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Internally managed calls

Internally managed funding calls for life and medical sciences researchers.

Sometimes external funders will limit the number of applications that an institution can submit for a particular funding call, or require applications to undergo an internal review and approval process before submission.

UCL has an internal selection process for such calls. Listed below are details of funding calls where our Research Facilitation team manage this process, along with supporting guidance for applicants.

Open calls

  • Proposals not being accessible to a generalist audience (the central UCL panel have membership from all UCL Faculties) in terms of conveying key concepts as well as the importance of the research.
  • Projects feeling too small in scope, appearing like fellowships of shorter (e.g. 2-3 years) duration or like a project rather than a fellowship. Future Leaders Fellows should demonstrate a clear programme of research lasting 4 years, with an indication of potential future research directions in the last 3 years.
  • It not being clear in applications why the FLF is the right scheme for the candidate and their proposed research, including in terms of having a significant impact on the candidate's career and development as a research leader in their chosen discipline.
  • Department/ Division/ Institute statement of support being relatively generic, and not tailored in terms of support to the candidate regarding the research programme and their development.
MRC-NIHR Enhancing biomedical and health-related data and digital platform resources

Scope

Call for funding for data and digital platform resources that will support, manage, link, share and access data at scale for biomedical, health and care research within the remit of MRC, NIHR or both including:

  • enhancing platforms, environments and their operations
  • capabilities for users, for example data ingress or egress tools, analytics
  • mechanisms to manage findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable (FAIR Principles) data
  • technical approaches to managing interface between secure health and social care data and biomedical research data
  • unique linkage of health and related datasets, for example research generated data, environmental, administrative, and wearable data

Funding

Up to £15M is available for this call. Projects may be up to £3,750,000 at 100% FEC. MRC & NIHR will fund 80% of the FEC.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this opportunity you must:

  • be a researcher or specialist employed by an eligible research organisation. This includes eligible individuals with roles or job titles such as Research Software Engineer
  • show that you will direct the project, be actively engaged in the work or both
  • have the relevant expertise and experience to lead or contribute to the development of UK database or digital research infrastructure (DRI) and resources
  • be able to explain how your application fits into the wider UK health and care data landscape to add value in driving towards a more harmonised and simplified UK DRI vision, without being duplicative or increasing complexity for users seeking to work across DRIs.

Internal process

There is no institutional limit for this call however we need to ensure that there are no overlapping or directly competing bids.

If you intend to apply for this call please inform Karen Groot (k.groot@ucl.ac.uk) and by Thursday 25th April provide the following:

  • Name and faculty of PI(s) & CoI(s)
  • Proposal title
  • Brief description of proposal (< 300 words)  – which data or digital platform resources you will enhance, what enhancements you are proposing and the benefits of these, and plans for sustainability beyond the lifetime of the award.

Further information and apply

  • Applications must be submitted to MRC by 18 June 2024, 16:00.
  • For further information visit the UKRI website.
  • If you intend to apply for this call please inform Karen Groot (k.groot@ucl.ac.uk) and note details in ‘internal process’ section above. 
Mental Health Research UK PhD Scholarships 2025

Scope
Mental Health Research UK has announced a competition for two PhD Scholarships beginning September 2025. Scholarships are available in the following areas:

  • 1) John Grace QC Scholarship 
    • Projects should focus on psychotic disorders, including puerperal psychosis
  • 2) Second ‘Open’ Scholarship
    • Projects should focus on topics such as; post-natal depression, developing post-natal family mental health interventions, factors influencing maternal mental health

Please note that only eligible principal (PI) and subsidiary supervisors (Co-I) can apply. Applications from individual students are not permitted.

Details

  • Funding: Awards cover fees and stipend only and are based on the Medical Research Council’s minimum stipend and fees for UK students. Visit the Mental Health UK website for details. 
  • Duration: 4 years.
  • Number of UCL applications allowed: 1 per scholarship.
  • UCL internal deadline: Thursday 25th April 2024, 4pm.

Supporting documents

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships – Round 9

Scope
UKRI are funding fellowships of up to 7 years to support ambitious research and innovation. This scheme is for early career researchers or innovators looking to establish or transition to independence.
Fellowships will be funded for 4 years in the first phase, with the option to apply to renew for a further 3 years later on.
For more details regarding scope and eligibility potential applicants are strongly advised to see the UKRI webpages (pre-announcement: Round 9 of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF)).


Details

  • There is no limit to the amount of funding under this scheme, but requests must be appropriate to the project. Previous projects have ranged from £300,000 to over £2,000,000.
  • Number of UCL applications allowed: 10
  • UCL Deadline: Thursday 29 February, 12:00 BST

Process and How to Apply

  • We will be collecting applications centrally from all applicants wishing to be considered for the Round 9 of the UKRI FLF. 
  • We will then share the applications with applicants’ respective Departments/Divisions/Institutes for their consideration. 
  • The internal process will have the following stages; 
  • (i) Department/Division/Institute stage, (ii) Faculty stage and (iii) UCL central stage. 

Central submission platform

UKRI have asked academic institutions to collect diversity monitoring data and produce an anonymous report including data from applicants that are; (i) interested in, (ii) suitable for and (iii) shortlisted for the scheme. Therefore, UCL will ask applicants to use a central submission platform for Round 9 of the UKRI FLF scheme, in order to capture diversity monitoring data from applicants – further details below on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) section and annex for host departments and Faculties.

Department/Division/Institute stage:

  • All applicants interested must submit their EoI using the UCL central submission platform (central submission platform for internal applicants OR central submission platform for external applicants. External applicants are also required to send their completed EoI form to us at ovpr.beams@ucl.ac.uk) by the deadline of 29 February 2024 (12:00 Noon) for their Department/Division/Institute’s consideration. Please submit your EoI as a single PDF document, labelling the attachment “UKRI FLF9 + [applicant’s name]”.
  • The EoI form (see supporting documents below) consists of: (1) Applicant details, (2) Research proposal (to be completed by the applicant, and must adhere to word limits), (3) Applicant’s narrative CV, and (4) Statement of support – please note this is NOT needed for the Department/Division/Institute stage (to be completed by the Head of Department/Division/Institute - template below).

Faculty stage:

  • Faculties are asked to shortlist their candidates within their allocated cap and are given autonomy to decide how they manage and coordinate their process with Departments/Divisions/Institutes. 
  • Applicants should speak to their Department/Division/Institute for further details about their shortlisting process.

UCL central stage:

  • Faculty research managers, Vice Deans for Research, or a deputy named by the Vice Dean for Research for the purpose of this internal process should send Faculty nominations to ovpr.beams@ucl.ac.uk by 22 March 2024, 12:00 Noon, regardless of Faculty.
  • Faculty-nominated candidates will then have to submit their application using a central submission platform by 10 April 2024, 12:00 Noon.  An invitation to submit with detailed instructions will be sent to all Faculty-nominated candidates.
  • The central UCL panel will meet mid/late April 2024. 
  • Outcomes will be sent to candidates late April at the very latest.
  • The 10 candidates selected at this stage must submit their proposals (factoring in normal UCL internal process deadlines) by the UKRI deadline of 18 June 2024, 4pm.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
Applicants from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply for this scheme. UKRI have stated that they encourage a diversity of applicants applying to the FLF programme and that host organisations play a critical role in ensuring that all potential applicants have a fair chance of being supported through a transparent selection process based on their ability and potential. In round 8 UKRI required institutions to provide an inclusive selection statement advising how their processes differed from round 7. UKRI commissioned the Careers Research & Advisory Centre (CRAC) to conduct research about their own and -institutions selection practices and to produce report identifying and recommend potential improvements. UKRI have published their response, both include guidance for inclusive selection processes.

Key recommendations are to increase the transparency and inclusivity of the processes through a number of mechanisms. For Round 9 UKRI are piloting the collection of diversity monitoring data and is requiring institutions to collect data from their applicants regarding their sex and gender, ethnicity, disability and discipline and produce an anonymous report, benchmarking the data with the institute’s population of Early Career Researchers. 

Supporting documents

Webinar 14th February 2024

General Feedback from previous internal selection rounds for why applicants were not selected:  

  • Proposals not being accessible to a generalist audience (the central UCL panel have membership from all UCL Faculties) in terms of conveying key concepts as well as the importance of the research.
  • Projects feeling too small in scope, appearing like fellowships of shorter (e.g. 2-3 years) duration or like a project rather than a fellowship. Future Leaders Fellows should demonstrate a clear programme of research lasting 4 years, with an indication of potential future research directions in the last 3 years.
  • It not being clear in applications why the FLF is the right scheme for the candidate and their proposed research, including in terms of having a significant impact on the candidate's career and development as a research leader in their chosen discipline.
  • Department/ Division/ Institute statement of support being relatively generic, and not tailored in terms of support to the candidate regarding the research programme and their development

 

Other funding

Other UCL funding opportunities not subject to internal review prior to submission

 

Closed calls (for reference)

Previous internally managed calls

AMS Springboard Award 2024: Round 10

Scope

The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) has opened its 10th call for the Springboard Award which supports biomedical (non-clinical) researchers at the start of their first independent post (and who are yet to receive substantial funding support) to help launch their research careers. The AMS Springboard Award offers a bespoke package of support to biomedical researchers, including funding of up to £125,000 over two years and access to the Academy’s acclaimed mentoring and career development programme.

Proposals are accepted across the breadth of biomedical research. For example, applicants from molecular, cellular and structural biology to anatomical, physiological, psychological, epidemiological, and public health research areas are eligible. This also encompasses maths, physics, or engineering approaches, as long as the research aims to improve human health.

Details

  • Funding: Up to £125,000 over 2 years, plus access to the Academy’s acclaimed mentoring and career development programme. 
  • Number of UCL applications allowed: 4
  • UCL deadline: 4pm on Monday 8th April 2024


You can find out more about the Springboard Awards on the AMS website: https://acmedsci.ac.uk/grants-and-schemes/grant-schemes/springboard
UCL applicants are asked to complete an internal Expression of Interest form (EOI) following the guidance as per the below documents. If you have any questions regarding this call, please contact lms.facilitators@ucl.ac.uk

Supporting documents

Kennedy Trust Senior Research Fellowships

Scope

The Kennedy Trust's Senior Research Fellowship scheme has recently been launched for 2023/24. The fellowship should be in the field of rheumatology or related musculoskeletal disease. 

Details
Funding: Up to £2million over 5 years. 
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
UCL deadline: 17 January 2024 (17:00)

Supporting documents

Rosetrees 2024 Interdiscplinary Awards

Scope

The Rosetrees Trust has invited UCL to submit one application to its 2024 Interdisciplinary Award call. An internal selection process is being coordinated by the Research Coordination Office for Life and Medical Sciences.

Please note that this year Rosetrees are inviting shortened preliminary applications before inviting full submissions.

The Award aims to encourage collaboration between clinicians/scientists and experts in the area of enhancing prenatal health to foster improved lifelong well-being for both mothers and children. The hope is that the merging of skills and experience will lead to innovative research that addresses unmet clinical needs.

Proposals must include a clear translational strategy to show how the novel research could benefit patients within 5-10 years.

Details

Funding: £300,000 over 3 years

Number of UCL applications allowed: 1

UCL deadline: 23rd January 2024 at 1pm

Supporting documents

UCL applicants are asked to complete an internal Expression of Interest (EOI) following the guidelines below.

 

For further information about this call, please visit the Rosetrees Trust website. If you have any questions regarding this call, please contact Sarah Davies at lms.facilitators@ucl.ac.uk.

UCL Neuroscience – Neuroscience Center Zurich ZNZ Collaboration 2023

Scope

 

UCL Neuroscience and Neuroscience Center Zurich ZNZ are providing short-term seed funding to support joint neuroscience research activities, which are intended to represent a priming step towards seeking comprehensive joint external research funding.

Funding

Applications can be made under one of the following two categories.

  1. Pilot projects - small awards will be made to enable investigators to obtain data to support larger-scale applications for external research funding. This category will fund staff, postgraduate student exchange or short stays of group leaders at the partner institution as well as research consumables. The maximum amount that can be requested is GBP 20,000 or the CHF equivalent (currently circa CHF 22,167).
  2. Travel and accommodation - awards will provide support for travel and accommodation costs to allow researchers to co-locate for a short period of time and focus on drafting a grant application for research funding. Applications under this category should only be submitted if the applicants feel that they are already able to progress directly to drafting an external grant application, without the need for a workshop or pilot project funding to generate any additional data. The maximum amount that can be requested is GBP 1,500 or the CHF equivalent (currently circa CHF 1,660).

Eligibility

  • Applications must involve at least one group leader affiliated with UCL Neuroscience and at least one group leader affiliated with ZNZ.
  • Group leaders/teams can participate in one application per funding round.

Process

  1. Applicants are asked to submit an Intention to Submit (PI and Co-I names and category of call applied to via MS Forms by 25th of October at 4pm.
  2. Applicants will also be required to submit an application form (see ‘supporting documents’ below).

 

Please send your completed application form with the subject line ‘UCL Zurich Funding Call 2023’ in the email to both:

The deadline for full applications is 1st December 2023 at 4pm.

Supporting Documents

NIHR Health Protection Research Units

Scope

 

NIHR have recently launched a call to apply for new Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs). For details of the call and the scheme guidance notes please see NIHR Health Protection Research Units - Stage 1 | NIHR. 


The total fund is up to £77 million and NIHR are expecting to fund 13 HPRUs, one per priority area. You can request up to £5.5 million per HPRU, over five years (or up to £11m for the Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance HPRU).
Please note UCL already hosts the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Blood Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections, and this HPRU will be applying for renewal.


UCL is only able to submit one application per priority area, and we are keen to ensure that all applications submitted are competitive.   

Therefore researchers who are intending to lead an application should submit a brief EoI using the EoI form by Monday 6th November at 5pm (GMT). 

Important dates 

  • NIHR Webinar – 2 November 3-4:30pm
  • UCL Internal deadline for EoIs – 6 November by 5pm
  • NIHR Stage 1 application deadline – 5 December by 1pm

Supporting documents

MRC Biomedical Data Science Leadership awards – UCL Internal Selection Process

Scope

The MRC have launched a call for funding applications to understand better quality support for biomedical data science. Innovations should improve career offers, accelerate positive shifts in research culture, or advance leadership for biomedical data science. Awards will seed engagement, coordination, and evidence to inform the plans for a shared UK-wide biomedical data science initiative. 

The full economic cost (FEC) can be up to £500,000 (with awards of between £200-400K at 80% FEC) for 24 months’ funding to support those improving the inclusion, quality, and recognition of data science within biomedical research. Projects are required to start before 15 October 2024. 

The MRC have advised that a research organisation may submit only one application as lead organisation (employer of a project lead). Therefore, we are implementing a selection process to select the project lead for the UCL application. Unfortunately, due to the outline deadline the timescales for this process will be very short. 

Important dates: 

UCL Internal selection process deadline: Monday 20th November 2023 at 4pm  MRC Outline deadline: 12 December at 4pm 

 

Internal selection Process Guidance:

 

UKRI: Realising the health co-benefits of the transition to net zero

Scope

UKRI have recently launched a call to apply for funding to lead a transdisciplinary research hub towards realising the health co-benefits of the UK transition to net zero. For details of the call and the scheme guidance notes please see the UKRI webpage Realising the health co-benefits of the transition to net zero – UKRI. 

In equal partnership with NIHR, UKRI is seeking to establish a set of transdisciplinary research hubs that will provide policy-relevant evidence and deliver high impact solutions-focused research and innovation. The overarching goal is to realise the health co-benefits of the UK’s transition to net zero, in order to protect and promote the physical and mental health of the UK population.

Five UK-focused challenge areas within the net zero and health space have been identified. Applications must primarily address one of these challenges to ensure impact within the lifetime of the hub;

Indoor environments in a net zero world Transportation and the built environment Sustainable healthy diets Extreme weather Decarbonising health and social care pathways

Funding
The total fund is up to £30 million. Applicants can request up to £6 million per hub (80% FEC) (this would be £7.5 million at 100% FEC), over five years.

Process

As UKRI are only expecting to award funding for 5 hubs, we are keen to encourage collaboration so UCL does not submit more than one EoI application per challenge.

Researchers who are intending to lead an application should submit a brief EoI (see supporting documents below) to the RIGE LMS Research Coordination Office by Monday 16th October.  Please send your completed application form with the subject line ‘UCL Realising the health co-benefits of the transition to net zero’ in the email to healthofpublic@ucl.ac.uk

Timeline

16th October - submit a UCL EoI
18th October 2023 - UCL online roundtable meeting
14th November 2023 - UKRI Mandatory Expression of Interest deadline closing dates

Supporting documents

 

NIHR

Research Professorships (Round 14) & Global Research Professorships (Round 7) 2023/24

Scope
Five-year personal awards to fund outstanding academics to develop research capacity in translational research, promote effective translation of research and strengthen research leadership at the highest academic levels.
 

Details

Funding: Up to £2m (average cost of successful applications is £1.7m-£1.8m) Number of UCL applications allowed: 3 - Research Professorships; 2 - Global Research Professorships UCL deadline: 5 September 2023 (12noon)

 

Supporting documents

Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust

Award for Biomedical Research 2024

Scope
The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust is seeking to support an outstanding research project, in any discipline or disease area, which is at an advanced stage of translation and demonstrates a clear pathway to benefit for patients. This will be awarded to one recipient in the UK.

Details

Funding: Up to £1.7million is available (direct costs only) for up to five years Number of UCL applications allowed: 1

 

Supporting documents
 



  • UCL deadline: 5 September 2023 (12noon)
Dementia Network Plus

UKRI have recently published six Network Plus (N+) calls, on various topics, all with a deadline of 12 October 2023. UCL can only lead one proposal to each of these calls (although can partner in any number of proposals led by other institutions). Below details the internal UCL processes to prioritise applications that UCL puts forward as lead.

For one of the calls, the ESRC, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Alzheimer’s Society will invest up to £5.25 million in up to three Network Plus grants in dementia. The Research Coordination Office for the Life and Medical Sciences are coordinating the process for the N+ in Dementia. Full details at call page above.

Please note: BEAMS and LASH/IoE Research Coordination Offices are coordinating prioritisation processes for the other five calls, information about which will be available here and here.

Internal Prioritisation:

If you are interested in applying for the Network Plus in Dementia please complete the Expression of Interest form on Microsoft Forms here: https://forms.office.com/e/GCwym5Vdwa

Deadline:

The Deadline for internal expressions of interest is Wednesday 2nd August at 4pm.

Contact us:

For any queries about this call or the internal prioritisation process, please contact us at lms.facilitators@ucl.ac.uk

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships

Scope
UKRI are funding fellowships of up to 7 years to support talented researchers and innovators transitioning to research or innovation leadership. The scheme aims to:

  • develop, retain, attract and sustain research and innovation talent in the UK
  • foster new research and innovation career paths including those at the academic, business and interdisciplinary boundaries, and facilitate movement of people between sectors
  • provide sustained funding and resources for the best early career researchers and innovators
  • provide long-term, flexible funding to tackle difficult and novel challenges, and support adventurous, ambitious programmes

Fellowships will be funded for 4 years in the first phase, with the option to apply to renew for a further 3 years later on.
For more details regarding scope and elibility potential applicants are strongly advised to see the UKRI webpages and the full UCL Full Guidance in the supporting documents below.

Details
There is no limit to the amount of funding under this scheme, but requests must be appropriate to the project. Previous projects have ranged from £300,000 to over £2,000,000.
Number of UCL applications allowed: 10
UCL Deadline: Wednesday 26 April, 12:00 BST

Process
The internal process will have three stages: 

  1. Faculties will be given an allocation quota - see below. We will ask each faculty to select their preferred candidates, based on their suitability to the FLF scheme and individual/project excellence 
  2. Nominations will go to one central panel, chaired by Geraint Rees VP for RIGE and the 11 Vice Deans for Research to decide the top 10 applications. 
  3. Selected applicants will work on their application and submit to UKRI’s deadline with support from the Research Coordination Offices. 

Faculties quota and selection  
Each faculty will be allocated a total number of candidates they may wish to put forward to the central panel. Faculties will be tasked to nominate candidates and can decide how they wish to select their candidates to give autonomy and flexibility around disciplines, interest, and size of faculty etc. However, a few points to flag; 

  • We request faculties use the UCL Expression of Interest (EOI) form and a UKRI CV and publication list template (3 pages maximum using the UKRI template) we provide to avoid candidates having to produce two internal applications. Please see below supporting documents for both forms.
  • The EOI form must include a signed statement by the applicant’s Head of Department (for BEAMS, SLASH, or IoE) or Division/Institute Director (for LMS) to confirm their support for the applicant and a statement on why they are a suitable candidate for the FLF. They must also confirm the required financial and employment commitments to the applicants, should they be successful.
  • Faculties must submit EOI forms and CVs of their nominated candidates to lms.facilitators@ucl.ac.uk by Wednesday 26 April by 12pm. Regardless of where faculties are based, please submit to this email address, as the LMS team are kindly agreed to hold bids before being sent to the UCL wide central panel. Successful candidates nominated by the central panel, who will go forward to submit full applications to UKRI, will be notified of outcomes by RCOs by mid – late May. 
  • We request faculties consider how they might encourage applicants from underrepresented groups to apply to their selection process. For round 8 we will be asking faculties to collect EDI data on all applicants so we can monitor this and use to inform our design of processes for subsequent rounds – Further details in the below Full Guidance document for how EDI data will be collected.  

Supporting documents

UKRI Mental Health Platform Hubs call 2023

Scope
UKRI have launched a call for funding to establish a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary mental health hub. Hubs will be flagship investments, drawing together relevant expertise from across the UKRI spectrum and engaging relevant stakeholders, to carry out multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, impactful research at scale on key areas of strategic need in mental health.

UKRI have advised that only one application with UCL as lead organisation is permitted. Additional involvement in other applications is permissible. Therefore, we are organising an internal selection process for this call. 

Details

Funding: Hubs can be funded up to £3.5 million (at 80% full economic cost (FEC)) for five years. Awards will have a fixed start date of 1 April 2024.
Amount of Applications: Limited to one with UCL as lead organisation.
UCL Deadline: Tuesday 18th April at 12pm
Internal Application process
We strongly recommend you read the internal selection guidance document before submitting your EoI form using link below. Please contact lms.facilitators@ucl.ac.uk if you have any questions.

UCL EoI form

Internal Guidance document

Mental Health Research UK PhD Scholarships 2024

Scope
Mental Health Research UK is pleased to announce a competition for two PhD Scholarships beginning September 2024. Scholarships are available in the following areas:

John Grace QC PhD Scholarship 2024 – Cognitive impairment in psychotic disorders.
Mental Health Research UK PhD Scholarship 2024 – Investigating novel approaches to improving prevention, diagnosis or treatment of mental health conditions in people from marginalised communities.
Please note that only eligible principal (PI) and subsidiary supervisors (Co-I) can apply. Applications from individual students are not permitted.

Details

Funding: Awards cover fees and stipend only and are based on the Medical Research Council’s minimum stipend and fees for UK students. Visit the Mental Health UK website for details. 
Duration: 4 years.
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1 per scholarship.
UCL internal deadline: 17th April 2023, 4pm

Supporting documents


AXA

Postdoctoral Fellowship 2021

Scope

The 2021 AXA Post-Doctoral Fellowship is for early career researchers (defined as no more than five years past the completion of their PhD) to undertake a two-year research program on ‘Preventing Long-Term Exposure to Harmful Substances and Mitigating its Impacts’.

Details

  • Funding: Maximum of €125,000 to be used over the two years, plus support for career development and dissemination activities during the fellowship.
  • Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
  • UCL deadline: 19 May 2021

Supporting documents


 

Academy of Medical Sciences

Springboard Award 2021: Round 7

Scope

Springboard supports biomedical (non-clinical) researchers at the start of their first independent post (and who are yet to receive substantial funding support) to help launch their research careers.

Details

Funding: Up to £100,000 over two years, plus access to the Academy’s acclaimed mentoring and career development programme. Number of UCL applications allowed: 4

 

Supporting documents

Springboard Award Round 7 Frequently Asked Questions
UCL internal selection process guidancePDF icon UCL internal selection process guidance
Expression of interest form

  • UCL deadline: 23 March 2021

Academy of Medical Sciences: Springboard Award 2022

Scope
The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) has opened its 8th call for the Springboard Award. The AMS Springboard Award offers a bespoke package of support to biomedical researchers at the start of their first independent post to help launch their research careers. This includes funding of up to £100,000 over two years and access to the Academy’s acclaimed mentoring and career development programme.

Proposals are accepted across the breadth of biomedical research. For example, applicants from molecular, cellular and structural biology to anatomical, physiological, psychological, epidemiological, and public health research areas are eligible. This also encompasses maths, physics, or engineering approaches, as long as the research aims at improving human health.

Find out more about the Springboard Awards on the AMS website: https://acmedsci.ac.uk/grants-and-schemes/grant-schemes/springboard

AMS Springboard Award 2023: Round 9

Scope
The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) has opened its 9th call for the Springboard Award which supports biomedical (non-clinical) researchers at the start of their first independent post (and who are yet to receive substantial funding support) to help launch their research careers. The AMS Springboard Award offers a bespoke package of support to biomedical researchers, including funding of up to £100,000 over two years and access to the Academy’s acclaimed mentoring and career development programme.
Proposals are accepted across the breadth of biomedical research. For example, applicants from molecular, cellular and structural biology to anatomical, physiological, psychological, epidemiological, and public health research areas are eligible. This also encompasses maths, physics, or engineering approaches, as long as the research aims to improve human health.

Details
•    Funding: Up to £125,000 over 2 years, plus access to the Academy’s acclaimed mentoring and career development programme. 
•    Number of UCL applications allowed: 4
•    UCL deadline: 4pm on Wednesday 29th March 2023 

You can find out more about the Springboard Awards on the AMS website: https://acmedsci.ac.uk/grants-and-schemes/grant-schemes/springboard


UCL applicants are asked to complete an internal Expression of Interest form (EOI) following the guidance as per the below documents. If you have any questions regarding this call, please contact lms.facilitators@ucl.ac.uk

Supporting documents


Leverhulme

Philip Leverhulme Prize

Scope

For researchers at an early stage of their careers whose work has had an international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising. The subject area for the 2021 call was Psychology.

Details
Funding: £100,000 per prize, which may be used over a 2-3 year period for any purpose related to the advancement of the research of the prize-holder.
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
UCL deadline: 16 March 2021

Supporting documents

Leverhulme Research Centres

Scope

Funding to set up a Centre for original research aspiring to achieve a step-change in scholarship. The Trust’s aim is to encourage new approaches that may establish or reshape a field of study and so transform our understanding of a significant contemporary topic.

Details

Funding: £1 million per year for 10 years
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
UCL deadline: 8 March 2021

Supporting documents

Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships

Scope

For UK universities to fund 15 Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships in a priority research area for that institution.

Details

Funding: 10 awards of £1.35 million each.
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
UCL deadline: 27 January 2020

Supporting documents

 

Leverhulme Prizes 2023

Scope
For researchers at an early stage of their careers whose work has had an international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising. The subject area for the 2023 call is Biological Sciences.

Details

  • Funding: £100,000 per prize, which may be used over a 2-3 year period for any purpose related to the advancement of the research of the prize-holder.
  • Number of UCL applications allowed: 3
  • UCL deadline: 1pm on Thursday 2nd March

 

Supporting documents

 

Mental Health Research UK

PhD Scholarships 2022

Scope

PhD scholarships in the following areas are open for eligible principal and subsidiary supervisors to apply (students do not apply themselves):

  • John Grace QC Scholarship
  • New approaches to treating schizophrenia
  • Impact of COVID 19 on understanding mental health, race and intersectionality

Details

  • Funding: Visit the Mental Health UK website for details

  • Number of UCL applications allowed: 1 per scholarship

  • UCL deadline: 31 March 2021

Supporting documents



 

NIHR

Global Health Research Centres

Scope

This funding call will support 5-year programmes to undertake high-quality Global Health research through partnerships between the UK and Low and MIddle-Income Countries (LMIC). This call comprises two schemes:

  • Global Health Research Centres In Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD)
  • Global Health Research Units

Details

Funding: NCD - up to £10 million over five years; Research Units - up to £7 million over five
Number of UCL applications allowed: NCD - 2; Research Units - 1
UCL deadline: 19 January 2021

Supporting documents



Research Professorships (Round 12) & Global Health Research Professorships (Round 5) 2020/21

Scope

Five-year personal awards to fund outstanding early career academics to develop research capacity in translational research, promote effective translation of research ('bench to bedside [T1] and 'campus to clinic' [T2]) and strengthen research leadership at the highest academic levels.

Details

Funding: Up to £2m (average cost of bids to be between £1.5m-£1.7m)
Number of UCL applications allowed: 2 - Research Professorships; 2 - Global Health Research Professorships
UCL deadline: 12noon, 13 September 2021

Supporting documents



Research Professorships & Global Health Research Professorships 2020/21

Scope

Five-year personal awards to fund outstanding early career academics to develop research capacity in translational research, promote effective translation of research ('bench to bedside [T1] and 'campus to clinic' [T2]) and strengthen research leadership at the highest academic levels.

Details

Funding: Up to £2m  (average cost of bids to be between £1.5m-£1.7m)
Number of UCL applications allowed: 2 - Research Professorships; 1 - Global Health Research Professorships
UCL deadline: 2 September 2020

Supporting documents




Rosetrees Trust

Interdisciplinary Award

Scope

The Rosetrees Trust has invited UCL to submit one application to its 2022 Interdisciplinary Award call. An internal selection process is being coordinated by the Research Coordination Office for Life and Medical Sciences.

The Award aims to encourage collaboration between Clinicians/Scientists and experts in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) to foster innovative research that addresses unmet clinical needs. Proposals must include details on how AI and ML can result in patient benefit within 5-10 years.

Projects that address logistical problems within the NHS that will result in more efficient services, reduce costs and/or improve patient experience are of interest.

Details

Funding: £300,000 over 3 years
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
UCL deadline: 1 March 2022

For further information about this call, please visit the Rosetrees Trust website. UCL applicants are asked to complete an internal Expression of Interest (EOI) following the guidelines below.

If you have any questions regarding this call, please contact David Wiseman (d.wiseman@ucl.ac.uk).

Supporting documents

Interdisciplinary Award

Scope
The Rosetrees Trust has invited UCL to submit one application to its 2023 Interdisciplinary Award call. An internal selection process is being coordinated by the Research Coordination Office for Life and Medical Sciences.
The Award aims to encourage collaboration between clinicians and non-clinical scientists who have expertise in molecular biology, computing, engineering and mathematics. The hope is that the merging of skills and experience in these areas will lead to innovative research that will study the complex interactions between the human host and infectious agents, ranging from the microbiome to pathogens including viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Particular areas of interest are: 

1)    How do these interactions result in harmful, acute and chronic effects on organs such as the skin, the gut and the brain?
2)    How do these interactions affect susceptibility or resistance to infection, and the evolution of anti-microbial resistance?

Proposals must include a clear translational strategy to show how the novel research could benefit patients within 5-10 years.

Details

Funding: £300,000 over 3 years Number of UCL applications allowed: 1 UCL deadline: 2 March 2023

 

Supporting documents

For further information about this call, please visit the Rosetrees Trust website. UCL applicants are asked to complete an internal Expression of Interest (EOI) following the guidelines below.
If you have any questions regarding this call, please contact Anwen Howells (a.howells@ucl.ac.uk).

 

Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust

Award for Biomedical Research 2022

Scope

The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust is seeking to support an outstanding research project, in any discipline or disease area, which is at an advanced stage of translation and demonstrates a clear pathway to benefit for patients. This will be awarded to one recipient in the UK.

Details

Funding: Up to £1.7million is available (direct costs only) with no defined time period
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
UCL deadline: 12noon, 13 September 2021

Supporting documents



Award for Translational Biomedical Research

Scope

The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust is seeking to support an outstanding research project, in any discipline or disease area, which is at an advanced stage of translation and demonstrates a clear pathway to benefit for patients. This will be awarded to one recipient in the UK.  

Details

Funding: Up to £1million is available (direct costs only) with no defined time period
Number of UCL applications allowed: 1
UCL deadline: 19 January 2021

Supporting documents

 

UKRI (including Research Councils)

BBSRC/EPSRC/MRC/NERC Transition Awards

The BBSRC are deliving this funding call, on behalf of URKI partners, for research, community and capacity development in engineering biology. This funding comes from the Engineering Biology Transition Awards. Projects must align with the themes of the proposed National Engineering Biology Programme (NEBP). Applications are encouraged from other disciplines and communities, as well as applications with industrial partners.

Institutions are encouraged to rigorously consider and prioritise applications submitted to this funding opportunity and while there is no limite on the number of applications per institution, where more than one application is submitted from a single lead institution, it should be clear in the cover letter of each the complementary and thematic distinction between the applications. For this reason, UCL is asking potential applicants to take part in the light touch review process outlined in the internal process guidance below, to allow us to oversee the applications being submitted from across the college.

Details

Funding: Up to £1,875,000 at 100% full economic cost (FEC), funded at 80% FEC over 24 months starting no later than 31 January 2022.
Number of UCL applications allowed: No limit (institutionally coordinated)
UCL deadline: 12 August 2021
Internal process: Interested applicants should send a completed Expression of Interest (EOI) form downloaded below to slms.facilitators@ucl.ac.uk

Supporting documents


BBSRC Strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) Grants

Scope

The BBSRC has launched the 2021-22 call for strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) grants with a focus on frontier bioscience. Advancing the frontiers of bioscience discovery is a key theme in the UKRI-BBSRC Strategic Delivery Plan. This call invites proposals focused on frontier bioscience: leading-edge discovery research that addresses significant fundamental questions in bioscience. Proposals are expected to be ambitious and have the potential to lead to a major advance in our understanding of living systems and how they function, the ‘Rules of Life’.

Details

Funding: programmes of research over £2m (100% FEC). The indicative budget for the 2020/21call is up to £16million for approximately 3-5 grants
Number of UCL applications allowed: Limited (institutionally coordinated)
UCL deadline: 7 June 2021

Supporting documents


 

BBSRC 2021 ALERT Mid-Range Equipment Funding

Scope

Applications are invited for mid-range equipment costing over £200,000 and up to £1,000,000 including VAT. Applications must enhance the capability of the UK research base in areas of science in UKRI-BBSRC’s remit.

This is a capital funding call. Applications will typically be from groups of researchers in one or more eligible institution(s) for instrumentation to be deployed collaboratively on a multi-project and multi-use basis. Collaboration and wide access to the instrumentation for users within industry, public sector, and other research organisations is highly encouraged.

The Research Coordination Office for Life and Medical Sciences is running a light-touch internal review to provide feedback on applications, confirm fit to the scheme’s remit and ensure that there are no duplicative bids.

The Expression of Interest form should be submitted to Matt Wakelin (m.wakelin@ucl.ac.uk) by the internal deadline.

The BBSRC Alert 21 website can be found here.

Details

Funding: See internal oversight process document for details
Number of UCL applications allowed: No limit
UCL deadline: 5 November 2021

Supporting documents


Innovate UK: Enabling integrated diagnostics for early detection

Scope

Up to £20 million is available for multidisciplinary consortia to develop and evaluate integrated diagnostic solutions for early detection and diagnosis. This includes funding from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF). Further details are available on the gov.uk website.

Details

Funding: Max. £3.5 million grant per consortium. Total eligible project costs for each consortium, including industry contributions and any other co-funding, must not exceed £10 million
Number of UCL applications allowed: 2
UCL deadline: 16 August 2019

Supporting documents

MRC/NIHR Clinical Academic Partnerships

Scope

This MRC/NIHR scheme is for research-qualified (PhD, MD or with equivalent experience) healthcare professionals at consultant level or equivalent, not currently undertaking any substantial research activity, to take part in collaborative high-quality research partnerships with established leading biomedical and health researchers.

Applicants must hold a contract of employment, or will hold an honorary contract, with UCL for the duration of the award. All projects must identify an academic research partner.

Details

Funding: Awards are for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years. Each award will provide between 20% to 50% of the applicant’s basic salary to support protected research time and reasonable costs to undertake the project. Please see internal guidance for full details.
Number of UCL applications allowed: N/A
UCL deadline: 6 October 2021

Supporting documents

NERC Capital Call

Scope

The Natural Environment Research Council is accepting applications for Capital Call 2019. Divisions/Institutes are not limited by how many bids they can submit to the internal UCL panel, but applicants must have full support from their Division/Institute.

Details

Funding: See guidance document for information
Number of UCL applications allowed:
UCL deadline: 5 July 2019

Supporting documents


UKRI Innovation Scholars Data Science Training in Health & Bioscience

Scope

UKRI has recently launched a new call for multidisciplinary applications to develop innovative training programmes to upskill health & bioscience researchers in data management and analysis. Programmes may be relevant to a number of inter-related areas such as bioinformatics, computational biology, healthcare informatics and systems biology, neuroscience, the social sciences including health economics, computational social science and psychology, in addition to researchers working at the interface of the social and biosciences e.g. biosocial.

Details

Funding: max. £3.5 million  per consortium, total eligible project costs must not exceed £10m
Number of UCL applications allowed: N/A
UCL deadline: 16 September 2020

Supporting documents

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships (Round 7)

Scope
UKRI's seventh call for the Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) scheme aims to grow the strong supply of talented individuals needed to ensure that UK research and innovation continues to be world-class. This call will fund ~100 fellowships. Full details of the scheme are available on the UKRI website.

Details

 Funding: no cap but applicants should include justification for costs over £1.5 million total UKRI contribution within a cover letter attached to the full proposal.
Number of UCL applications: 10
Departments/Divisions/Institutes to inform BEAMS RCO of candidate names: 31st August, 12pm (noon)
UCL EOI deadline: 5th September 2022, 5pm.

Supporting documents

BSRC Strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) Grants

Scope
The BBSRC has launched the 2022-23 call for strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) grants with a focus on frontier bioscience. Advancing the frontiers of bioscience discovery is a key theme in the UKRI-BBSRC Strategic Delivery Plan. This call invites proposals focused on frontier bioscience: leading-edge discovery research that addresses significant fundamental questions in bioscience. Proposals are expected to be ambitious and have the potential to lead to a major advance in our understanding of living systems and how they function, the ‘Rules of Life’.

Details

•    Funding: programmes of research over £2m (100% FEC). The indicative budget for the 2022/23 call is up to £16 million for approximately 3-5 grants
•    Number of UCL applications allowed: Limited (institutionally coordinated)
•    UCL deadline: 23 May 2022

Supporting documents


Wellcome

Multi-User Equipment & Biomedical Resource and Technology Development schemes

Scope

Applications are being sought for these three schemes that are run in parallel. Wellcome expects a contribution of at least 25% from the host organisation for equipment items costing over £100,000. Therefore, UCL candidates must submit an Expression of Interest for a process of internal review.

Details

MULTI-USER EQUIPMENT (MUE) GRANTS SCHEME

Funding: £100,000-£1m
UCL deadline: 10 November 2020

BIOMEDICAL RESOURCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES

Funding: Up to £1.5m
UCL deadline: 10 November 2020

Supporting documents


World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum Young Scientists

Scope

The World Economic Forum has recently invited UCL to nominate candidates for the Forum’s Young Scientists Class of 2020. Each year the Forum welcomes 25 extraordinary researchers into the Young Scientists community, which helps leaders to engage with science and the role it plays in society and provides an opportunity for community members to develop themselves into global leaders.

Details

Number of UCL applications allowed: 4
UCL deadline: 28 January 2020

Supporting documents


1907 Research

Trailblazer Award

Scope

Each year, 19 provide the 1907 Trailblazer Award to early-career MDs and PhDs. The 1907 Trailblazer Award was established to encourage high-impact, step-change approaches to research in the brain and mind sciences for mental health. In addition to supporting a specific research project, the Award intends to increase the size of the talent pool of early career investigators researching causes and cures for mental illness. Projects must be grounded in the study of biological mechanisms underlying brain function, cognitive processes, and/or consciousness. 

Details

Funding: $120,000
Number of UCL applications allowed: 2
UCL deadline: 27 March 202

Supporting documents

ESRC Steered Centres Calls

Scope

ESRC on behalf of UKRI has recently announced opportunities for applications for Centres of Excellence in:

Details

  • Funding: £5,000,000 - £9,700,000. Funding is available for up to 5 years.
  • Number of UCL applications: No limit, but institutionally coordinated as UKRI will only fund 1 Centre per call.
  • UCL Deadline: 12 noon, 24th February 2023.
  • Internal process: PIs who are interested in leading a pre-defined centre bid must submit a two page Expression of Interest to environment@ucl.ac.uk

Guidance documents