Examination of the cross-talk between the nervous and immune systems in pathophysiological conditions will result in valuable and unique insights into mechanisms of disease. In time this will allow for the development of targeted therapeutic interventions for neurological disorders and mental illness where the immune system plays a significant role.
This funding opportunity aims to provide funds to support pilot data generation, hypothesis-driven, mechanistic studies which examine the role played by inflammatory and immune processes in neurological conditions and mental illness.
Epidemiological and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) will be excluded from the funding opportunity. Additionally, studies focussing solely on multiple sclerosis are excluded due to significant existing MRC-funded activity in this area.
The awards are for up to £200,000 to support projects up to a maximum duration of 24 months. These may be used to generate data that would provide a strong evidence base and clear rationale for larger programmes of research at a later date. Support can include:
- the salary of the principal investigator and co-investigators
- support for additional posts: research, technical or other consumables
- equipment
- travel costs
- data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs.
The MRC will usually fund on the basis of 80 per cent of the full economic cost of your research to your institution. Your proposal must show 100 per cent of the full economic cost throughout.
Please note that the MRC does not provide funding for use as a ‘bridge’ between grants under any of its grant schemes.
Costs for PhD studentships cannot be requested.
