares, J.W. and Harding, S.V. (2025). ‘It takes a village’: deciphering the role of the gut microbiome in the health and performance of military personnel. BMJ Military Health, 171 (5), 387-391.
This challenge is brought to you by:
