Funding opportunity

Pre-announcement: Doctoral landscape awards in medical research

• Opportunity status: Upcoming
• Funders: Medical Research Council (MRC)
• Funding type: Other
• Publication date: 17 September 2025
• Opening date: 13 November 2025 9:00am UK time
• Closing date: 24 February 2026 4:00pm UK time

Apply for funding to deliver doctoral training in any area of Medical Research Council (MRC) remit. This funding opportunity will support the development of a highly skilled workforce equipped to address medical research and innovation challenges across a range of careers.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding.

We anticipate supporting up to approximately 200 notional studentships in total per year, initially for three annual intakes. The first cohort will start in October 2027.

We will fund 100% of the full economic cost (FEC).

This is a pre-announcement, and the information may change.

The funding opportunity will open on 13 November 2025. More information will be available on this page then.

Who can apply

To apply to this funding opportunity as a project lead or project co-lead you must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding. Before applying, check if your organisation is eligible.

You can apply as a single organisation or a multi-organisation consortium. You must include at least one accredited higher education PhD-awarding body.

Project lead and project co-leads

Any organisation acting as the principal host for students during the award must apply as a project lead (PL), or project co-lead (PcL) if there are multiple hosts. You should identify one organisation to act as the project lead if there are multiple hosts.

Organisations can only apply as the project lead on one application and would not normally be expected to be involved in more than one application as either project lead or project co-lead. Organisations applying with multiple consortia should justify this in their applications.

Project partners

We encourage research organisations to form consortia with additional project partners to deliver their doctoral landscape award.

Organisations can act as a project partner if they are ineligible for UKRI funding or are eligible for UKRI funding but will not be acting as the principal host for any students.

Organisations may act as a project partner on any number of applications.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

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:

• career breaks
• support for people with caring responsibilities
• flexible working
• alternative working patterns

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

What we're looking for

Scope

MRC doctoral landscape awards will deliver doctoral training across a broad range of research within MRC’s science remit.

The overall objectives of MRC doctoral landscape awards are to:

• support the development of a highly skilled workforce equipped to address medical research and innovation challenges across a range of careers
• advance current understanding and generate new knowledge
• support a diverse doctoral community, which includes addressing areas of underrepresentation
• enhance collaboration and knowledge exchange within and between academia and other sectors

We anticipate supporting up to approximately 200 notional studentships in total per year, initially for three annual intakes. The first cohort will start in October 2027. Funding for collaborative (iCASE) studentships will be embedded within doctoral landscape awards.

This mode of doctoral training was formerly delivered through MRC doctoral training partnerships (DTPs).

We will publish full details on what we are looking for when the funding opportunity opens. This is a pre-announcement and the information may change.

How to apply

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. We will publish full details on how to apply when the funding opportunity opens.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

Applications will be assessed through expert panel review and a panel interview.

Further details of the assessment process and assessment criteria will be published when the funding opportunity opens.

Contact details

Get help with your application

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 UK Research and Innovation (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.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your application 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 students@mrc.ukri.org

For general questions related to MRC funding including our funding opportunities and policy email: rfpd@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:

• Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
• Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

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.

Additional info

Research and innovation impact

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.

Webinar for potential applicants

We will hold a webinar to provide more information about the funding opportunity. Further information on how to register for the webinar will be shared once the funding opportunity opens.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

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:

• breaks and delays
• disruptive working patterns and conditions
• the loss of ongoing work
• role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

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.