You must contact us before you apply to check if your partnership application is suitable. You can do this at any time, and we encourage you to contact us as early as possible and at least eight weeks before you apply. The latest we will consider a pre-application is published within the ‘How to apply’ section of the Medical Research Council (MRC) partnership funding opportunity.
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 partnership, one page for the track record of your team and up to one page of references.
The document should include:
- the title of the potential partnership
- the project lead and co-leads and their organisations
- your collaborators (if known at this stage)
- an estimate of the likely cost to MRC, including staff and equipment
You should explain the aims of the partnership, including:
- why the partnership is important and timely
- the nature of the partnership and its activities
- how these activities align with the partnership grant scope
You should explain your and your team’s track record and show you have the potential to successfully manage and deliver the partnership, based on your research track record, outputs and funding history.
Send your pre-application to the MRC programme manager, covering the MRC science area, most relevant to your proposed partnership grant. Explore the relevant MRC area of investment and support to view the contact details:
- infections and immunity
- molecular and cellular medicine
- neurosciences and mental health
- population and systems medicine
If you are unsure who to contact, contact our Research Funding Policy and Delivery (RFPD) team.
Email: rfpd@mrc.ukri.org
Full application stage
If your pre-application is approved you will be invited to submit your full application using the UKRI Funding Service.
Read the MRC partnership grant funding opportunity for guidance related to the full 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.
If the partnership grant will involve a collaboration with one or more industry or company project partners, who may be providing cash, in-kind contributions or both, then you will need to comply with MRC guidance on the Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF).
Closing dates
This is an ongoing funding opportunity with multiple closing dates every year. For further information see the MRC Partnership funding opportunity.
To ensure that your application reaches us in time, give your administrative department at least two weeks’ notice of your application, before the published closing date.