You can submit to any one of the available deadlines in the year. We do not expect you to submit more than two applications at the same time and encourage you to focus on application quality, not the number you can submit.
Read our guidance for applicants on the MRC resubmission process.
Pre-application stage
You must contact the programme manager at least six weeks before you apply for a partnership grant. You must provide a brief abstract of your application to help them decide if it is eligible.
After we have received your abstract, the programme manager will give you advice on how best to develop your application. They will also ask you to email a pre-application summary. This should be no more than two pages of A4, but may include an extra page of references if needed.
The summary should include the following information:
- the title of the potential MRC partnership
- a list of the principal investigator, co-investigators and their affiliations
- a list of collaborators (if known at this stage)
- the aims of your application. This should explain why the partnership is important, the nature of the partnership and its activities, and how these align with the partnership grant expectations
- an estimate of the likely cost to MRC including staffing and equipment costs.
You should also provide a two-page CV for the principal investigator and co-investigators, including a summary of recent funding for those investigators. You can add a list of publications as page three of the CV document.
Full application stage
We may invite you to complete a full application via our online Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system. We will do this in advance of the closing date.
Your application should include a cover letter confirming the name of the programme manager who agreed you could apply.
You should read the general guidance on how to complete an MRC application (section 2).
Applying through Je-S
You must apply through the Je-S system. Please read the Je-S how to apply guidance (PDF, 190KB) for more information. If you need further help, you can contact the Je-S help desk on 01793 444164 or by email jeshelp@je-s.ukri.org.
You should give your administrative department sufficient notice that you intend to apply. Your organisation must submit your application before 16:00 on the deadline date.
When applying select:
- council: MRC
- document type: standard proposal
- scheme: research grant
- call/type/mode: research boards May 2022 submissions.
Indicating the proposal is a partnership grant
Select the ‘grant type’ option from the proposal document menu, within the Je-S proposal form. Within the section, select the radio button adjacent to the ‘partnership grant’ option and select the ‘save’ button.
Industrial partners
If you want to include one or more industry partners as a project partner, you must also:
- complete the project partner section in Je-S
- submit an MRC industrial collaboration agreement (MICA) form and heads of terms
- include ‘MICA’ as a prefix to your project title.
Find out more about MRC industry collaboration agreements.
Guidance on completing the ‘project partners’ section in Je-S.
Case for support
The list below covers specific points that you should address when writing your case for support. You must make sure that your application answers all these questions.
You should read the list, in conjunction with the MRC case for support general guidance (section 2.2.3).
You must include the following in your case for support:
Importance
State the aims of the partnership.
Explain:
- why establishing a partnership is necessary for this area of research
- how establishing a partnership will add value to current research, for example creating new capabilities or enhancing coordination
- why you cannot access support for the partnership through other means
- how a partnership will improve the UK’s international standing in this area.
Partnership plans
Describe the activities associated with the partnership, including timelines and indicating where activities may be concurrent. You may include a gantt chart to depict this.
For any infrastructure or equipment requests, state how you will use this to further the aims and objectives of the partnership.
If you are requesting funding for an infrastructure project in one university but providing a service to the wider research community, you should make this clear in your application.
Outline future plans:
- for sustaining the partnership beyond the proposed duration of MRC funding
- for accessing further funding (from MRC and elsewhere) to support any follow-on hypothesis-driven research, which may develop as a result of the partnership.
Participants in the partnership and existing funding
Describe:
- how the partnership grant will enable researchers to work together and how it will build capability in a strategic area, for example, partnerships that bring together researchers who otherwise would not work together. There should be clear discrimination between co-investigators and partners or collaborators
- how the partnership between the participants will benefit the wider research community.
Justify why each of the named investigators is necessary for the partnership, including their level of time commitment.
Provide a brief report on the progress of recent research for investigators in the partnership including an acknowledgement of any previous or current MRC funding and progress to date on delivery of this research.
You should also include the scale of support provided, for example, the number of postdoctorates or technicians, and total amount of consumables and equipment.
Environment
Describe:
- the environment in which the partnership will take place
- the support the partnership will receive from the host research organisation, for example, reducing or waiving co-investigator salary, associated estates costs and other in-kind contributions such as towards the cost of equipment.
If your proposal requests shared equipment, describe where this will be and how the host research organisation will support this equipment. Describe the management arrangements for ensuring equity of access.
Management
Provide an overview of how you will manage the partnership. For example, who will bring coherence and management to the partnership and how? Outline any plans for:
- regular meetings
- bringing together disparate communities
- a strategy for the set-up of networks
- arrangements for access and upkeep of equipment.
While networking or workshop activities can add value to a partnership, we will not accept applications centred only on these types of activities.
