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 consortium members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so. The start application link will be provided via email:
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
- Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
- Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
- Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
- Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
- provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
- insert each new image on a new line
- use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
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 will be rejected if you include:
- sentences or paragraphs of text
- tables
- excessive quantities of images
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
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:
- references are easily identifiable by the assessors
- references are formatted as appropriate to your research
- persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
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.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
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.
Deadline
MRC must receive your application by 17 June 2026 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 this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it will be rejected.
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.
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email paul.colville-nash@mrc.ukri.org copied to informatics@mrc.ukri.org.
Include in the subject line: NPIP Data Platform; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number.
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.
Publication of outcomes
MRC and Innovate UK, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at board and panel outcomes. NPIP will publish details of the successful award on the NPIP website.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Summary
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:
- opinion-formers
- policymakers
- the public
- the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed infrastructure solution in terms of:
- context
- the challenge the project addresses
- aims and objectives
- potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
- project lead (PL)
- project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
- project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead. If you include more than one project lead your application will fail at the checking stage.
Where the key member identifiers and role guidance refer to “research” or “researcher” this is to be construed in the context of data infrastructure research and development and not in the context of wider biomedical or life sciences research which is out of scope of this funding opportunity.
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
Application questions
Vision
Word limit: 550
What are you hoping to achieve with the proposed infrastructure?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how the proposed infrastructure will:
- be timely, given current trends and context
- convene knowledge and expertise across NPIP and beyond
- meet the evidenced needs of clearly identified user groups
- will embed EDI considerations into the programme, and outline how these will guide your aims, as well as other activities such as stakeholder engagement, engagement, events and networking
- have measurable impact
- enable high quality and important research
- meet the strategic aims of the funder or government
- offer training opportunities
- enhance, benefit and complement the existing landscape
- support innovation in research
- be of international importance (if applicable)
- identify the potential local, regional or national impacts, both direct and indirect, and who the beneficiaries might be
- enhance the UK’s research and innovation capabilities through local and or regional activity
- be future facing, being welcoming to new consortium members and able to take advantage of new opportunities and address challenges as they arise
Within the Vision section we also expect you to identify potential improvements in human or population health, whether through contributing to relieving disease or disability burden, improving quality of life or providing benefit to the health service or health-related industry.
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.
Approach
Word limit: 6,000
What are your plans to manage and deliver the proposed infrastructure?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
We expect you to show how your approach includes:
- a credible management plan including strategic and operational matters
- a legal model, including a draft consortium charter setting out how members will work together
- details of governance, including plans for public involvement and engagement
- feasibility of the project plan including a work plan, milestones, and deliverables in the form of a Gantt chart or similar
- identification of risks and appropriate mitigation in the form of key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine the delivery of outputs and outcomes
- plans for support and maintenance of the proposed infrastructure over the estimated life span, identifying future needs and potential upgrades
- details of access and usage particularly where a culture of infrastructure sharing may extend use to the research community
- training and development of staff and those who may interact with the infrastructure, including research technical professionals
- a description of the working environment
- identification of how accessibility and inclusiveness have been incorporated into the design of the project
- plans for operational sustainability and legacy beyond the end of UKRI funding. These could include cost recovery models, securing additional funding, development or expansion after the initial period of funding
- has been designed so that it will generate local, regional or national impacts
Within the Approach section we also expect you to demonstrate:
- access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment outside of the resources requested to deliver the project
- your approach to agile infrastructure development including prioritisation in developing and onboarding new capabilities, services and tools
- an understanding of the implications of cloud versus on-premises storage and compute solutions in making NPIP data FAIR
- an understanding of relevant data and metadata standards that may be applied to PET images and how they may be implemented by the data platform
- an understanding of the common approaches to PET image analysis used by researchers and what services and tools you will provide to support them
- an understanding of requirements to support national and international commercial clinical studies and trials
- an understanding of how your data platform could support federation and linkage to other data such as sensitive health data from routine health records
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.
Contextual information
NPIP’s data strategy is under development. The Data Platform will need to play an integral part in that development to deliver against NPIP user requirements. Your application should demonstrate a strong commitment to engaging in that development in your understanding of the needs for agile infrastructure development and how that would be implemented.
Initial consultation with sites hosting total-body PET scanners suggest each site will generate 20-50Tb of data per year, each a mix of processed DICOM images and a more limited number of images consisting of list data, both with limited accompanying clinical research information.
There are currently four active or planned UK total-body PET scanner sites, but it is expected this network will grow significantly. You should explain how your Data Platform architecture will take into account both the nature of the PET images and associated data generated by NPIP, the current and future capacity requirements and your understanding of the capabilities needed to support federation and linkage to other sources of data, such as routine NHS health data.
Guidance
Your attention is drawn to the MRC Digital Research Infrastructure vision statement in “Additional Information”.
Data management and sharing
Word limit: 1,500
How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
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:
- population cohorts, longitudinal studies, genetic, omics and imaging data, biobanks, and other collections that are potentially a rich resource for the wider research community: maximum of 1,500 words
- all other research, less complex, the plan may be as short as 500 words
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word limit: 2,000
Why are you the right individual or team to deliver and manage the proposed infrastructure?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
- the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage)
- the right balance of skills and expertise
- the appropriate leadership and management skills and your approach to develop others
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
The word limit for this section is 2,000 words: 1,500 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.
Use the 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 to deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work. You are encouraged to include ORCID iDs for individuals where relevant, as this can help to demonstrate and verify their achievements.
Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed below. You should 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:
- contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
- the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
- contributions to the wider research and innovation community
- contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit
Additions
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).
You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.
Project partners
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 person or organisation who will have an integral role in your proposed research. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or 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:
- the organisation name (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
- the project partner contact name and email address
- the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value
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.
Important information
If you are adding a project partner 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.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Project partners: letters (or emails) of support
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.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
What supporting statements we are looking for
We are looking for you to provide letters or emails of support from all your identified project partners.
What we are not looking for
We don’t want any other letters (or emails) of support, from people who are not your identified project partners, such as those simply expressing general support for your project. If these are included by you, they will be ignored by us and will not be used in the assessment process.
Important information
You should only provide letters or emails of support from people you have identified in the project partner section of your application, who will have an integral role in your proposed research.
What each project partner letter or email of support must include
Each project partner letter or email you provide should:
- include the name of the project partner organisation and contact information
- explain the project partners’ commitment to the project
- explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the proposed work, to them
- describe any additional value they will bring to the project
- not exceed two sides of A4 per project partner
Project partner 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.
Project partners from industry or a company
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
Project partners responsible for recruiting research participants or providing human tissue or samples
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:
- agreement that the project partner will recruit the participants or provide tissue
- confirmation that what is being supplied is suitable for the proposed work
- confirmation that the quantity of tissue being supplied is suitable, but not excessive for achieving meaningful results (if applicable)
Agreement with your project partners
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.
Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)
Word limit: 1,500
Does your application include collaboration with industry or company project partners?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
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:
- collaboration agreements
- definitions of basic or applied research
- internationally based companies
- subsidy control
- intellectual property (IP) arrangements
- fully flexible and gated contributions
- the ICF assessment criteria
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 informatics@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.
- Name the industry or company project partner considered under ICF.
- Indicate whether your application is basic research or applied research.
- Explain why, in the absence of the requested UKRI funding, the collaboration and the planned research could not be undertaken.
- State whether your application is under the category of fully flexible contribution or gated contribution (based on the IP sharing arrangements with the industry or company partner).
- Outline the pre-existing IP (‘background IP’) that each partner, including the academic partner, will bring to the collaborative research project and the terms under which partners may access these assets.
- Outline the IP that is expected to be developed during the collaborative research project (‘foreground IP’) and briefly outline how it will be managed, including:
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- who will own this IP
- what rights industry or company partners will have to use academically-generated foreground IP during and after the research project, for internal research and development or for commercial purposes
- any rights of the academic partner to commercialise the foreground IP, including foreground IP generated by industry or company partners
- Outline any restrictions to dissemination of the project results, including the rights of the industry or company partner to:
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- review, approve or delay publications (including the time period associated with such rights)
- request or require the removal of any information
- Declare any conflicts of interest held by the applicants in relation to the industry or company project partners and describe how they will be managed.
- Justify collaborating with an overseas industry or company under ICF (if applicable).
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.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
Word limit: 100
Does your proposed work relate to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Demonstrate how your proposed work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation principles including:
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- list any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research
- if this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, please list the area(s)
- please read the academic export control guidance and confirm if an export control license is required for this project and the status of any application(s)
- if your project involves any items or substances on the UK strategic export control list, please list these
We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information later, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions (RGC 2.6.2, 2.7.1 and 2.7.2).
International collaboration
Word limit: 100
Does the proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide details about your expected international collaboration or engagement, including:
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- a list of the countries your international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in
- details of any subcontractors or service providers
If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word limit: 500
What are the ethical and RRI considerations, 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.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
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- the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project
- the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm
- how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project
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.
Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation.
Resources and cost justification
Word limit: 1,000
What will you need to deliver and manage the proposed infrastructure and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
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- project staff
- significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
- any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
- all facilities and infrastructure costs
- if applicable, disposal or decommissioning costs
- all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
- if applicable, subscription costs
- support for public and patient involvement and engagement. Payments to public partners can be included under the exceptions fund heading
- support for international co-leads, demonstrating this is within the 30% costs cap for co-leads from high-income countries, India and China. There is no cap on costs requested for international applicants from DAC list countries
This funding opportunity is not subject to full economic costing. We will fund 100% of the justified costs and all costs should be entered as exceptions.
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.
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
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- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
