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Translational Research Office (TRO)

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Funding Opportunities

There are a number of translational funding opportunities available to UCL and partner researchers internally and externally. The TRO helps PIs identify the most suitable scheme for their project.

Translational funds differ from standard project grants by being milestone driven with clear go/no go decision criteria which require active project management. The TRG have extensive knowledge of the translational funding landscape and can help direct researchers towards the most appropriate funding scheme for their project. The TRO will discuss available translational funding options and upcoming deadlines with you, to help you learn which is the best fit for your project, and then support your applications.

What type of translational funding scheme is right for you?

Explore the resource below to give you an idea of an appropriate type of translational funding scheme to go for according to your stage of project (Technology Readiness Level, TRL):

You have proof-of-concept evidence to support your translational idea, but are lacking initial pilot data:

TRLs 1-2: Basic science funding, such as the UCL TINs Pilot Data funds

You have generated pilot data:

TRLs 2-4: Seed funding, such as the UCL Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) fund

You need to conduct pre-clinical studies:

TRLs 4-5: Wider range of Translational funds available, including from Biomedical Research Centres, or external funders including MRC, EPSRC, charities and industry partnerships

Your research is ready to progress to clinical trials:

TRLs 6-9: Large grants required, including from internal Venture funding (eg. UCL Tech Fund, Apollo Fund etc) or external funding (eg. NIHR, UKRI, Wellcome Trust, Innovate UK etc)

 More information about the internal and external translational funding options mentioned here can be found below. 

Internal (Proof-of-Concept) Funding Opportunities

Internal (UCL) seed funding opportunities provided and supported by the TRO:

  • UCL Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) Fund - A list of previous TAS fund awarded projects can be found here. 
  • Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Fund
  • EPSRC Impact Acceleration Award Funding
  • Internal Venture Funding (from the UCL Technology Fund)
  • UCL Therapeutic Innovation Networks (TINs) pilot data funding schemes (more details on the TINs website)

TRO funded opportunities:

TIN Pilot Data Funding Scheme (CLOSED)
  • The TIN PDS Call 3 - closed Friday 20th January 2023 (CLOSED) 

These funding schemes for early career researchers, are made available through the UCL/Wellcome Trust Translational Partnerships Award. For more information, visit the UCL Therapeutic Innovation Networks (TINs) website: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/therapeutic-innovation-networks/funding-opportunities

Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) Fund Call 10 (CLOSED)
  • TAS Call 10 

The UCL Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) Fund is supported by the MRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) and the three Biomedical Research Centres (BRC) affiliated with UCL (University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) BRC, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) BRC and Moorfields BRC. 

It aims to accelerate the transition from discovery science to the early stages of therapeutic development by providing responsive and flexible funding to support preliminary translational work. The scheme expects to typically fund individual projects in the range of £60-80K (directly incurred costs only) for up to 12 months.

Remit of this Call:

  • All modalities of therapy and diagnostics including engineering/medical technology and bioinformatics approaches can be submitted for consideration. Applications from across the breadth of diseases researched in UCL and its partner hospitals will be welcomed.
  • Applications with an industry partner are strongly encouraged.
  • Before applying please read the Application Guidance to ensure that your project is in remit.  Applications that do not conform to the brief will not be considered for funding.
  • Reference: Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) Scheme – Summary of all funded projects

Application:

Submission deadline:

Wednesday 26 April 17:00 BST

Panel:

  • Dr Jane Kinghorn (Chair) - Director, UCL Translational Research Office
  • Prof Trevor Smart (Vice-Chair) - Professor of Pharmacology, Division of Biscience & Neuroscience Domain Chair
  • Dr Rick Fagan - Director of BioPharm, UCL Business
  • Prof Geraint Thomas - Professor of Biochemistry, Division of Bioscience
  • Prof Rachel Chambers - Professor of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, Director of the Centre for Inflammation and Tissue Repair (CITR)
  • Prof Thomas Voit - Director of NIHR GOSH UCL Biomedical Research Centre, Vice Dean Enterprise FPHS
  • Prof Julie Daniels - Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy, BRC Theme lead for Rescue, Repair and Regeneration
  • Prof Ijeoma Uchegbu - Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience, UCL School of Pharmacy
  • Prof Umber Cheema - Professor of Bioengineering, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science & Vice Dean Enterprise FMS
  • Prof Geoff Parker - Professor of Healthcare Engineering, Imaging and Enterprise, Deputy Director UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering
  • Dr Stefan Guldin - Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Dr Bruce Lynn - CEO Queen’s Square Analytics
  • Dr Stephen Hobbiger - Royal Society Entrepeneur in Residence - Drug Development
  • Dr Preeti Bakrania - Senior Principle Scientist, LifeArc
TAS Digital Diagnostics & Therapeutics Funding Call (CLOSED)
  • The TAS Digital Diagnostics & Therapeutics Call is closed

The UCL Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) Fund is supported by the MRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund and the three Biomedical Research Centres (BRC) affiliated with UCL (University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) BRC, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) BRC and Moorfields BRC. 

It aims to accelerate the transition from discovery science to the early stages of therapeutic development by providing responsive and flexible funding to support preliminary translational work.

This Digital Diagnostics & Therapeutics Call expects to typically fund individual projects up to a value of £35K (directly incurred costs only) for up to 6 months.

Remit of this Call:

  • Digital Diagnostics & Therapeutics deliver evidence-based interventions to patients that are driven by high quality software programs to prevent, manage, or treat a broad spectrum of physical, mental, and behavioural conditions. 
  • They incorporate advanced technology best practices relating to design, clinical validation, usability, and data security.
  • They are reviewed and cleared or approved by regulatory bodies as required to support product claims regarding risk, efficacy, and intended use. 
  • Applications will only be considered from multidisciplinary teams combining digital and clinical expertise of investigators across different UCL faculties and the NHS. Before applying please read the Applicant Guidance to ensure that your project is in remit.  Applications that do not conform to the brief will not be considered for funding.

Enquiries about the scheme and completed application forms should be sent to Helen Cooksley (h.cooksley@ucl.ac.uk) in the Translational Research Office.

TAS – LifeArc Rare Diseases Call (CLOSED)

TAS – LifeArc Rare Diseases Call – closed Wednesday 11th January 2023

The UCL Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) Fund Rare Diseases Call will be supported by funding from a LifeArc Pathfinder award. The aim of this call is to de-risk projects and prepare them for applications for further, larger funding schemes, such as the LifeArc Philanthropic Fund or the MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).

This call expects to typically fund individual projects in the range of £60-80k (directly incurred costs only) for up to 12 months. Projects seeking lower amounts will be considered.

The funding has a broad remit covering cell and gene therapies, medical devices, diagnostics, small molecules, biologics, repurposing and data/digital based healthcare innovations.

Remit of this Call:

A condition of funding from LifeArc is that an investigator from either GOSH or GOS-Institute of Child Health must be part of the wider project team.

All modalities of therapy and diagnostics including engineering/medical technology and bioinformatics approaches can be submitted for consideration. Applications from across the breadth of diseases researched in UCL and its partner hospitals will be welcomed.

Before applying please read the Application Guidance to ensure that your project is in remit.  Applications that do not conform to the brief will not be considered for funding.

Enquiries about the scheme and completed application forms should be sent to Helen Cooksley (h.cooksley@ucl.ac.uk) in the Translational Research Office.

Complete the TAS - LifeArc Rare Diseases Application form to apply

Panel:

  • Dr Jane Kinghorn (Chair) - Director, UCL Translational Research Office
  • Prof Trevor Smart (Vice-Chair) - Professor of Pharmacology, Division of Bioscience & Neuroscience Domain Chair
  • Dr Rick Fagan - Director of BioPharm, UCL Business
  • Prof Geraint Thomas - Professor of Biochemistry, Division of Bioscience
  • Prof Rachel Chambers - Professor of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, Director of the Centre for Inflammation and Tissue Repair (CITR)
  • Prof Thomas Voit - Director of NIHR GOSH UCL Biomedical Research Centre, Vice Dean Enterprise FPHS
  • Prof Julie Daniels - Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy, BRC Theme lead for Rescue, Repair and Regeneration
  • Prof Ijeoma Uchegbu - Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience, UCL School of Pharmacy
  • Prof Umber Cheema - Professor of Bioengineering, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science & Vice Dean Enterprise FMS
  • Prof Geoff Parker - Professor of Healthcare Engineering, Imaging and Enterprise, Deputy Director UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering
  • Dr Stefan Guldin - Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Dr Bruce Lynn - CEO Queen’s Square Analytics
  • Dr Stephen Hobbiger - Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence - Drug Development
  • Dr Preeti Bakrania - Senior Principle Scientist, LifeArc

External Funding Opportunities

The TRO provide application support for UCL academics wishing to apply for external translational funding applications. Below provides some examples of the external grants that the team can help you with, to increase chances of funding success:

For more information about any translational funding schemes, to apply or to work out which scheme is best for you, please contact the Translational Research Group within the TRO.