We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
Submitting your application
Pre application stage
The standard of applications for programme grants is very competitive. You must contact us at mcmb@mrc.ukri.org before you apply to check if your application is suitable. You must do this by 29 November 2023.
When you contact us attach a brief description of your application. The document may be up to four pages, including two pages outlining the proposed programme, one page for track record and up to one page of references.
The document should include:
- the title of the potential programme
- the project lead and co-leads and their organisations
- your collaborators (if known at this stage)
- an estimate of the likely cost to MRC
You should explain why you need programme grant funding, and the strategic fit and suitability of your programme for a major investment, including:
- justification for the proposed work as a programme (a coordinated and coherent group of related projects to answer an interrelated set of questions)
- why the proposed work needs long-term and extensive support
- how the proposed work fits an MRC area of high strategic priority
- the case for a major investment in the context of the board portfolio and budget
- your and your teams track record, demonstrating you have the potential to successfully manage and deliver a major research programme, based on your research track record, outputs and funding history
It is important that you clearly state your aims, but we do not expect this initial document to contain a detailed research application.
Full application stage
You should only start the full application stage if you have been invited by email to do so after the pre-application stage.
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.
To apply
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. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org. Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service.
- 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.
Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.
Deadline
We must receive your application by 10 January 2024 at 4.00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the close of the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
As part of UKRI, we 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.
Publication of outcomes
As part of UKRI, we 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.
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
- opinion-formers
- policymakers
- the public
- the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
- context
- the challenge the project addresses
- aims and objectives
- potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
- project lead (PL)
- project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
- project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
Only list one individual as project lead.
Find out more about UKRI’s new grant roles.
MRC research area
Word count: 1
Select the primary MRC research area your application most closely aligns to.
In the text box, copy the number corresponding to your selected area:
Molecular and cellular medicine board
- cancer
- cell biology
- clinical pharmacology
- developmental biology
- environment and health
- genetics and genomics
- regenerative medicine
- Haematology
- structural biology
- Toxicology
- chemical biology
Cross-board areas
- data science and integration
- motor neurone disease
- myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
Additional guidance
This is for administrative purposes to help with the initial application processing. We will check your choice and make a final decision on which board will lead the peer review of your application.
MRC grant type
Word limit: 100
Why does your proposed work need programme type funding?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how your proposed work is a programme and why it needs large-scale long-term funding.
Within this section we also expect you to:
- confirm you have completed the mandatory pre-application stage for this opportunity
- name the MRC programme manager who agreed that this application could be submitted
Vision
Word limit: 500
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how your proposed work:
- is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the fields or areas
- has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
- is timely given current trends, context, and needs
- impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment
Within the Vision section we also expect you to:
- identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be
- identify potential improvements in human or population health, whether through contributing to relieving disease or disability burden, improving quality of life or providing benefit to the health service or health-related industry
- show how your programme fits within the MRC strategy and the difference it will make
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Approach
Word limit: 5,500
How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how you have designed your work so that it:
- is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
- is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
- if applicable, uses a clear and transparent methodology
- if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed
- will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
- describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place, and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
Within the Approach section we also expect you to:
- demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the project
- provide a project plan including milestones and timelines, in the form of an embedded Gantt chart or similar
- explain and justify how you will approach diversity and inclusion in the study population and follow the MRC embedding diversity in research design policy (if applicable)
- show how you will use both sexes in research involving animals and tissues and cells (if applicable). If you are not proposing to do this justify why
You have the option to use 500 words to provide additional information about reproducibility and how you will ensure reliability and robustness of your work, such as further details of statistical analyses, methodology and experimental design. If this information is not applicable, then you should not use this space to expand on other areas of your approach and your response to this section should be around 5,000 words.
The reproducibility information should be clearly identified using the heading ‘Reproducibility and statistical design’. We expect you to seek professional statistical or other relevant advice in preparing your response, which may include:
- experimental approach to address objectives
- sample and effect sizes
- planned statistical analyses
- models chosen (for example animal model, cell line)
Refer to the MRC guidance for applicants, section 2.2.3.5 ‘Reproducibility and statistical design’, for further information, examples and online tools.
If your proposed work involves animals, and you provide information on animal sample sizes and statistical analyses in the Vision and approach section, you should not duplicate it in the Research involving the use of animals section. Use the Research involving the use of animals section to provide information on the rationale for using animals, choice of species, welfare and procedure severity.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word limit: 1,500
Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
- the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
- the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
- the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
The word count for this section is 1,500 words: 1,000 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.
Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.
Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:
- contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
- the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
- contributions to the wider research and innovation community
- contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit
Additions
Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).
Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
References
Word limit: 1,000
List the references you have used to support your application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions.
You should not include any other information in this section.
We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.
If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
Project partners
Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.
Add the following project partner details:
- the organisation name (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
- the project partner contact name and email address
- the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
If an individual or organisation outside the core team is responsible for recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue for this project, list them as a project partner.
If your application includes industry project partners, you will also need to complete the Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF) section.
Find out more about ICF.
Project partners: letters or emails of support
Word limit: 10
Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the project partner section.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you do not have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.
If you have named project partners in the previous section, enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box.
Each letter or email you provide should:
- confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
- clearly explain the value, relevance and possible benefits of the work to them
- describe any additional value that they bring to the project
If the project partner is responsible for recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue their letter or email should include:
- agreement that the project partner will recruit the participants or provide tissue
- confirmation that what is being supplied is suitable for the proposed work
- confirmation that the quantity of tissue being supplied is suitable, but not excessive for achieving meaningful results (if applicable)
Unless specifically requested, do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment. Upload details are provided within the service on the actual application.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Do not provide letters of support from host and co-project lead research organisations.
Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)
Word limit: 1,500
Does your application include industry project partners?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If industry collaboration does not apply to any of your project partners, or you don’t have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box.
If your research project involves collaboration between an academic organisation and an industry or company you are likely to need to follow the industry collaboration framework and answer this question, check using the ICF decision tree.
By ‘industry or company’ we mean an enterprise that puts goods or services on a market and whose commercial activities are greater than 20% of their overall annual capacity.
The assessors are looking for information relating to the nature, goals and conditions of the collaboration and any restrictions or rights to the project results that could be claimed by the project partner.
Find out more about ICF, including:
- collaboration agreements
- definitions of basic or applied research
- internationally based companies
- subsidy control
- Intellectual property (IP) arrangements
- fully flexible and gated contributions
- the ICF assessment criteria
In addition to the project partner information completed in the previous section, confirm your answers to the ICF questions in the text box, repeat this process for each ICF project partner:
- Name the industry or company project partner considered under ICF.
- Indicate whether your application is either basic research or applied research.
- Explain why, in the absence of the requested UKRI funding, the collaboration and the planned research could not be undertaken.
- State whether your application is under the category of either fully flexible contribution or gated contribution (based on the IP sharing arrangements with the ICF partner).
- Outline the pre-existing IP (‘background IP’) that each project partner (including the academic partner) will bring to the collaborative research project and the terms under which project partners may access these assets.
- Outline the IP that is expected to be developed during the collaborative research project (‘foreground IP’) and briefly outline how it will be managed, including:
- which project partners will own this IP
- what rights project partners will have to use academically-generated foreground IP during and after the research project, for internal research and development or for commercial purposes
- any rights of the academic partner to commercialise the foreground IP (including foreground IP generated by project partners)
- Outline any restrictions to dissemination of the project results, including the rights of the project partner to:
- review, approve or delay publications (including the time period associated with such rights)
- request or require the removal of any information
- Declare any conflicts of interest held by the applicants in relation to the project partners and describe how they will be managed.
- If applicable, justify collaborating with an overseas industry or company under ICF.
Failure to provide the information requested for industry partners under ICF could result in your application being rejected.
You are recommended to discuss the goals and conditions of any collaboration with an industry or company project partner with your university technology transfer or contracts office before applying.
Facilities
Word limit: 250
Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.
For each requested facility you will need to provide the:
- name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 35KB)
- proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
- confirmation you have their agreement where required
If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Data management and sharing
Word count: 1,500
How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a data management plan which should clearly detail how you will comply with MRC’s published data management and sharing policies, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Provide your response following the MRC data management plan template.
The length of your plan will vary depending on the type of study being undertaken:
- population cohorts; longitudinal studies; genetic, omics and imaging data; biobanks, and other collections that are potentially a rich resource for the wider research community: maximum of 1,500 words
- all other research, less complex, the plan may be as short as 500 words
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word limit: 500
What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
- the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
- how you will manage these considerations
Consider the MRC guidance on ethics and approvals.
Genetic and biological risk
Word limit: 700
Does your proposed research involve any genetic or biological risk?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
In respect of animals, plants or microbes, are you proposing to:
- use genetic modification as an experimental tool, like studying gene function in a genetically modified organism
- release genetically modified organisms
- ultimately develop commercial and industrial genetically modified outcomes
If yes, provide the name of any required approving body and state if approval is already in place. If it is not, provide an indicative timeframe for obtaining the required approval.
Identify the organism or organisms as a plant, animal or microbe and specify the species and which of the three categories the research relates to.
Identify the genetic and biological risks resulting from the proposed research, their implications, and any mitigation you plan on taking. Assessors will want to know you have considered the risks and their implications to justify that any identified risks do not outweigh any benefits of the proposed research.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Research involving the use of animals
Word limit: 10
Does your proposed research involve the use of vertebrate animals or other organisms covered by the Animals Scientific Procedures Act?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing research that requires using animals, download and complete the Animals Scientific Procedures Act template (DOCX, 74KB), which contains all the questions relating to research using vertebrate animals or other Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 regulated organisms.
Save it as a PDF. The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Conducting research with animals overseas
Word limit: 10
Will any of the proposed animal research be conducted overseas?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing to conduct overseas research, it must be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with those in the UK, as in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research, page 14.
Ensure all named applicants in the UK and overseas are aware of this requirement. Provide a statement to confirm that:
- all named applicants are aware of the requirements and have agreed to abide by them
- this overseas research will be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with the principles of UK legislation
- the expectation set out in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research will be applied and maintained
- appropriate national and institutional approvals are in place.
Overseas studies proposing to use non-human primates, cats, dogs, equines or pigs will be assessed during NC3Rs review of research applications. Provide the required information by completing the template from the question ‘Research involving the use of animals’.
For studies involving other species, select, download, and complete the relevant Word checklist or checklists from this list:
Save as a PDF. If you use more than one checklist, save it as a single PDF.
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Research involving human participation
Word limit: 700
Will the project involve the use of human subjects or their personal information?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing research that requires the involvement of human subjects, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.
Justify the number and the diversity of the participants involved, as well as any procedures.
Provide details of any areas of substantial or moderate severity of impact.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Research involving human tissues or biological samples
Word limit: 700
Does your proposed research involve the use of human tissues, or biological samples?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing work that involves human tissues or biological samples, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.
Justify the use of human tissue or biological samples specifying the nature and quantity of the material to be used and its source.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Resources and cost justification
Word limit: 1,000
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
- project staff
- significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
- any equipment that will cost more than £10,000
- any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
- all facilities and infrastructure costs
- all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
- support for public and patient involvement and engagement
- support for preserving, long-term storage, or sharing of data
- support for international co-leads, demonstrating this is within the 30% costs cap for co-leads from developed countries, India and China
- NHS research costs, when they are associated with NHS studies
- animal costs, such as numbers that need to be bred or maintained and to maintain high welfare standards
- MRC unit transition applicants – briefly summarise the resources you will receive for this work from unit funding which are not being requested as part of this application. Use the current unit costing approach to explain these and state the total cost of your proposed work, including unit resources and costs requested from this application.
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
Clinical research using NHS resources
Word count: 250
Will your research involve participants from the NHS or Health and Social Care duty of care?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If not, enter ‘N/A’ into the text box
Researchers applying for clinical research in the NHS, public health or social care need to complete a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT) to be eligible for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) portfolio. This is the route through which support and excess treatment costs are provided in England.
You must answer ‘Yes’ and complete and upload a SoECAT if you are applying for clinical research funding, and:
- you will carry out your research in the UK
- it is intended for the NIHR CRN portfolio; this may include studies in a social care or public health setting
- the research requires approval by Health Research Authority (England) or its equivalents in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales
- your research will use NHS resources
You must complete a SoECAT even if you don’t think your clinical research will involve excess treatment costs (ETCs).
See MRC guidance 3.5.1 on who needs to complete a SoECAT.
If you are applying for clinical research in the NHS, public health or social care and don’t think you need to complete a SoECAT, answer ‘Yes’ and explain why a SoECAT is not necessary.
We want to know that you have taken the appropriate steps for the full costs of your research to be attributed, calculated and paid.
We want to see the expected total resources required for your project, such as Excess Treatment Costs (ETCs), to consider if these are appropriate.
How to complete a SoECAT
SoECAT guidance can be found on the NIHR website.
These are the steps you need to take:
- Contact an Attributing the costs of health and social care Research & Development (AcoRD) specialist as early as possible in the application process
- Complete an online SoECAT. Excel versions of the form have been discontinued. If you don’t have an account for NIHR’s Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS) you will need create and activate one. See the user guide for instructions.
- Request authorisation of your SoECAT.
- Once authorised extract the ‘summary information’ and the ‘summary’ pages from the ‘Funder Export’, combine them as a single PDF and upload it to your application.
Applications that require a SoECAT but have not attached the SoECAT funder export summary may be rejected.
Contact mcmb@mrc.ukri.org if you have questions about the UKRI aspects of this process or have concerns that your SoECAT may not be authorised in time for the application deadline.
Related applications
Word count: 500
Is this application related to another application to MRC or other funding organisation?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If not enter N/A
If yes, state your previous reference number and explain how this new application is related to the other application.
If the related application was submitted to another funder you should identify the name of the funder and when you applied.
If this is a resubmission describe how it differs from the previous application and how feedback on the previous application has been considered and acted on.
If you are applying to renew a programme grant we are looking for a report on progress of your research, including:
- the grant reference, title and value of the previous award
- progress made against original aims and objectives since the programme was awarded, or since the last report
- important outputs from the programme
- a list of staff employed on the programme up to the current date
You should upload the progress report document as a six page PDF. The document must have single line spacing, margins of at least 2cm and be typed using Arial 11pt, or another ‘sans serif’ font with an equivalent size to Arial 11pt.
Unpublished data important for the assessment of your application must be included in the approach section of your new application and should not be included in the progress report.
MRC unit transition applications
Word limit: 1,000
What is the relationship between this application and your MRC unit funding?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are not based in a MRC unit answer N/A
Explain the relationship between this grant application and your current unit funding and how this grant will help you transition to new funding arrangements, including:
- activities that will be delivered during the remaining unit-funded period and during this grant
- important changes or new directions proposed from your unit-funded research (if applicable)
- feedback from the last unit review that is important for the assessment of these plans (if applicable)
- the transition approach to staff costs across the unit-funded and grant-funded parts of the proposed work
Lead agency
Word limit: 50
Is your application using a lead agency agreement?
What assessors and looking for in your response
If not enter N/A in the text box
If your application is using a lead agency agreement (LAA), identify the agreement concerned by answering ‘Yes’ followed by ‘FAPESP’ or ‘FNR’:
- lead agency agreement with Luxembourg (FNR)
- lead agency agreement with Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
The assessors are looking for you to create and upload the required lead agency documents, to support your application. You must complete all the relevant documentation and attach it to this application as a single PDF.
FAPESP
FAPESP applicants must complete the FAPESP-specific forms.
Documents and guidance are available on the FAPESP website, including a FAPESP:
- consolidated budget form
- proposal form
- letter of eligibility
FNR
FNR applicants should complete the FNR-specific forms.
Documents and guidance are available on the FNR website, including:
- INTER budget sheet
- INTER budget justification
- INTER budget plan
- FNR eligibility letter of support
You must also complete the project partners section, with information about the international research partner, including:
- international lead applicant contact name and organisation details
- contribution from the international funder (FAPESP or FNR)
Include the experience, skills and contributions of your international research partners in the response to Applicant and team capability to deliver.
You should ensure that you have read and understood the specific requirements for the LAA you are applying to, especially for costing the applications. Failure to comply with the specific LAA guidance may result in the rejection of your application.
On receipt of your application we will provide the international funder (FAPESP or FNR) with a copy to complete eligibility checks and provide names of expert reviewers.
For general FAPESP guidance please see the FAPESP website.
For general FNR guidance please see the FNR website.
