MRC: research grant: applicant-led

Full Job Description

Opportunity status: Open

Funders:

Medical Research Council (MRC)

Funding type: Grant

Publication date: 12 October 2026

Opening date:

12 October 2026 9:00am UK time

Closing date:

Open - no closing date

Apply for funding to support exciting and ambitious research in the remit of the Medical Research Council (MRC). To drive important insights into causes and mechanisms of disease and help accelerate diagnosis, advance treatment and prevent human illness.

You must be employed by an eligible research organisation.

You can involve more than one research group or organisation in the project.

There is no limit to the funding you can apply for, it should be appropriate to the project.

MRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC) and 100% of exceptions.

Funding is available for up to five years.

Questions are now available to indicate a charity co-funder.

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

Who Is Eligible To Apply

To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must show that you will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work.

For applicants who do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting an application, the research organisation is confirming if it is successful:

• contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project

• all necessary support for the project and the applicants will be provided, including mentorship and career development for early career researchers

Demand Management

You can only be project lead on one application at a time across MRC’s applicant-led responsive funding opportunities (research, partnership and new investigator). If you submit another application while one is being assessed, the new application will be rejected. You should wait until you receive a decision on your current application before submitting another.

Resubmissions

We will not accept uninvited resubmission of applications that were submitted after 1 April 2026 to MRC or the rest of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). An uninvited resubmission is an application that was previously unsuccessful and has been submitted again without being invited by MRC. This includes applications that are unchanged, minimally revised, or substantially the same as the original submission. Uninvited resubmissions will be rejected.

You should contact us if you are unsure whether your application is a resubmission. Find contacts in the ‘Contact details’ section

Who Is Not Eligible To Apply

You are not eligible to apply for this funding opportunity as a project lead if you are based at an international research organisation. This does not include project leads from MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) or MRC/UVRI (Uganda Virus Research Institute) and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit.

If you are employed by these organisations you cannot apply as project lead or project co-lead, but can participate as project partners on an application led by an eligible UK organisation:

• businesses

• charity and third sector organisations

However, charities and third sector organisations that are approved UKRI independent research organisations are eligible to apply as project lead or project co-lead.

International Researchers

As MRC is a lead funder for this funding opportunity, international researchers can apply as project co-lead (international).

Project co-leads (international) make a major intellectual contribution to the design or conduct of the project. Their contribution and added value to the research should be clearly explained and justified in the application, see Applicant and team capability to deliver.

Read the UKRI project co-lead (international) eligibility policy for more details. Please contact us if you are uncertain about eligibility. Find contacts in the ‘Contact details’ section

You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.

Equality, Diversity And Inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

• career breaks

• support for people with caring responsibilities

• flexible working

• alternative working patterns

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

Demand Management

Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘Who can apply’ section.

Scope

We are looking to fund exciting and ambitious research to transform our understanding of human health and disease by offering flexible grant support for up to five years. Your research should focus on discovery and early translational research within MRC remit that will drive important insights into causes and mechanisms of disease. We want it to accelerate diagnosis, advance treatment and prevent human illness.

We welcome applications that incorporate global perspectives in discovery and early translational research and that have potential to improve global health. Applications involving partners outside the UK should be equitably led and co-designed.

We welcome team-science approaches and multi and interdisciplinary research grants. You will need to demonstrate that you and your team have the right expertise and experience to deliver the research. Additionally, details of the support for people and teams should be embedded in the design of your proposal, recognising the importance of supporting staff and the environment they work in.

MRC applicant-led research grants can support:

• focused research that is flexible in duration and scale of funding

• longer-term ambitious research that addresses a series of interrelated questions

• proof of principle work to test a key hypothesis or demonstrate feasibility for new avenues of research

For funding translational research consult our portfolio of translation funding opportunities.

Duration

We will support projects lasting up to five years. There is no standard model, and we encourage you to be ambitious and consider what your research needs, and what is most appropriate, before applying.

Projects should start between nine and 18 months after you submit your application.

Funding Available

We want to support exciting and ambitious research that will deliver real impact in the field(s) of work. The funds requested should be determined by the ambitions and research plans. If you are seeking a large amount of funding, you are strongly encouraged to contact us in advance of your submission for advice. You should email the MRC programme manager relevant to your application. Find contacts in the ‘Contact details’ section.

There is no limit to the funding you can apply for. Your application must be for an amount that:

• is appropriate to the project

• you can justify in order to deliver the objectives of the proposed research

We will fund 80% of the FEC and 100% of permitted exceptions.

Find out more about full economic costing.

What We Will Fund

You can request funding for costs such as:

• a contribution to the salary of the project lead and co-leads

• support for other posts such as research and technical staff

• research consumables

• equipment

• travel costs

• data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs

• estates and indirect costs

• NHS research costs, when they are associated with NHS studies

• public partnerships and related activities, including payments to public contributors

You can also request costs for work to be undertaken at international organisations by international project co-leads. We will fund 100% of the eligible costs.

The total of such costs requested for international applicants from high-income countries, (those not on the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) DAC (Development Assistance Committee) List of ODA (Official Development Assistance) Recipients), India and China must not exceed 30% of the total resources requested.

There is no cap on costs requested for international applicants from DAC list countries.

For more information on international costs and what we will and will not fund see costs we fund and the Collaborate with Researchers in Norway guidance.

What We Will Not Fund

We will not fund:

• later phase clinical trials, these are supported by the National Institute of Heath Research (NIHR)

• costs for PhD studentships and fellowships

• infrastructure only

• publication costs

• funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants

If you are applying using a lead agency agreement, we will not fund the international partners, they will be funded by their respective funding agency.

Project Partner

A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU, who will have an integral role in the proposed research. You may include project partners that will support your research project through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:

• staff time

• access to equipment

• sites or facilities

• the provision of data

• software or materials

• recruitment of people as research participants

• providing samples, such as human tissue, for the project

Each project partner must provide a statement of support. If your application involves industry partners, they must provide additional information if the relationship falls within the industry collaboration framework.

Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles.

Who Cannot Be Included As A Project Partner

Any individual included in your application core team cannot also be a project partner.

Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation. This includes other departments within the same organisation.

If you are collaborating with someone in your organisation, consider including them in the core team as project co-lead, or specialist. They cannot be a project partner.

Human Participation In Research

If the project you are applying for includes a clinical trial, we are looking for you to indicate in the application the clinical trial phase that best reflects the primary objective of the study. If it does not align with the Phase I-III options, you should select “Other” and provide a brief explanation in the study description.

Clinical trials funded through MRC and UKRI funding opportunities, must be registered with the ISRCTN Registry and receive an ISRCTN number.

Schedule Of Events Costs Attribution Tool (Soecat)

If you are applying to do research in the NHS, public health or social care you usually need to complete a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT). We are looking for evidence you have taken the appropriate steps and for the full costs of your research to be appropriately attributed.

It is important to complete a SoECAT to be eligible for support from the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN). You must complete a SoECAT even if you don’t think your research will involve excess treatment costs (ETCs).

See MRC guidance on who needs to complete a SoECAT.

SoECAT guidance can be found on the NIHR website.

These are the steps you need to take:

• Contact your local attributing the costs of health and social care Research and Development (AcoRD) specialist as early as possible in the application process. They can advise on completing the SoECAT and provide a bespoke service to meet the needs of your study.

• Complete an online SoECAT. If you do not have an account for NIHR’s Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS) you will need to create and activate one.

• Once your account is created and active, you can complete an online SoECAT by selecting the ‘Apply for a service for a new study’ pathway. Further guidance can be found on the Online SoECAT guidance page.

• Request authorisation of your SoECAT.

• When you have authorisation, include the ‘funder export’ Excel document from your SoECAT as part of your application in the Human participation in health-related research section.

There are different ways to contact an AcoRD specialist, depending on where you are in the UK:

• England: NIHR website

• Scotland: NHS Research Scotland website

• Wales: email fundingsupport@wales.nhs.uk

• Northern Ireland: HSC R&D division website

Contact us about any issues including a SoECAT or AcoRD specialist feedback in your application, such as:

• your proposed research involves human participation and the NHS, but you don’t think you need a SoECAT, explain why not when you contact us

• your proposed research involves human participation in Health and Social Care (not NHS), and you think you need a SoECAT

Supporting Skills And Talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) supports over 25,000 full-time equivalent of research and innovation (R&I) staff directly on grants, many more if indirect costs, facility charges and strategic funding streams are included. Those skilled people and teams design our studies, deliver the R&I work and disseminate the outputs. They are the R&I system and mission critical to delivering the outcomes we invest in.

Our expectations for people and teams are collated on the supporting skills and talent section of the good research resource hub.

In this funding opportunity we are piloting a new approach to embedding consideration of people and teams in our assessment. You can find the assessment criteria for integrating support for people and teams in your application (the approach, team capability and resources and costs sections) in the people and teams assessment guidance.

You should evidence a strong commitment to supporting the development of researchers at all stages of their career.

Trusted Research And Innovation (Tr&I)

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has a long-standing and continuing commitment to supporting and enabling safe and effective collaboration in research and innovation. UKRI is equally committed to ensuring that this takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks.

Our Principles and expectations set out the principles that UKRI applies to TR&I and our general expectations of the research organisations (including businesses, research institutes, and research technical organisations) that we support. Organisations supported by UKRI should be able to provide evidence that their internal controls and processes meet these expectations.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation, check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.

To Apply

Three grant types are available, research, new investigator and partnership. Before you select ‘Start application’, check you are applying for the appropriate grant type. Applications submitted to the incorrect grant type will be rejected.

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

• Confirm you are the project lead.

• Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.

• Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.

• Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.

• Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

• Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must:

• provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)

• insert each new image on a new line

• use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:

• sentences or paragraphs of text

• tables

• excessive quantities of images

A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

• how applicants use the Funding Service

• how research offices use the Funding Service

• how reviewers use the Funding Service

References

References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:

• references are easily identifiable by the assessors

• references are formatted as appropriate to your research

• persistent identifiers are used where possible

General Use Of Hyperlinks

Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Ai)

Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.

Deadline

We do not have closing dates for applications. You should simply submit your application when it is ready.

Applications are accepted and processed continuously, so there is no need to focus on a specific deadline.

You may see a notional future closing date displayed in the Funding Service. This is a system requirement and does not reflect an actual deadline. You should ignore this date and submit your application whenever it is ready.

Due to the continuing development of the Funding Service, we will occasionally need to make changes to this funding opportunity to allow technical updates or new policies to be implemented. When updates are required, we will highlight any changes to this funding opportunity on this page. If you are preparing an application, we will contact you and provide an eight week transition period to allow you to complete and submit your application before the current funding opportunity closes, or to apply through the updated funding opportunity.

Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed by you or us. If there is a problem with an application it will either fail our examination checks and be rejected, or your research organisation may withdraw your application. You would then need to submit a new revised application. Because there are no closing dates, you can do this more easily.

Processing Personal Data

MRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

If you apply using the MRC Charity Co-funding Framework, you agree to MRC sharing your personal data with the relevant co-funder(s). This information could include your application, relevant information as part of the assessment process, the award offer letter, and subsequent grant reporting.

Sensitive Information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email: applicantleddiscovery@mrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

• individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)

• declaration of interest

• additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section

• conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection

• the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Institutional Matched Funding

There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.

This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

Publication Of Outcomes

MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at board and panel outcomes.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must show that you will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work.

For applicants who do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting an application, the research organisation is confirming if it is successful:

• contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project

• all necessary support for the project and the applicants will be provided, including mentorship and career development for early career researchers

You are not eligible to apply for this funding opportunity as a project lead if you are based at an international research organisation. This does not include project leads from MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) or MRC/UVRI (Uganda Virus Research Institute) and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit.

If you are employed by these organisations you cannot apply as project lead or project co-lead, but can participate as project partners on an application led by an eligible UK organisation:

• businesses

• charity and third sector organisations

However, charities and third sector organisations that are approved UKRI independent research organisations are eligible to apply as project lead or project co-lead.