Funding opportunity

Expression of interest: Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) medical countermeasures R&D

• Opportunity status: Open
• Funders: Medical Research Council (MRC)
• Co-funders: Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
• Funding type: Grant
• Total fund: £20,000,000
• Publication date: 10 September 2026
• Opening date: 10 September 2026 9:00am UK time
• Closing date: 20 October 2026 4:00pm UK time

Apply for funding to develop and test novel therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and other interventions across any stage of the developmental pathway, from prototype development, through pre-clinical refinement, to early-phase clinical studies (up to phase 2a) for CBRN threats.

Applications must demonstrate how the proposed research will result in improved domestic preparedness for CBRN threats.

There is a funding limit of £4 million per application and requested costs should be appropriate to the project. MRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC).

The duration of your project should be up to 30 months.

You must submit a mandatory expression of interest (EOI) and be invited to submit a full application.

Who can apply

This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility Check if your organisation is eligible.

Who is eligible to apply

To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must:

• be employed by a UK based eligible research organisation
• show that you will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work

For applicants who 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:

• contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project
• all necessary support for the project and the applicants will be provided, including mentorship and career development for early career researchers

Demand management

A research organisation may lead or partner on more than one application and applications may comprise more than one research organisation.

Individuals may be project lead on only one application. However, individuals can act as project co-leads on any number of applications.

Who is not eligible to apply

You are not eligible to apply for this funding opportunity as a project lead, co-lead or project partner if you are based at an international research or commercial organisation.

If you are employed by these UK organisations, you cannot apply as project lead or project co-lead but can participate as project partners on an application led by an eligible UK organisation:

• businesses
• charity and third sector organisations

However, charities and third sector organisations that are approved UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) independent research organisations are eligible to apply as project lead or project co-lead.

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

Demand management

Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘Who can apply’ section.

Scope

Funding is available for pre-clinical and early translational research on the development of medical countermeasures (MCMs) for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats. Your project can start and finish at any stage on the developmental pathway from early prototype development, through pre-clinical refinement and testing, to early-phase clinical studies and trials (up to phase 2a).

Projects must generate evidence which contributes to improving domestic preparedness for CBRN incidents, particularly improving the health system’s preparedness. Examples include:

• the development of novel vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics for CBRN threats
• broad-spectrum interventions for CBRN exposure
• symptomatic management approaches to treat CBRN exposure
• medicines repurposing studies, using existing therapies for the treatment of CBRN threats

Priority areas for research are:

• broad spectrum MCMs for threats that focus on treating shared symptomology or toxidrome
• drug repurposing studies to identify and evaluate suitable licensed drugs which may be held locally within hospitals and pharmacies
• novel vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for priority pathogens
• diagnostic and detection capabilities for radiological and nuclear incidents

Activities we do not support

This funding opportunity will not support:

• fundamental or investigative research not linked to a development plan, supported by the MRC science areas such as MRC: research grant: applicant-led
• studies where the main aim is to investigate disease mechanism (supported by the MRC Experimental Medicine Panel)
• technology development not aligned to a medical or clinical developmental plan, likely Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) or Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) remit
• studies investigating only the physiological response to CBRN agent exposure without a focus on medical countermeasures
• observational studies involving no experimental challenge

Duration

The duration of this award is a maximum of 30 months.

Award start date

Projects should start one to six months after the funding decision date.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to a maximum of £4 million.

MRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Find out more about full economic costing.

What we will fund

You can request funding for costs such as:

• a contribution to the salary of the project lead and co-leads
• support for other posts such as research and technical staff
• research consumables
• equipment
• travel costs
• data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs
• estates and indirect costs
• public partnerships and related activities, including payments to public contributors

What we will not fund

We will not fund:

• costs for PhD studentships
• publication costs
• funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants
• costs associated with applying for IP protection, for example, patent filing

Collaborations

We encourage working with UK industry partners where these partnerships can add value to the project.

Collaborators may add value by giving access to:

• expertise
• technologies
• reagents
• funding

Please note that collaboration is not a prerequisite for application. You should make a clear case for the application being academic-led and requiring MRC funding to support the work proposed.

Be clear about any conflicts of interest and how they will be managed through the conflict of interest policies at the project lead’s research organisation.

Project partner

A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK, who will have an integral role in the proposed research. You may include team project partners that will support your research project through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:

• staff time
• access to equipment
• sites or facilities
• the provision of data
• software or materials
• recruitment of people as research participants
• providing samples, such as human tissue, for the project

Each project partner must provide a statement of support. If your application involves industry partners, they must provide additional information if the team project partner falls within the industry collaboration framework.

Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles.

Who cannot be included as a project partner

Any individual included in your application with a core team cannot also be a project partner.

Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation, this includes 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.

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

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. Trusted Research and Innovation (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.

How to apply

To apply

Stage one: Expression of interest

We are running a mandatory expression of interest (EOI) stage. You must submit an EOI by 20 October 2026.

You must submit your EOI by completing the expression of interest CBRN survey.

Stage two: Full application

We are running the full 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.

The full funding opportunity will open on 5 November 2026 and close on 20 January 2027.

Personal data

Processing personal data

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.

MRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with DHSC so that they can participate in the assessment process. See more information on how DHSC uses personal information.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email CBRN@mrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

• individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
• declaration of interest
• additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
• conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
• the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Institutional matched funding

There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.

This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Stage one: Expression of interest

Information provided as part of the expression of interest will not be formally assessed.

We will use this information to:

• check remit and fit to funding opportunity scope
• anticipate expected submission levels
• inform peer review and panel composition and membership

In the event of high demand for this funding opportunity, we reserve the right to introduce shortlisting at this stage.

Stage two: full application

We will assess your application using the following process.

Expert review

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.

Panel

Following expert review, we will invite experts to collectively review your application and rank it alongside other applications, after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

MRC will make the final funding decision.

Find out more about MRC’s assessment process.

The decisions of the MRC panel are not open to appeal.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed

For more information on how we prioritise applications for funding please visit How we make decisions.

Feedback

We will notify you of the outcome of your application within 10 working days of the panel meeting. We will give feedback within eight weeks of the panel meeting.

Principles of assessment

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.

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review

Generative AI may be used only for the purpose of language refinement during application assessment. When using generative AI to refine the language of a review, expert reviewers and panellists must ensure that:

• no part of the application being assessed is entered into a generative AI tool
• no personal information from the application is disclosed
• generative AI is not tasked with understanding, summarising or evaluating the application’s content

Expert reviewers and panellists must also:

• comply with relevant intellectual property and data protection legislation
• not take into account or speculate within their assessment whether generative AI has been used to develop the application

For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.

Assessment areas

The full criteria for assessment will be published when the full application funding opportunity opens.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

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, content or remit of a funding 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 CBRN@mrc.ukri.org

For general questions related to MRC funding including our funding opportunities and policy please contact 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 more efficiently, 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

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.