14 June 2018      call launches

12 July 2018        Intent to Submit

23 August 2018  full applications

EPSRC Healthcare Impact Partnerships

https://epsrc.ukri.org/funding/calls/hips201819/

EPSRC will shortly be inviting proposals for Healthcare Impact Partnerships.

This call is a follow-up to calls in 2013, 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17.

A budget of up to £5 million will be available to support 5-7 projects that progress previous EPSRC-funded research towards generating impact in healthcare.

This call is intended to support novel Engineering and Physical Sciences research that is aligned to the Healthcare Technologies theme strategy and contributes to at least one of the Healthcare Technologies Grand Challenges.

Applicants will be required to partner with both clinicians and business, bringing together a range of expertise to provide the support and guidance required to promote impact in the healthcare sector.

This call will be open to Principal Investigators, from eligible UK research organisations, that have been a principal investigator or co-investigator on an EPSRC research grant that completed on or after 01 April 2013 (inclusive) or is due to finish by 01 April 2019.

Full proposals will undergo postal peer review, followed by assessment at a prioritisation panel resulting in a rank ordered list.

18 September 2018, 4pm              25 June 2018 (call opens in Je-S)

MRC Third call for research to improve adolescent health in LMIC settings

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/3rd-adolescent-health/third-call-for-research-to-improve-adolescent-health-in-lmic-settings/

£4m is available. It is envisaged that 10-12 projects will be funded, usually up to 3 years’ duration but with a maximum of 5 years. There are no set budget limits; small and larger-scale projects are invited.

Applications may be led by PIs based at organisations in low and middle income countries (LMICs) as well as from PIs based in the UK.

If the PI is based in the UK, there must be clear partnership with, and scientific leadership from, co-investigators based in the LMIC where the project will take place.

The call seeks to provide the research evidence needed to effect real and practical changes to improve adolescent health in LMICs.

Applicants should clearly identify the health issues and/or risk factors to be addressed.

Proposals should explore how outcomes will be implemented within systems and seek to engage with related social and economic barriers within these systems.

Applicants should describe the pathway for how the proposed approach can be scaled, as well as highlighting any potential generalisability of findings to improve the health of adolescents in other settings.

Genuine interdisciplinary collaborations across social science, biomedical science and other disciplines are encouraged.

Basic research relevant to adolescent health, for instance basic, aetiological, and epidemiological research is not eligible for this call for proposals but is welcome for submission to the MRC through their standard research boards and panels.

The remit of this programme is broad and the 4 co-funders welcome proposals which address any major health issues that emerge at the adolescent phase of life.

LMICs are the countries on the DAC list

Adolescence is defined as between the ages of 10 and 19.

Proposals should consider the impact of gender and justify any focus on one gender.

Areas of particular research interest include:

• migration and displaced populations
• research in fragile states
• disabilities
• unintentional and intentional injury
• addiction
• tobacco
• mental health
• respiratory health
• neurodevelopmental disorders
• environmental exposures (such as endocrine disruptors)
• anaemia
• chronic disease (cancer, epilepsy, diabetes, etc.)
• biomarkers for adolescent disorders (such as nutrition)
• transitioning out of adolescence and quality of care during transition to adult specialists
• adolescent friendly health services.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to explore opportunities to consider:

• innovative and novel approaches – applicants may wish to consider proposing a milestone where the level of research risk is deemed high, or where one element of the proposal is entirely dependent on the success of another
• interventions with a preventative focus
• effectiveness studies
• implementation research
• intersectoral applications, such as education and health
• interdisciplinary collaborations across social science, biomedical science, and other disciplines including health economics and political sciences
• the social determinants of health and how these affect health as well as access and uptake of healthcare by adolescent populations
• using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods
• inclusion of innovative technologies and devices
• engaging adolescents and policy stakeholders in the development of research questions, plans and dissemination
• collection of disaggregated data and submission to data repositories.

Eligible research activities

The research approach taken should be clearly justified in the proposal indicating why it is the most appropriate and robust methodology to address the proposed research questions.

The following research activities are eligible for submission under this scheme:

• developing complex health interventions that explicitly address health needs of adolescent populations
• using methodologies to assess the effectiveness of interventions specifically for adolescents, including adaptation of interventions of known effectiveness in other populations
• implementation research questions that address issues faced in making interventions of known effectiveness accessible to adolescent populations within the health system
• research that explores health system barriers to effective healthcare for adolescents, including user and provider perspectives, social and economic barriers, as well as policy and governance challenges
• capacity building, networking and community engagement.

All funders are committed to supporting capacity building in research and encourage proposals that incorporate capacity building within the whole project of work.

Capacity-building elements should be set out in relation to the core intellectual agenda of the research proposal and not treated separately.

The focus should be on the quality and impact of the research, and how increasing research capacity contributes to this.

Proposals should demonstrate how capacity building for junior UK and LMIC researchers will lead to developing future scientific leadership.

Further details at URL above.

22 June 2018                                      Registration deadline MANDATORY STAGE

12 July 2018, 4pm                             Outline application deadline (must have registered)

16 January 2019, 4pm                     Full application (invited) deadline

BBSRC SLoLas – Strategic Longer and Larger Grants: Frontier bioscience

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/lola/

Up to £16 million is available to fund 3-5 sLoLa grants, each over £2m (100% fEC value) and up to 5 years in duration and start in late 2019.

In the 2018/19 sLoLa call, BBSRC seek to support cutting edge, innovative and ambitious research that addresses key fundamental questions in bioscience.

To produce major advances, proposals are expected to employ (or develop) the latest technologies, methods and approaches that will result in world leading capability in bioscience within the UK. There is no requirement for proposals to address our responsive mode priorities.

Proposals must fully address the scope of the sLoLa call, clearly demonstrating a primary focus on generating a significant advancement in fundamental bioscience knowledge.

Proposals must provide a clear justification for the necessity for funding through the sLoLa scheme in order to deliver the programme of work.

The proposal must demonstrate overall coherence, connectivity, coordination and integration of the work to be carried out, to the extent that the work could not be undertaken through funding a series of separate smaller awards.

The work to be undertaken must be primarily within BBSRC remit. We encourage interdisciplinary proposals but we strongly advise potential applicants to contact us beforehand to discuss the application if aspects of the proposal are outside of our remit

N.B. Research in areas in which there is already substantial BBSRC investment is likely to be at a competitive disadvantage.

Likewise proposals driven by Official Development Assistance (ODA) strategic aims (Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund) are excluded.

Applicants (PI and Co-Is) must demonstrate that they have the capability to successfully manage and deliver a programme of work of the proposed scale and complexity.

Key indicators will include:

• A track record of making internationally important research contributions relevant to the proposed project. This may be evidenced through a variety of different measures of peer recognition and success which may include, but are not limited to: publications, key note conference presentations, development and implementation of novel technologies, and patents
• A recent track record (within the last 10 years, excluding career breaks) of significant financial support from major funding bodies. This excludes research equipment grants, studentships and grants that have not been competitively awarded
• A track record demonstrating the capability of the Principal Investigator to effectively lead and manage teams. This should be evidenced through their role in specific projects or programmes, and professional development undertaken in leadership/project management.

Inclusion of Early Career Researcher (ECR) co-investigators within teams is encouraged providing evidence of significant accomplishments commensurate with their career stage is provided and they contribute distinctive expertise to the proposal. In such cases, the Principal Investigator must provide a commitment to the mentoring and career development of the ECR, and demonstrate previous successful experience of this.

The Principal Investigator must not already be a PI on an existing LoLa or sLoLa (unless the grant is in its final year).

20 June 2018, 4pm

MRC Cancer Research and Global Health Initiative

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/crgh/cancer-research-and-global-health-initiative/

MRC has announced two parallel calls as part of their Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) activities:

1. Cancer research and global health: Pump-priming call
2. Cancer research and global health: call for outlines for substantive research proposals

Proposals must meet the ODA requirements, focus on issues primarily relevant to Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) and aim to achieve one or more of the following goals:

• Develop new research strategies to tackle the cancer challenges that are relevant to LMICs in the short, medium and long-term
• Develop new UK-LMIC research partnerships or enhance and expand on existing ones
• Identify opportunities and assess feasibility of large-scale cancer global health research projects in partnership with LMICs
• Extend scope of existing research to LMIC settings
• Apply novel / potentially high-risk approaches to cancer research, with opportunities for multidisciplinary approaches
• Produce preliminary data and develop concepts for future grant applications
• Create pathways to impact in LMICs

• Pump-priming

Applications must be led by a UK-based PI but at least one LMIC-based researcher must be named as Co-Investigator

Awards of up to £200,000 for up to 24 months are available and must start no later than 15 November 2018 and end no later than 14 November 2021

The purpose of this call is to provide “pump-priming” funds to undertake projects to generate preliminary data and establish/expand/consolidate UK-LMIC partnerships.

MRC will accept proposals for research addressing challenges related to cancers of high impact and/or increasing burden in LMICs, including but not restricted to these areas:

• Cancer biology
• Aetiology and epidemiology
• Prevention, early detection and screening
• Cancers and infections
• Cancer treatment
• Health systems research
• Methodology research
• Drug discovery and translational research
• Use of technologies for cancer control in LMICs

The funding can be used to support:

• Networking meetings and other events to develop strategy and partnerships for future activities
• Small pump-priming projects to generate preliminary data for future applications
• Salary costs for existing research staff, where these can be shown to be making a clear and important contribution to the development of proposed activities
• Travel and accommodation expenses

• outlines for substantive research proposals

Outline applications are invited for substantive research proposals (usually 3-5 years in duration)

The Cancer Research and Global Health panel will assess the outlines and provide feedback. Outlines that are positioned to present competitive proposals for funding will be invited to submit full applications to the next available research board deadlines, and applicants are expected to include a cover letter within their full proposal in which they explain how they have responded to the panel’s feedback.

While co-applicants from LMICs are encouraged for the outlines for substantive projects, they are not a formal requirement as long as the work still meets the ODA requirements.

In contrast to the pump-priming call, this call is targeted at researchers with established research plans and underpinning data to support larger, longer-term projects, and established partnerships within the UK or with LMICs.

Please read the guidance documents available at the URL above.

If you intend applying to either of these funding streams please let Gwen Averley and Darren Airey know gwen.averley@ncl.ac.uk and darren.airey@ncl.ac.uk as well as informing your Institute Research Officer who will need to check the process re overseas costs.

Please note that you would be advised for LMIC Co-Is to create a Je-S account as soon as possible and you would be advised to start the process of obtaining overseas Letters of Support straightaway too.

26 July 2018, 4pm       (call opens 8 May 2018)

MRC / Medical Research Foundation (MRF)
Child and young adult mental health – the underpinning aetiology of self-harm and eating disorders

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/mrc-mrf/the-aetiology-of-self-harm-and-eating-disorders/

Up to £2.5m available in total to support high quality pilot studies and research grants to investigate the aetiology and underpinning mechanisms of self-harm or eating disorders, including the underlying bio-psycho-social mechanistic and environmental drivers, in children, adolescents and young adults (up to 25 years).

A key aim is to bring together experts from different research fields, and provide opportunities for researchers already working in associated areas or on other relevant related clinical research to extend the scope of their research interests and develop hypotheses exploring the underlying biology and psychology of these diverse mental health conditions.

Associated areas could include other mental health, medical or addictive conditions, for example, ADHD, depression or obesity, or important traits which can underpin these conditions including anxiety, impulsivity and compulsivity.

However, the primary driver of submitted applications must be to better understand eating disorders or self-harm.

As a combined Research Council, Medical Charity call these will be funded at 63% fEC.

Research Grants: up to 3 years, up to £500k
For focused research projects that will increase our understanding of self-harm and/or eating disorders, with clear rationale, hypotheses and study designs building on current research

Proof of Principle / Pilot Awards: up to 2 years, up to £250k

To initiate new scientific partnerships across disciplines and new research activities, focused on discovery science.

The award could be used in a variety of ways to develop new research, e.g. developing new networks or achieving scientific strength through links between and within universities in the UK; progressing a new area and delivering new scientific insights which may lead on to larger future proposals.

Please see full description and guidance documents at the URL above.

Those wishing to apply for the scheme are encouraged to contact the MRC’s Programme manager for Mental Health and Addiction, Dr Rachael Panizzo (Rachael.panizzo@mrc.ukri.org) in the first instance to discuss the prospective bid.