The MRC’s Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board funds research into basic biological mechanisms or technologies relevant to human health and disease. We aim to increase understanding of the structure and function of molecules and complexes, the cellular environment during development and mature states, and how biological systems respond to challenges (for example, drugs and toxins) and diseases.
We lead MRC’s investments in cancer, from fundamental discovery science to epidemiology, experimental medicine and early translation. Research focused on specific organ systems or diseases (with the exception of cancer and haematology) is normally supported through our other research boards.
Research we fund includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:
- cell biology
- structural biology and biophysics
- molecular and functional genetics, epigenetics, genomics
- developmental and stem cell biology (excluding neurobiology)
- regenerative medicine
- molecular haematology
- development of new tools and technologies relevant to MCMB remit, such as nanotechnology, chemical biology and synthetic biology
- medical bioinformatics (including biostatistics, computational biology and systems biology)
- cancer
- toxicology and adverse health effects of environmental exposures
- pharmacology.
Find out more about the science areas we support and our current board opportunity areas.
We encourage you to contact us first to discuss your application, especially if you believe your research may cross MRC research board or research council interests. If your application fits another research board remit better we may decide to transfer it there to be assessed.
Medical Research Council molecular and cellular medicine research grants:
- are suitable for focused short or long-term research projects
- can support method development or development and continuation of research facilities
- may involve more than one research group or institution.
We will fund projects lasting up to five years, although projects typically last 3-4 years. If your project will last more than three years, you must justify the reason for this; for example, if you need time for data collection or follow-up.
If your project will last less than two years, it must be for proof of principle or pilot work only. We expect proof of principle proposals to support high-risk/high-reward research by critically testing a key hypothesis and/or demonstrating feasibility of an approach that could lead to fundamentally new avenues of research.
Contact one of our programme managers for advice if you would like to apply for a short or long-duration project.
You can request funding for costs such as:
- a contribution to the salary of the principal investigator and co-investigators
- support for other posts such as research and technical
- research consumables
- equipment
- travel costs
- data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs
- estates/indirect costs.
We won’t fund:
- research involving randomised trials of clinical treatments
- funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants
- costs for PhD studentships
- publication costs.