Funding

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 External funding

UKRI and NIHR

• MRC Experimental medicine stage one to investigate the causes, progression and treatment of human disease (deadline 1 Oct). 
• BBSRC Bioinformatics and Biological Resources Fund (25BBR) (£2mil, deadline 25 Nov). 
• BBSRC Pioneer Awards 2025 to 26: bioscience discovery research (£350k, mandatory registration deadline 19 Nov, application deadline 25 Feb 2026). 
• 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 Early-Career Awards (salary+ £400k, deadline 30 Sep). 

• Biocodex Microbiota Foundation Women's microbiota and reproduction: Functional exploration at the host-microbiota interface grants (€200k, deadline 30 Sep).
• Biocodex Gut Microbiota International Call for Projects: Resilience of the gut microbiome following perturbations and their implications to human health and disease (€200k, deadline 30 Nov).
• 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). 

• AABB Foundation Early-Career Scientific Research Grant (investigator-initiated original research in all aspects of blood banking, transfusion medicine and biotherapies). Deadline 1 Dec. 

• 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). 

• BSI Communication and Engagement Grant (£1k, deadlines 1 Feb, 1 June, 1 Oct). 

Internal funding and Coordinated Bids

• NIHR Research Professorships and Global Research Professorships 2025 (deadline 24 Sep)

• 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) - upcoming deadline 23 Oct 
• 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).