Funding opportunities

Funding opportunities

UKRI: Innovate UK ICURe Discover Sprint: a 3-week intensive version of the Innovate UK ICURe Discover programme, created specifically for researchers with demanding teaching responsibilities or researchers looking to fast-track onto Autumn term ICURe Explore programmes. It offers a focused opportunity to explore the commercial potential of early-stage research before the academic year ramps up. Financial support of up to £2,500 is available for testing assumptions and market discovery. Closes 18 August 2025.

C-further: Seeking projects from the international research community for either targets well-validated in childhood cancer indications or existing therapeutic assets for childhood cancers. Expressions of interest to be submitted by 1 September 2025.

UKRI Pre-announcement: Engineer next generation veterinary vaccine technology platforms: A joint BBSRC-Defra programme aims to fund ‘plug and play’ veterinary vaccine platforms, leveraging transformative technologies, interdisciplinary approaches, and cross-sector partnerships, focusing on entire platform technology pipeline from antigen discovery to delivery and underpinned by immunological understanding to address unmet veterinary vaccine needs. Closes 16 September 2025.

UKRI: BBSRC ‘Stand-alone’ LINK: collaborative research with at least one company where at least 50% of the full project cost comes from industry either in cash or in-kind. Closes 24 September 2025

UKRI Health Technologies Connectivity Awards: round two: Apply for EPSRC funding to spend time in a different research or user environment to build new connections applicable to health technologies. Closes 9 October 2025.

Longitudinal Prize on ALS: The £7.5 millionPrize incentivises the use of AI-based approaches to transform drug discovery for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND). Closes 3 December 2025.

BHF Translational Awards: to progress the development of novel, innovative technologies towards benefits to human cardiovascular health. No limit on the amount of funding, projects usually last for up to 3 years. Preliminary application deadlines 4 February 2026, 5 August 2026.

UKRI: Experimental medicine stage one: Apply for MRC funding to investigate the causes, progression and treatment of human disease. This is an ongoing funding opportunity. Application rounds close every April and October.

UKRI: Developmental pathway funding scheme: stage one: Apply for MRC funding to develop and test novel therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and other interventions. This is an ongoing funding opportunity. Application rounds close every March, July and November.

Wellcome Leap builds bold, unconventional programmes optimized to deliver breakthroughs in human health over 5 – 10 years, and funds them at scale.

NC3Rs partnerships and impact awards are designed to accelerate the adoption of existing 3Rs models, tools and technologies into routine practice. 2024 round is closed – look out for updates on 2025 round.

UKRI: Industrial Partnership Awards: Academic-led research with significant industrial involvement and where an industry partner contributes cash at least equivalent to 10% of the full economic costs of the project. 

UKRI: Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs): mechanism to transfer knowledge and to develop graduate and postgraduate personnel for industrial careers. Each partnership, lasting between 1 – 3 years, employs one or more high-calibre KTP Associates (early-career researchers) to work on an innovative project within industry. The KTP programme runs continuously throughout the year.

Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF): UK registered businesses can apply for funding for life science manufacturing capital investment projects (with a total cost of at least £8 million) which help increase UK health resilience. The LSIMF will be UK and sector wide and will provide capital grants for investments in the manufacture of human medicines, medical diagnostics and medtech products. The fund will remain open until all the funding has been allocated. Closes 31 March 2030.

BHF Clinical Study Grants: supports funding for over £500,000 for: Interventional clinical trials, Observational studies of specific patient groups, clinical studies. Grant duration is typically 5 years.