Funding

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 External funding

UKRI and NIHR

• MRC Molecular and cellular medicine: research grant: responsive mode (deadline 30 April).
• MRC Infections and immunity: research grant: responsive mode (deadline 30 April).
• BBSRC Fellowships Scheme (deadline 7 May).
• BBSRC Pre-announcement: 2025 to 2026 strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) grants for funding to undertake large team-based fundamental bioscience research projects which push the frontiers of human knowledge. (minimum £2mil, registration deadline 20 May).
• UKRI Notification of intent: Transdisciplinary research to tackle antimicrobial resistance (£3mil, NOI deadline 18 June).
• UKRI Interdisciplinary research to tackle epidemic threats (£3.75mil, deadline 19 June).
• MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (deadline 16 July). The TRO can provide advice on this scheme.
• MRC Small molecule high throughput screen using AstraZeneca facilities (deadline 9 Sep).
• BBSRC Pre-announcement: Engineer next generation veterinary vaccine technology platforms (£4mil, call opens 11 June, deadline 16 Sep).
• MRC Experimental medicine stage one to investigate the causes, progression and treatment of human disease (deadline 1 Oct). 
• MRC Tackling obesity (ongoing funding priority for the Population and Systems Medicine Board).
• MRC Researching ME/CFS: highlight notice.
• MRC Artificial intelligence, engineering biology and quantum technologies: highlight notice. During the highlight period MRC particularly welcomes applications from teams that are applying AI, engineering biology or quantum technologies, to better enable them to meet relevant MRC board and panel and cross-cutting themes (highlight period ends 31 March).
• Open-ended calls on the  MRC website for collaborations with Luxembourg, Norway, and Brazil.

Commercial

• See Funding Opportunities — University of Oxford, Medical Sciences Division
• Oxford Science Enterprises Uncover is a new pre spin-out funding source for Oxford academics, financed by OSE, which supports high-risk, high-reward, early stage research projects that OSE believes could become future spin-out companies, but where additional foundational data will provide a more comprehensive basis on which to create a spin-out. OSE are also interested in hearing from students and postdocs.

Charity and other non-commercial

• Wellcome Climate Impact Awards: Unlocking urgent climate action by making the health effects of climate change visible (£2.5mil, deadline 30 April). 
• Helmsley Trust: Understanding and Targeting Innate Immunity in Type 1 Diabetes Pathogenesis ($1.5mil, concept note deadline 30 April).
• Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Early Career Grants Programme for ECRs to carry out their first piece of research into tropical medicine or global health (£5k, deadline 14 May).

• Wellcome Early-Career Awards (salary + £400k, deadline 22 May).

• BSI Conference Travel Grants (£1k, deadline 1 June).
  

• Kennedy Trust Research Ignition Awards (£100k, EOIs invited by 25 April, deadline 16 June).
  
• CRUK Biology to Prevention Awards aim to harness biological and mechanistic insights to provide new targets and approaches for cancer prevention. (£600k, deadline 19 June).
• Michelson Prizes 2026 Next Generation Grants for human immunology and vaccine development ($150k, deadline 22 June). 
• Wellcome Discovery Award (average £3.5mil, deadline 29 July).
  
• Leo Foundation Research Networking Grants to enable knowledge-sharing and facilitate networking and collaborations within the skin research community (max DKK 500,000, deadline 1 Oct). 
• CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship for qualified young scientists who wish to receive training in fundamental immunology or cancer immunology, and Immuno-Informatics Postdoctoral Fellowship for those who wish to receive dual training in immunology and data science (max $228k, deadlines 1 March and 1 Sep each year). 

Internal funding and Coordinated Bids

• Novo Nordisk – Oxford Fellowship Programme focused on research in diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and other cardiometabolic conditions, aiming to support the development of exceptional early career researchers to become future leaders in the field (deadline 30 April).

  Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists - internal selection for 2026 round (£100k, deadline 1 May - NB each department can only submit one nomination per subject category).
  

• Medical Sciences Division internal funding
• University of Oxford internal funding
• John Fell Fund: seedcorn and start-up grants, and staff and funds to stimulate applications to external agencies.
• Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund: proof of concept funding for translational projects (max £85K).
• MSD Bridging Salary Scheme: support for early career researchers working in the Medical Sciences Division
• University Challenge Seed Fund (UCSF): a translational fund focused on projects that can make a near term impact and have the potential for future commercialisation (max £250k, quarterly deadlines).