The U.K. Space Agency issued a call for proposals Oct. 18 for 1.6 million British pounds ($2.5 million) it intends to award in 2012 to support science associated with Mars exploration.

The research grants, which are intended to enhance the United Kingdom’s capabilities and cross-disciplinary approach to planetary science, are being offered to U.K. scientists as well as scientists from abroad working at U.K. research institutes. The U.K. Space Agency is particularly interested in proposals relating to exploitation of data from NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and Russia’s Phobos-Grunt missions, both due to launch this fall.

Proposals are due Dec. 6. The agency intends to make the grant money available starting in July.