Apply for funding to support applied research that will address global health challenges and inequities.
We will accept applications of all sizes, including large research projects and small to medium-scale applications.
We are looking to develop a portfolio of high-quality global research, which will be diverse, promote multidisciplinarity and strengthen global health research capacity.
You must be invited to apply for stage two of this applied global health research funding opportunity.
You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so, following a successful stage one application.
To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. Check if your organisation is eligible.
To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must be eligible as an individual who is based at either an eligible UK research organisation, or based in a:
If you do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting an application the research organisation is confirming, if it is successful:
You are not eligible to apply if you are based in a high-income country (does not include UK project leads, who are eligible), or in India. You are not eligible to be project lead but may be eligible to be project co-lead (international).
It is expected that researchers from India and any high-income countries make a significant contribution to their own research costs, including covering their own overheads. Where India is included in a project there must be at least two other LMICs involved in the project.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is unable to support Official Development Assistance (ODA) research and innovation activities taking place in China, or where China is the direct beneficiary. This means the ODA compliance statement submitted by applicants should not identify China as part of the project’s rationale or justification. Providing no UK funding flows to China, it is permissible for China-based researchers to be involved in UKRI funded activities when part of a consortia of internationally-based researchers. China-based researchers are not eligible to lead applications.
We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
We’re looking to fund research projects that will lead to tangible change in health policy and practice in the near future through practical, impact focused research.
We aim to support a diverse portfolio and examples of the types of research we will support, include:
Proposals with a specific health systems focus may prefer to consider applying to the National institute for health and care research schemes.
We welcome cross-sector research combining expertise to meet a global health challenge. For example, an application may include aspects of urban planning, health policy and non-communicable disease (NCD) research. The research question might involve different disciplines and approaches from outside the health sector, but the primary objective must be to improve health.
You can apply for funding to address any health topic of relevance in the context where the research will be conducted. Examples of projects we have funded to date include infections, climate, ageing, NCDs, snakebite and anti-microbial resistance.
Explore previous Applied Global Health Research Board funding decisions.
If you are unsure whether your application fits the remit described, please send a one-page summary of your application to international@mrc.ukri.org
The MRC partners with the FCDO to support global health research projects. Some of the projects funded through the Applied Global Health and Research Board (AGHRB) in specific strategic areas of mutual interest such as climate and health, women and girls’ reproductive health, early childhood development and epidemic preparedness will be funded under this partnership.
Through our investments in global health research, we aim to support a portfolio of high quality, high priority, diverse investments to improve health, encouraging:
Through our investments in global health research, we also aim to:
All projects funded by the AGHRB must adhere to principles of gender equity. Part of the assessment criteria will include the gender balance of the team, and also the potential for the research to promote gender equity. Projects with a poor gender balance or where the research project implementation or outcomes may exacerbate gender inequalities, will be rejected.
We are committed to strengthening research capacity within low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the UK. All applicants are required to develop plans to strengthen research capacity within their application, which will be assessed by expert reviewers and inform funding decisions.
We encourage you to start discussing capacity strengthening priorities as early as possible, in consultation with key stakeholders, both within and outside of your project team. For example:
We take a broad view of where capacity strengthening activities could be targeted, however plans must be directly linked to the proposed project. Activities could target the individual, institutional or contextual level, or span multiple levels, and plans should be proportionate to the scale of the project, with larger projects expected to be more ambitious.
Examples of capacity building include, but are not limited to:
Find further resources, tools and guides on strengthening research capacity provided by the UK Collaborative on Development Research.
Although new investigator research grants are not available through the AGHRB, we are committed to supporting early career researchers in applied global health. The board will consider each applicant’s career stage and proposed mentorship arrangements during funding discussions.
We will not fund:
These opportunities represent areas of specific strategic focus that help to inform discussions at funding meetings, but you can submit research applications that focus on any applied global health topic.
The MRC maternal and neonatal health area of investment aims to provide funding for innovative applied research to address the global burden of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity.
The board supports research in early childhood development, which encompasses the physical, socio emotional, cognitive, and motor development of children from birth to eight years of age.
Early childhood development is the outcome of the nurturing care for early childhood development report. This is a range of education, health, nutrition and social protection inputs and environments. Applications in this area will be jointly funded by the FCDO as part of a coordinated effort to increase and scale up the evidence base for early childhood development interventions.
Read more about the early childhood development area of investment.
The adolescent health area of investment aims to fund innovative applied research to improve adolescent health in LMICs.
Maximising impact from research remains a priority for MRC. To ensure that we meet this priority, we are funding research to address the implementation gap and progress interventions towards real-world impact.
We expect this research to ensure that evidence-based health interventions are implemented in an accessible and fair way for the most vulnerable populations.
Read more about the implementation science area of investment.
We will fund projects lasting up to five years, although projects typically last three to four years.
The resources you request should be appropriate for the objectives of your application. We will accept applications of all sizes from £150,000 up to approximately £2 million MRC contribution. MRC typically fund 80% of the full economic cost, excluding eligible international costs, which are funded as exceptions (100%). We will take value for money into account when assessing applications.
Equitable partnerships, including financial equity, are a key principle of the board. Applications in which the majority of the funding is allocated to the UK, plus any high-income countries (or India), will be rejected.
You can request funding for costs such as:
Please note: total costs attributed to international high income countries (those not on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of official development assistance recipients), or India, must not exceed 30% of the full economic cost grant value. There is no cap on eligible funds attributed to international project co-leads from DAC list countries.
We will not fund:
You may include project partners that will support your research project through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:
Where there is engagement from individuals based in government agencies, international intergovernmental organisations (for example, the World Health Organization), or other stakeholder organisations (for example, industry collaborators), applicants should include them as a named project partner.
You are not required to provide project partner letters (or emails) of support for stage one of the application process (they will need to be provided at stage two).
Each project partner must provide a statement of support. If your application involves industry partners, they must provide additional information if the relationship falls within the industry collaboration framework.
Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles.
Any individual included in your application with a core team role cannot also be a project partner.
Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation, this is incudes other departments within the same organisation.
If you are collaborating with someone in your organisation, consider including them in the core team as project co-lead, or specialist. They cannot be a project partner.
We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. TR&I is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
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 you are based in a low or middle-income country (LMIC) research organisation, you can register your organisation by contacting support@funding-service.ukri.org and provide your organisation name, country and city.
If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation, check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.
You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so following a successful stage one application. The start application link will be provided via email.
Where indicated , you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images you must:
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.
MRC must receive your application by 16 July 2025 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 submission of your application to 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.
MRC, as part of UKRI, 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.
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email international@mrc.ukri.org
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.
MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at Applied global health research board – funding decisions.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
Succinctly describe your proposed work in terms of:
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
Only list one individual as project lead. If you include more than one project lead your application will fail at the checking stage.
Project leads can be from eligible UK or low or middle income (LMIC) research organisations.
We expect all applications to this funding opportunity to include project co-lead (international), based at LMIC research organisations.
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Word limit:1,000
How have you addressed the feedback from your Applied Global Health Research Board (AGHRB) stage one application?
Ensure you:
You must include your stage one application reference number allocated by the Funding Service.
Word limit: 1,000
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
Explain how your proposed work:
Within the Vision section we also expect you to:
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 3,000
How will you going to deliver your proposed work?
Explain how you have designed your work so that it:
You should also explain how you have designed your work so that it uses a clear and transparent methodology, broken down by work package to:
Within the Approach section we also expect you to:
References may be included within this section.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 500
How will you ensure your proposed work is reliable, robust and reproducible?
Information about reproducibility and how you will ensure reliability and robustness of your proposed work, such as further details of statistical analyses, methodology and experimental design, not provided in your approach.
We expect you to seek professional statistical or other relevant advice in preparing your response, which should include, as appropriate:
Refer to the MRC guidance for applicants, for further information, examples and online tools.
If your proposed work involves animals, and you provide information on animal sample sizes and statistical analyses here, 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.
The length of your response will vary depending on the type of project, you may not need to use 500 words.
Word limit: 500
What are your capacity strengthening plans for the research project?
Explain how you have embedded appropriate capacity building activities within the proposed work. Explain how your capacity strengthening activities:
Within this section we expect you to:
Word limit: 400
How does your proposed work demonstrate sufficient consideration of gender equality?
Provide a gender equality statement that explains:
All ODA funding must adhere to the International Development (gender equality) Act 2014. To meet this, all applications to UKRI ODA funding opportunities must provide a gender equality statement. See further guidance for equality, diversity and inclusion to assist you writing your gender equality statement.
For funding opportunities under the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), all ODA funding must adhere to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) gender equality policy. See further information on this policy and the related guidance for considering gender equality in your research.
MRC and expert reviewers will assess whether your proposal has demonstrated sufficient consideration of gender equality.
Word limit: 500
How does your proposed work meet ODA compliance eligibility?
To demonstrate how your proposed work meets ODA compliance criteria, please explain:
This funding opportunity is part of the UK’s ODA commitment. This is government aid that promotes and specifically targets the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its primary objective.
You should ensure that your application focuses on the challenges specific to the partner country or countries and not broader global issues, meaning those that are transboundary beyond LMICs. It is accepted that ODA-funded research may have benefits to the UK or other high-income countries, however, these should be secondary to be development objectives of the project.
You should consider whether these countries are likely to continue to be eligible for the duration of the research, noting that ODA funding cannot be used to support research that does not promote a DAC list country. You should note there may be eligibility restrictions specific to the opportunity you are applying to. You and other applicants should refer to the Funding Finder to confirm eligibility before applying. When assessing whether an activity is eligible for ODA funding under this funding opportunity, MRC will consider whether projects satisfy OECD criteria on eligibility.
If your application is within scope, it will be assessed through a competitive expert review process with ODA eligibility being a criterion for approval. Your application must be fully ODA compliant to be considered for funding. Initial ODA compliance checks will be carried out by UKRI. If your application does not meet the eligibility criteria, it may be rejected without reference to expert review. Expert reviewers will also be provided with this guidance and asked to comment on ODA compliance and likelihood of significant development impact.
Word limit: 1,650
Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
The word count for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) 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:
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.
The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.
Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.
A project partner is a collaborating third party 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. Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.
A project partner is not anyone in your core team or anyone from your organisation or any of the other organisations represented by core team members.
Add the following project partner details:
If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.
If there are specific circumstances where project partners do require funding for minor costs such as travel and subsistence, these project partner costs should be claimed and justified within the resources and costs section of your application.
If you are adding project partners to this section, you must ensure they provide you with a letter or email of support and you upload it to ‘Project partners: letters or emails of support’.
If your project partners are from industry or a company, you must also complete the ‘Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)’ section.
Word limit: 10
Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the ‘Project partners’ section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.
If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
We are looking for you to provide letters or emails of support from all your identified project partners, including, if appropriate supporting information from:
Each project partner letter or email you provide should:
Project partners letters and emails of support are not required to be on headed paper or include handwritten signatures (electronic signatures are acceptable).
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
Industry or company project partners are required to download and complete the industry or company letter of support template. You must also complete the ‘Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)’ section. Find out more about ICF.
If the project partner is responsible for the recruitment of people as research participants or providing human tissue their letter or email of support should include:
Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the ‘Project partners’ section.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Word limit 1,500
Does your application include collaboration with industry or company project partners?
The assessors are looking for you to confirm if your proposed work involves collaboration with an industry or company project partner. If it does, you will need to follow the MRC industry collaboration framework (ICF).
By ‘industry or company’ we mean an enterprise that puts or has intention to put goods or services on a market.
For guidance to assist your decision if your proposed work requires you to follow ICF, you should explore the ICF decision tree and find out more about ICF which includes:
Enter ‘Yes’ in the text box if you have industry or company project partners and you are likely to follow ICF. You should also confirm your answers to the ICF questions one to nine in the text box for each ICF project partner.
Contact international@mrc.ukri.org if you are unsure if your application should follow ICF.
In addition to the project partner information completed in the previous section, 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 industry or company project partner.
Confirm your answers to the ICF questions in the text box, repeat this process for each ICF project partner:
Failure to provide the information requested for industry or company 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 with your technology transfer or contracts office before applying.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made. You must provide us with a copy of the collaboration agreement, signed by all partners, before an ICF award starts.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 100
Does the proposed work involve international collaboration in a sensitive research or technology area?
Demonstrate how your proposed international collaboration relates to Trusted Research and Innovation, including:
If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
We may contact you following submission of your application to provide additional information about how your proposed project will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help manage these risks.
Word limit: 250
Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility from our information list?
If you will need to use a facility, you should 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:
Only include facilities from the list above. Do not include details of other facilities you plan to use, such as local facilities, you should only include the name of a facility you plan to use when it has been included within the facility information list.
Do not put the facility contact details in your response.
If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 1,500
How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?
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 in the text box following the headings in the MRC data management plan template. You are not required to upload the document to your application.
The length of your plan will vary depending on the type of study being undertaken, as follows:
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.
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
Consider the MRC guidance on ethics and approvals.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 700
Does your proposed research involve any genetic or biological risk?
In respect of animals, plants or microbes, are you proposing to:
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.
Word limit: 10
Does your proposed research involve the use of vertebrate animals or other organisms covered by the Animals Scientific Procedures Act?
If you are proposing research that requires using animals, download and complete the Research involving the use of animals template (DOCX, 52.5KB) 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.
Word limit: 700
Will any of the proposed animal research be conducted overseas?
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. Ensure all named applicants in the UK and overseas are aware of this requirement.
If your application proposes animal research to be conducted overseas, you must provide a statement in the text box. Depending on the species involved, you may also need to upload a completed template for each species listed.
Provide a statement to confirm that:
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 ‘Research involving the use of animals’ question.
For studies involving other species, such as:
Select, download, and complete the relevant Word checklist or checklists by exploring NC3Rs checklist for the use of animals overseas.
Save your completed template as a PDF and upload to the Funding Service. If you use more than one checklist template, save it as a single PDF.
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
If conducting research with animals overseas does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Word limit: 700
Will the project involve the use of human subjects or their personal information?
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.
Word limit: 700
Does your proposed research involve the use of human tissues, or biological samples?
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.
Word limit: 1,200
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
Assessors are not looking for a detailed or a line-by-line breakdown of costs, they would like you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
Further details are provided within the Funding Service on how to include your costs.
You should ensure all costs related to LMIC and overseas HIC based organisations are added as ‘Exceptions’.
Staff costs and non-staff costs relevant to research organisations based within the UK are at claimed 80% of the full economic cost.
You may claim up to an additional 20% on top of the total LMIC organisation exception costs claimed (this additional 20% is a contribution towards indirect costs related to the work being undertaken at the LMIC organisation (excluding India)). This additional cost is claimed as an exception cost, under the ‘Other’ funding heading within the Funding Service.
Important note: There is no cap on eligible funds attributed to international project co-leads from DAC list countries.
You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project. For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders.
Word limit: 50
Is your application using an international agreement?
If not enter ‘N/A’ in the text box.
If your application is using an international agreement, identify the agreement concerned by answering ‘Yes’ followed by ‘FAPESP’ or ‘FNR’ or ‘RCN’ as follows:
For applications using a lead agency agreement 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. This is not required for applications using the Collaborate with researchers in Norway agreement.
FAPESP applicants must complete the FAPESP-specific forms.
Documents and guidance are available on the FAPESP website, including a FAPESP:
FNR applicants should complete the FNR-specific forms.
Documents and guidance are available on the FNR website, including:
You must also complete the project partners section, with information about the international research partner, including:
Include the experience, skills and contributions of your international research partners in the response to the ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ question.
You should ensure that you have read and understood the specific requirements for the lead agency agreement you are applying to, especially for costing the applications.
Failure to comply with the specific 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.
There are no additional documents, complete the application as normal requesting all the required resources and costs and include the Norway based researcher as a project co-lead (international).
For further guidance, including the costs the MRC will cover please see the funding opportunity page.
We will assess your application using the following process.
All applications will be examined to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria and scope of the funding opportunity. If your application is outside the scope, you will be advised by email and we will not assess your application. We aim to notify you of this around four weeks after the closing date.
We will invite experts to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity.
You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers.
We are monitoring the requirement for applicant-nominated reviewers as we review policies and processes as part of the continued development of the new Funding Service.
You will have the opportunity to respond to the expert reviewers’ comments.
Following expert review, we will invite experts to use the evidence provided by reviewers and your applicant response to assess the quality of your application and rank it alongside other applications after which the board will make a funding recommendation.
Applications will be assessed by a competitive expert review process with ODA eligibility being a criterion for approval that is, projects must be fully ODA compliant to be considered for funding. Initial ODA compliance checks will be carried out by UKRI.
Applications that do not meet the eligibility as defined in this document may be rejected without expert review. Expert reviewers will also be provided with this guidance and asked to comment on ODA compliance and likelihood of significant impact.
We aim to complete the assessment process within five months of receiving your stage two application.
We will give feedback within eight weeks of the funding decision.
We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.
Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.
We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.
Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.
For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.
The assessment areas we will use are:
Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.
If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UKRI Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the Helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding Finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content/remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.
For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.
For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact international@mrc.ukri.org
For general questions related to MRC funding including our funding opportunities and policy email: rfpd@mrc.ukri.org
Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.
Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org
Phone: 01793 547490
Our phone lines are open:
To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.
For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.
Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.
We held a webinar on 7 December 2023. This provided more information about the funding opportunity and a chance to ask questions.
Watch the webinar (Zoom)
Passcode: H6RXwk@i
We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:
Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.
Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.
