Sources of funding for research

Organisations are listed alphabetically

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Tables showing organisations and the type of research and grants available.

Medical Research Council
20 Park Crescent, London W1B 1AL, UK.
Tel: +44 20 7636 5422
Fax: +44 20 7436 6179
Email: grants@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
Web: www.mrc.ac.uk
Contact: MRC Pre-Awards Administration Team
Scope:The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a publicly-funded organisation dedicated to improving human health. We support research across the entire spectrum of medical sciences, in universities and hospitals, within the UK, and in Africa.
Types of awards available: Research Grants: Are suitable for short- and long-term focused projects and also for broader-based research programmes. In addition, they can be used to support method development or development and continuation of research facilities, and collaborations of more than one group, or more than one institution. Collaboration Grants: Collaboration Grants are available to holders of MRC Research Grants, Career Establishment Grants or Senior Fellowships who wish to promote and enhance collaboration between themselves and other researchers working in complementary research. Trial Grants: Provide support for trials to provide high quality evidence on the efficacy and effectiveness of interventions in medicine and the health services. New Investigator Research Grants: Provide support for clinical and non-clinical researchers in their first steps towards establishing themselves as independent principal investigators. Applicants will be at the start of their first academic appointment, or in a senior post doctoral position. Discipline Hopping Grant:The Enables established researchers in the physical sciences to apply for funding to investigate and develop ideas, skills and collaborations in biological, clinical, health services and public health research. Alternatively, life science researchers can apply for funding to develop ideas, skills and collaborations with physical scientists. The scheme is run in partnership with the Engineeering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Institutional Discipline Bridging Award: This scheme is aimed at institutions rather than individual researchers, to help them foster new ways of promoting research across traditional boundaries. MRC Open LINK Grant: involve at least one company and one research organisation. The scheme aims to encourage research which advances scientific understanding and contributes to wealth creation and quality of life in the UK through the development of new medical treatments and interventions.
Restrictions: The minimum academic qualification required is a graduate degree, although usually a PhD is required. Applicants for New Investigator Research Grants must be based at a UK institution and hold a PhD, D Phil or an MD. They should either be at the start of their first academic appointment or be in a senior post-doctoral position and have between three and ten years post qualification research experience. To be successful in an application for an Institutional Discipline Bridging Award, an institution must be committed to developing multidisciplinary working. It will need to demonstrate this in its strategic plans and by appointing a research facilitator to oversee the proposed programme.
Method of research fund allocation: Proposals will be peer reviewed by independent scientific experts from the MRC's College of Experts. The MRC also sometimes consults other specialist referees in the UK and overseas. This peer review is the first part of a two-stage process, which helps the MRC Research Boards to decide which proposals to consider at their funding meetings. Trial Grants are peer reviewed which is the first part of a two-stage assessment process. It helps our Clinical Trial Cross-Board Group to decide which outline proposal applicants should be invited to submit full proposals to the HSPHRB and which fast-track or full proposals to shortlist for consideration by the board.
Submission of applications: Applications for the majority of MRC award schemes (including outline proposals) must now be submitted via the MRC Electronic Application and Assessment (EAA) system. However applications for Joint Research Equipment Initiative and Joint Infrastructure Funding are not dealt with via the EAA and scheme specific application forms can be found on the website with the scheme details.
Last updated: 02/02/2007