You must apply using the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system.
You can find advice on completing your application in:
You can submit to any 1 of the available deadlines in the year.
We do not expect you to submit more than 2 applications at the same time. We encourage you to focus on application quality, not the number you can submit. Read our guidance for applicants about multiple applications.
We recommend you start your application early.
Your host organisation will also be able to provide advice and guidance.
Creating and submitting your application
Before starting an application, you will need to log in or create an account in Je-S.
All investigators involved in the project need to be registered on Je-S.
Any investigators who do not have a Je-S account must register for one at least 7 working days before the opportunity deadline.
When applying:
- Select ‘documents’, then ‘new document’.
- Select ‘call search’.
- To find the opportunity, search for: research boards May 2023 submissions.
This will populate:
- council: MRC
- document type: standard proposal
- scheme: research grant
- call/type/mode: research boards May 2023 submissions
Once you have completed your application, make sure you ‘submit document’.
You can save completed details in Je-S at any time and return to continue your application later.
Deadline
MRC must receive your application by 17 May 2023 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time. Please leave enough time for your application to pass through your organisation’s Je-S submission route before this date.
You should ensure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place.
Indicating your application is a research grant
Select the ‘grant type’ option from the application document menu, within the Je-S application form. Within the section, select the radio button adjacent to the ‘research grant’ option and select the ‘save’ button.
What to include with your application
In addition to the Je-S application, you will also need to include the following mandatory attachments:
- a curriculum vitae (CV) for each named researcher, including investigators and named researchers. Each CV should not exceed 2 sides of A4
- publications (should not exceed 1 side of A4 per named person)
- a case for support, which length should not exceed:
- 8 pages (for a project with a duration of 36 months or less)
- 12 pages (for a project with a duration of 37 months or more)
- a justification of resources (should not exceed 2 sides of A4)
- a data management plan (DMP). Page length can vary, see section 2.2.7 of our attachments guidance. You must use the available DMP template form
If your research includes excess treatment costs of studies involving human participants you will need to include a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Template (SoECAT). For details and access to the SoECAT form see the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s information on excess treatment costs.
If you wish to include a researcher co-investigator on your project, you will need to include a statement of support for researcher co-investigators. This should not exceed 2 sides of A4 or equivalent on headed paper or a PDF of an email.
Optional attachments include:
- covering letter: this can be up to 2 sides of A4 using a sans-serif typeface (Arial or equivalent) and font size of 11pt
- letters of support: each letter should not exceed 2 sides of A4 or equivalent on headed paper or a PDF of an email
You can find full details of what to include in mandatory and optional attachments in section 2.2 attachments guidance.
Guidance for applicants
The MRC guidance for applicants:
- helps you check your eligibility
- guides you through preparing an application
- shows you how to prepare a case for support
- provides details of any ethical and regulatory requirements that may apply
Industrial partner information
If you want to include 1 or more industry partners as a project partner, you must also complete the project partner section in Je-S.
Each project partner must provide a project partner letter of support, which should not exceed 2 pages of A4 on headed paper or a PDF of an email. The letter must:
- be an integral part of the application
- focus on the application it accompanies, which includes the requirement to include a project partner letter of support
Full details of the content the project partner should include in their letter of support, are provided in section 2.2.6 of the MRC guidance for applicants.
MRC industry collaboration framework
If your application involves the collaboration of 1 or more industrial partners, you should review the information published within the MRC industry collaboration framework (ICF) to decide if you should submit your application under the ICF.
After reading the ICF information, if you decide that your application will include industry collaboration, you will need to include the following within your application for each collaborating industry partner:
The completed ICF form should be uploaded to the Je-S attachments section using the ‘MICA form’ document type. Please type ‘Industry Collaboration Framework form’ in the description box.
The company letter of support must use the available template and be uploaded to the relevant project partner entry you are required to add to your Je-S application.
Research disruption caused by COVID-19 pandemic
You have the option to include a 1 page annex to the case for support. You can use it to provide additional information explaining any disruptions you have encountered to previous or current research, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (where relevant to your pending application).
For further information relating to the annex, please see the MRC guidance for applicants (section 2.2.3.6).
