Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Research and partnership hubs for a healthy society

Opportunity status:: Open
Funders:: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Funding type:: Grant
Maximum award:: £12,500,000
Publication date:: 3 July 2025
Opening date:: 15 July 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:: 21 October 2025 4:00pm UK time

Apply for funding to establish a large-scale multidisciplinary research hub, drawing on expertise across the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and health research community, to support people to live healthier lives and prevent ill health. Proposals should address long term research challenges in the priority areas of prevention, early diagnosis and self-management of health.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding.

The total funding available will be between £37.5 and £62.5 million full economic cost (FEC). Your project can be up to £12.5 million FEC. EPSRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Who can apply

To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. Check if your organisation is eligible.

EPSRC standard eligibility rules apply. For full details, visit EPSRC’s eligibility page.

International applicants

The project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) role should only be used for applications making use of the UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation agreement or the UKRI-IIASA agreement. EPSRC does not otherwise accept project co-lead (international) applicants.

Resubmissions

We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) or any other funder.

Find out more about EPSRC’s resubmissions policy.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

career breaks
support for people with caring responsibilities
flexible working
alternative working patterns

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

What we're looking for

Aim

Research and partnership hubs for a healthy society will deliver a number of large-scale, multidisciplinary research hubs drawing on expertise across the engineering and physical sciences and health research community to build and develop strategic research capabilities of importance to healthcare technologies and ultimately enable people to live healthier lives.

Supporting people to live healthier lives and preventing ill health are of key importance for the UK and globally. EPSRC-supported research can have an important role in prevention of disease and improving population health, from preparing for pandemics and slowing the spread of infectious diseases to diagnosing diseases such as cancer at a much earlier stage. These are current areas of relative underinvestment.

The research and partnership hubs for a healthy society will support partnerships across the wider research and health landscape, bringing together complementary expertise to co-deliver advancement in the priority areas of prevention, early diagnosis and self-management of health.

Available funding

The total funding available will be between £37.5 million and £62.5 million FEC. This is subject to spending review allocations. We anticipate funding between three and five hubs depending on available budget and outcomes of the assessment process.

The FEC of your project can be up to £12.5 million.

EPSRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Scope

Research and partnership hubs for a healthy society will complement and refresh EPSRC’s existing portfolio of hubs from the first round of Research and partnership hubs for health technologies: full stage and must contribute to delivering the EPSRC health technologies strategy.

Given that this is the second round of funding, we will seek to fill strategic gaps in provision remaining from the first round and not duplicate substantial investments already made. Therefore, there are priority areas we will look to support hubs in and specific exclusions as listed under ‘What we will not fund’.

Funded hubs will be expected to undertake the following.

World leading research programme addressing one or more challenge area

The hub research programmes should focus on advancement and development of novel engineering and physical sciences research to advance strategic research capabilities underpinning the future healthcare technologies portfolio. Hub applications should address at least one of the priority hub challenge areas listed below.

Hub Challenge areas

The hubs that are funded through this funding opportunity will be critical mass investments that are expected to form connections to the wider health technologies research and innovation ecosystem. They will have a core mission and sets of activities and objectives in one or more of the following areas.

Prevention and population health

Hubs addressing this priority should look to develop a strategic research capability in an area of improving population health and prevention. This priority looks to focus on the need for novel techniques that optimise health, and prevent, and ultimately help eliminate, disease. Research within this challenge should be co-created with stakeholders, including policy makers, to ensure real world impact.

Prevention includes promoting health in a population, addressing the determinants of health (in the physical environment), as well as tackling the causes of disease and ultimately enabling people to have a better quality of life. Hubs that address this priority should detail how their research has the potential to directly reduce or prevent physical or mental ill-health.

Supporting people to manage their own health

This priority focuses on a shift in services out of hospitals and into the community and home. It includes the development of novel tools for technology-enabled learning that could support people to make health decisions. These novel technologies will be person-centred and enable the public to better manage their health in their own homes.

For example, they could include individually adaptive, minimally intrusive monitoring technologies enabling individuals to track their own health and have informed interactions regarding healthcare needs. They will also make it easier for patients to interact with healthcare professionals and provide updates on their medical conditions.

This priority addresses early diagnosis and self-management of health. It does not include novel therapies or treatment.

Novel techniques for early diagnosis

Hubs addressing this priority area are expected to develop novel techniques that optimise patient-specific illness prediction and early and accurate diagnosis. Scientific, mathematical, and other techniques, from biomarker identification, research into medical imaging and risk stratification to predictive modelling and real-time, evidence-based decision-making, could all play a role. These technologies should work at a person-specific level and provide early warnings for patients, their carers, and healthcare professionals.

Applicants should submit proposals which have a majority focus in one or more of the above priority areas, stating clearly which priority they are primarily addressing.

Public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE) and partnership working

PPIE is a key cross-cutting theme of the new EPSRC health technologies strategy. We expect all hubs to integrate PPIE at all stages of the research and innovation process.

To ensure we support high quality research where research outcomes can benefit users, and have maximum impact, we are looking for clear evidence of genuine, substantiative partnerships. Applicants should look to co-create and co-deliver their PPIE plans with patients, people with lived experience and health and social care professionals.

Applicants will be required to provide a PPIE and partnership working plan as part of their submission.

The hubs will support partnerships across the wider research and health landscape, bringing together complementary expertise to co-deliver advancement in their strategic research area. Hub partnerships and impact should span all scales, building on the successes of previous similar investments to deliver impact in regional economies while also playing a national role in an international context.

Hubs should bring together the right people and organisations from places across the UK, to tackle the challenges relevant to their chosen research area. Partnerships may include other academic institutions, industry and charities, health providers and professionals, social scientists and policy makers as well as any other appropriate partnership for the purpose of the hub.

The hub is expected to deliver added value, be more than the sum of its parts, by demonstrating strong connectivity between all hub partners and where appropriate the wider UK community and offering additional facilities, training and development than that which is already provided by individual institutions.

Translation

As leaders in the community, hubs will be expected to develop a clear plan for translation and maximising impacts from the research outputs, products and technologies developed throughout their lifetime.

Leadership

Hubs will have a strong vision and be leaders within the landscape, driving forward the research agenda in their area and connecting with other players in the community, including:

patients
industry
health professionals
policymakers
other public investments

It is expected that the initial submission will contain a core leadership team, key collaborators and plans for the initial research programmes, which may evolve over time.

Skills development

Hubs will provide supportive and inclusive environments with a strong ethos of skills development for hub members.

What is a hub?

A typical hub will include the following:

a physical or virtual centre, comprising multiple institutions but based around a lead institution
a hub director (academic) with a proven track record of managing large investments and excellence within their discipline or sector
a wider leadership team from across relevant disciplines and sectors with a track record of excellence within their field
a management team including a hub manager and administrative team as required to ensure efficient running of the hub
a named lead for PPIE & partnership working
a named lead for translation & impact
research staff distributed across the project. Funding cannot be requested from these grants for PhD studentships or related funding. However, students funded from other sources can be incorporated into the broader project plan, provided that PhD students’ work is not part of the critical path of the hub’s research
appropriate advisory and governance structures including an independent advisory board

It is expected that management of hubs will require more investigator time, whether for the project lead or distributed across the team, than standard UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) grants.

Hubs should also consider the onward sustainability of the hub beyond the lifespan of the EPSRC funding.

Funding opportunity objectives

The hubs will:

deliver a programme of high quality, multidisciplinary research of importance to one or more of the challenges outlined in this funding opportunity
create a critical mass of research capacity in a particular area, driving forward the national research agenda to actively build a wider research and innovation ecosystem
act as UK leaders in the field on behalf of the wider research landscape. Hubs will be expected to engage with relevant research partners throughout their lifetime
embed PPIE throughout the hub aims, objectives and operations, considering the context of each hub’s specific research area
engage with a diverse range of relevant partners to ensure research is co-created and co-delivered with users
ensure a clear route to translation for research outcomes by developing a translation and impact action plan which considers the specific translation context and challenges within the hub’s research area and community

Due to the scale of these awards, significant collaboration and leverage (cash or in-kind) will be expected from project partners, for example, business, public sector, third sector. Project partner details will not be required at outline stage.

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section.

Duration

The duration of this award is a maximum of six years.

What we will fund

Proposals must lie primarily within the remit of EPSRC and be within the scope of this funding opportunity. Any proposals that we deem out of remit or out of scope may be rejected without reference to peer review.

While we do not fund clinical trials, that is studies that involve large numbers of animals or patients, costs may be requested for proof of concept studies. This includes studies where initial data from a small number of tests is being gathered to validate and inform the continual development of the technology developed as part of the project. Read about proof of concept studies in healthcare.

Although this is not an opportunity designed for significant capital expenditure, equipment over £10,000 in value (including VAT) and up to £400,000 is available through this funding opportunity. All equipment should be fully justified and essential to the mission of the hub.

Quotes for equipment do not need to be included in your application, but please retain quotes for equipment costing more than £138,000 as we may ask for these at post-panel stage before releasing funds.

What we will not fund

This funding opportunity looks to fill strategic gaps in the UK health technologies research landscape and not duplicate substantial investments already made. This includes investments made through EPSRC, UKRI or other funders in areas of overlap with the hub challenge areas outlined in this funding opportunity.

Hubs are expected to outline how their proposal fits one or more of the priority areas in this funding opportunity and how their proposal complements any existing investments in their area.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

How to apply

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 team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

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.

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 may 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.

Match funding

There is no requirement for match funding from the organisations hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the grant. EPSRC advises reviewers and panel members not to consider the level of matched university funding as a factor on which to base funding decisions. Project partners are expected to contribute to the project, either with cash or in-kind contributions.

Deadline

EPSRC must receive your application by 21 October 2025 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 the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected. If an application is withdrawn prior to peer review or office rejected due to substantive errors in the application, it cannot be resubmitted to the opportunity.

Personal data

Processing personal data

EPSRC, 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 TFSchangeEPSRC@epsrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; 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.

Publication of outcomes

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at EPSRC Funding Applications Outcomes.

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 work 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.

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

Outline Vision

Word limit: 1,000

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work:

is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
is timely given current trends, context, and needs
impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment
meets the strategic aims of the funding opportunity, including how the application aligns to one or more of the hub challenge areas
detail how the research vision complements and does not duplicate existing significant investments in this area across the UK research landscape

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.

Outline Approach

Word limit: 1,000

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:

is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
demonstrates alignment of the application to the funding opportunity objectives including appropriate mechanisms to create a critical mass of research capacity and act as leaders on behalf of the wider research landscape

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.

Outline Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 750

How will the application team deliver the proposed research programme?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

relevant research experience and skills to develop and deliver the proposed research programme
planned to identify and embed additional expertise where gaps in the team exist

The core leadership team should consist of the project lead and the project co-leads identified on the outline proposal. There will be scope to expand this team and include new collaborators on the full application.

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 deliver the proposed work.

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE)

Word limit: 1,000

How will you embed PPIE throughout all hub activities?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

A clear PPIE plan for engaging with stakeholders, users of the research, and the other successful hubs that are funded through this programme. The PPIE plan should detail how PPIE will be appropriately integrated at all stages of the research and innovation process.

Provide evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

prioritised co-creation and co-delivery with a range of partners from relevant health sectors (including patients, professionals and those with lived experience)
considered what PPIE activities will be conducted throughout the lifespan of the hub and why these are the most appropriate to support a patient or user-needs focused delivery to hubs activities

References may be included within this section.

Outline costs

What are the expected costs of the proposed work?

Provide the approximate total values in GBP (£) for the expected directly incurred, directly allocated, indirect costs and exceptions. View the guidance on the costs you can apply for.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

This will be a two-stage assessment process. The outline opportunity is stage one. Any outline applications outside the scope of the funding opportunity, or not primarily within the remit of the EPSRC healthcare technologies theme, will be rejected prior to assessment. Outline applications that meet the scope will be assessed by an outline panel.

If you are successful at stage one you will be invited to submit full proposals to stage two. At stage two, full proposals will be assessed by expert review, applicant response and followed by an interview panel.

EPSRC reserve the right to modify the assessment process.

Outline panel

We will invite experts to assess the quality of your application and rank it alongside other applications, after which the panel will make a recommendation for invitation to full proposal stage.

If you are invited to the next stage, you will be given 10 weeks to prepare a full application.

Timescale

We aim to complete the outline assessment process within three months of the opportunity closing date.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in peer review

Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.

For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use for the outline stage are:

vision
approach
applicant and team capability to deliver
public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE)

The assessment areas we will use for the full proposal stage are:

vision
approach
PPIE and partnership working
applicant and team capability to deliver
research organisation support
ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
resources and cost justification

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Portfolio Balance

At both the outline and invited full proposal stage, the expert panel and interview panel will provide advice on the selection of a balanced Research and Partnership Hub portfolio. This will inform the final funding decision, which will be made by EPSRC. We will look to support hubs across the three priority areas from the highest quality proposals which do not duplicate substantial investments already made.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the Helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content/remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact healthcare@epsrc.ukri.org

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.

Additional info

Background

In 2023 the EPSRC healthcare technologies theme issued a funding opportunity to support five research and partnership hubs for health technologies. This funding opportunity looked to establish a number of large-scale, multidisciplinary research hubs, drawing on expertise across the engineering and physical sciences and health research community to build and develop strategic research capabilities of importance to one or more of the challenge areas outlined in the new health technologies strategy.

We have published a strategic delivery plan that sets out our strategy, priorities and what we will deliver between 2022 to 2025. This delivery plan is structured around UK Research and Innovation’s six strategic objectives.

We have eight cross-cutting priorities, which have been developed to deliver against the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) strategy, support research and innovation and address government priorities. These priorities aim to provide a balance across our portfolio, between discovery research, mission-inspired research, and an effective ecosystem to underpin them. Our new health technologies strategy links to many of our EPSRC priorities, for example net zero, but specifically aligns to our priority around transforming health and healthcare.

Research delivered through the health technologies theme aims to address the priorities we have identified in consultation with our community, and will also contribute to the UKRI strategic themes, ageing and wellbeing, and tackling infections.

Engineering and physical sciences research can have a huge impact on health, healthcare, and wellbeing, and can tackle many challenges faced by the health service.

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

A list of the successful hubs funded through the first round of EPSRC research and partnership hubs for health technologies can be found here: Robotic clothing and ‘listening’ for cancer among new projects.

Webinar for potential applicants

We will hold a webinar on 22 July 2025 at 12.30pm. This will provide more information about the funding opportunity and a chance to ask questions.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

breaks and delays
disruptive working patterns and conditions
the loss of ongoing work
role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.