Find External Funding
Here are some of the most common external translational funding schemes you can look into. There will be other opportunities too, and we recommend looking at charities that might be a fit for your research.
MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme
About MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme
The Medical Research Council (MRC) Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) is for academically-led translational projects on the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of significant health needs. It also funds research tools that increase the efficiency of developing interventions.
Projects should be milestone-driven and goal-orientated. They can be for any intervention in any disease area, including addressing global health issues.
Stage
Funding is available to support prototype discovery and design, pre-clinical testing and early phase clinical studies (phase 1 and 2a) representing stages D3-T2 on the translational pathway.
Size/schedule
Calls for funding close every four months, normally in November, March and July. There isn’t a cap on the length of the project or the funding, but value for money will be taken into account as part of the assessment process. Projects should be academically led and researchers should be based at an eligible research organisation.
Application
The application is assessed in a two stage process.
The outline application is assessed by a panel of experts on:
- the need and whether meeting it would significantly improve treatment, reduce disease or improve quality of life
- scientific or medical rationale
- deliverability of the project
- an appropriate strategy for intellectual property and downstream exploitation or adoption.
If successful, applicants will be invited to submit a more detailed full proposal. This will undergo external peer review before a further review by the panel.
Success rates for outline and full proposals stages are 42% and 37% respectively, representing an overall success rate of 16% (accurate as of Oct 2021).
Contact
Find the latest call information on the UKRI website. Contact DPFS. Or get contact details of the programme managers for specific intervention areas on the latest call webpages. They are very willing to discuss your proposal ideas.
MRC Experimental Medicine
About MRC Experimental Medicine
Medical Research Council (MRC) Experimental Medicine funding is available for academically led projects that focus on addressing mechanistic hypotheses about the cause, progression or treatment of human disease. Projects must include an experimental intervention or challenge in humans, perturbing the system to explore a disease mechanism.
Proposals must:
- contain a clear mechanistic question
- strongly justify the experimental system proposed to test the hypothesis
- address a clearly articulated gap in human pathophysiology
- show a clear path to clinical impact.
Applications are welcome in all disease areas and interventions.
Stage
Proposals to the Experimental Medicine sit within D1-T1 of the translational pathway and must include an intervention in humans.
Size/schedule
Deadlines for calls are every six months. There’s no limit on the funding or the timescale for the project and there is an annual budget of £10m available to support a range of award sizes and durations.
Projects must be academically led from an eligible research organisation. Partnerships with industry and charities are welcomed where they add value to the project but are not required.
Application
There is a two-stage application process. An outline proposal will be considered by an independent panel of experts based on the following criteria
- fit to the call remit
- scientific rationale and potential impact
- research strategy and experimental design
- deliverability of the project.
If successful, you will be invited to submit a more detailed full proposal. That will undergo external peer review followed by a more detailed review by the panel.
Contact
Find the latest call information on the UKRI website. General enquiries can be made by contacting MRC Experimental Medicine. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact the Experimental Medicine team to discuss suitability of proposals with a programme manager prior to submission.
NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation
About NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme: EME funded studies should be aimed at establishing clinical efficacy of a therapeutic intervention under controlled conditions where robust proof of concept is already established in humans. The interventions should have the potential to improve patient care or benefit the UK public.
EME funding predominantly supports clinical trials but, where appropriate, we encourage hypothesis-testing mechanistic studies integrated within the main efficacy study.
Stage
We support large-scale clinical trials or evaluative studies, to determine definitive proof of clinical efficacy and safety, predominantly in the T2 stage of the translational pathway.
Size/schedule
Deadlines for calls are 3 times a year. There are no limits on the duration or funding for each project – they should be tailored to the project and represent good value for money. Calls may be researcher-led and be carried out in any research topic, or calls may be commissioned in specific areas in response to NIHR priorities.
Researchers from the UK are eligible to apply and applications should include contributions from at least two of the following partners; industry, academia and the NHS. Studies funded by EME are generally UK based and are relevant to a priority for the UK population. Funding for a UK arm of an international study may be considered; contact the EME team for advice.
Application
There is a two-stage application process. Stage 1 applications deemed competitive and in remit are reviewed by the EME Funding Committee. If successful, applicants will be invited to submit a Stage 2 application.
Contact
Find scheme information is available here and the latest calls here.
General enquiries can be made to EME and programme managers. They will give feedback on suitability of applications if provided with a written summary (approx. 1 page) in the PICO format (Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes) plus a description of the existing proof of concept.
NIHR Health Technology Assessment
About NIHR Health Technology Assessment
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) funds research to establish the clinical and cost effectiveness of a technology for the NHS compared to the best alternative. By ‘a technology’ we mean any method used to promote health, prevent and treat disease, or improve long-term care, for example drugs, devices, diagnostic tests or screening programmes.
We support:
- systematic reviews
- economic models
- meta-analyses
- mixed-treatment comparisons
- expected Value of Information studies
- randomised controlled trials (unblinded, single-blinded, double-blinded, triple-blinded)
- non-randomised trials
- single-centre studies where a strong case has been made for this type of design and there is assurance the results will be generalised for the wider NHS
- cohort studies (retrospective or prospective)
- adaptive designs
- modelling studies.
Stage
HTA funding supports studies in the T2 and T3 stages of the translational pathway.
Size/schedule
There are three deadlines a year. There are no fixed limits on duration or funding of projects - they should be tailored to fully address the problem.
Calls may be researcher-led and be carried out in any research topic, or calls may be commissioned in specific areas in response to NIHR priorities.
Application
There is a two-stage application process. Applications to the HTA are checked for eligibility and competitiveness, considering:
- the need for the evidence in the NHS
- the scientific rigour of the research.
If successful in this first stage, applications will be considered at an HTA Funding Committee using the following criteria:
- the importance of the research, taking into account national priorities, policy considerations, prevalence of disease and any social or ethical considerations
- scientific quality of the proposal
- demonstration of the necessary skill mix, experience, project management and infrastructure for success
- explanation and justification for estimated recruitment rates in primary research
- evidence that ethical, legal and social implications of the research have been considered
- reasonable costs (the HTA Programme includes ‘value for money’ in its assessment).
Contact
NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme
About NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme funds high quality quantitative and qualitative applied health research with a clear trajectory to patient benefit. It’s intended to provide an opportunity for projects to emerge out of health and social care practice. So research needs to have a demonstrable impact on the health or healthcare of users of that service.
Stage
RfPB predominantly sits within the T1-T3 stages of the translational pathway.
Size/schedule
RfPB has three funding opportunities a year. For individual projects funding is up to £350,000 for up to 36 months. Feasibility studies are expected to cost less than £250,000, and proposals that will generate results that might be useful for more downstream investigations are expected to cost less than £150,000.
Application
Applications are made through an NHS body or other provider of NHS services in England. RfPB has a two-stage application process and is a national programme that funds research through eight Regional Advisory Committees who make recommendations on funding with support from expert peer reviewers.
Contact
Find out more at the NIHR RfPB webpages.
NIHR Invention for Innovation
About NIHR Invention for Innovation
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme: i4i funding supports two different types of award: Product Development Awards (PDA) and Challenge Awards.
Product Development Awards (PDAs) support the development of medical devices, in-vitro diagnostics and digital health technologies for ultimate NHS use. Projects must have demonstrated proof of concept and have generated data to support the case for further development. These awards support work that is required to enable a technology for clinical use and may include aspects of:
- prototyping and manufacturing
- engineering and performance testing
- clinical evaluation
- intellectual property protection
- market analysis
- business case development
- health economic analyses.
Proposals must set out a commercial strategy that takes into account the regulatory pathway, IP management, commercial barriers, health economics and route to market. They must also present a plan for the future adoption of the technology into the NHS.
Challenge Awards support market-ready innovations and fund their assessment in real-world healthcare settings. This promotes the adoption of new products and approaches into clinical practice.
There is a gap between a new-to-market technology’s safety/efficacy clinical trial results, and the evidence commissioners and regulators require to make their purchasing decisions or recommendations. The awards aim to shorten this gap.
Projects might include feasibility or effectiveness studies carried out in real-world settings, for example:
- different types of hospitals (district general, teaching)
- GP practices
- community care services.
The studies could use pragmatic designs, such as:
- pathway and sustainability evaluations
- qualitative assessments of the clinical burden (e.g. will using the technology mean nurses need an extra 20 minutes during the clinical rounds?)
- assessments of broader downstream effects (e.g. is the technology more acceptable to patients with progressed usage?).
Stage
PDAs typically support projects in the T1 stage of the translational pathway. Challenge Awards typically support projects in the T3 stage.
Size/schedule
There are typically two calls for funding a year.
PDA projects can last between 24 and 36 months and there is no upper funding limit.
Projects can be led by small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SME), NHS providers or higher education institutions (HEIs). They must also be collaborative between any two of the eligible types of organisation. The lead organisation must be registered in England.
Challenge Award projects can last up to three years (although up to five years will be considered if there is a strong case for it).
A minimum of two organisations must be involved from a small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME), an NHS service provider or a Higher Education Institution (HEI). The proposal must also be led by or include at least one collaborator from an NHS service provider. Lead applicants must again be based in England.
Medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics should have a CE/UKCA mark at the time of application for a Challenge Award. Nearly CE marked medical devices and IVDs are eligible provided that the technical documentation has been submitted for Notified Body assessment and all mandatory testing has been completed.
Application
There is a two-stage application process. Stage 1 applications are assessed by an Expert Selection Committee, and if successful will be invited to submit a Stage 2 application. Stage 2 applications are independently peer reviewed and applicants will have an opportunity to respond to comments. Stage 2 applicants will present their proposal to the Selection Committee.
Stage 1 and Stage 2 applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- clinical need, health economic case and impact on the NHS and patients
- level of innovation
- case for further development based on work to date and evidence from the literature
- quality of the project plan, including the technological content and risk mitigation strategy
- strength of the project team and management arrangements
- intellectual property (IP) and commercialisation strategy
- value for money
- patient and public involvement.
Contacts and Web link
Visit the NIHR i4i web pages to find out more.