Centres of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation

MRC and the Office for Life Sciences invite proposals for four UK research centres addressing regulatory science. Each centre must focus on one theme: data and artificial intelligence; prevention and early detection; personalised healthcare and pharmacogenomics; or reusable platform technologies. The work should produce broadly applicable evidence, methods and standards for healthcare regulation. Individual product development alone is outside scope.

Projects start on 1 April 2027. Applicants should plan five years of work; only the first three years are initially confirmed, with later funding dependent on government budgets. The maximum funder contribution is £5 million over five years, including a £3 million limit for the initial period. Standard funding is 80% of full economic cost. Applications opened on 22 September 2026 and close at 16:00 UK time on 12 January 2027.

A UK organisation eligible for MRC funding must lead. International researchers may participate as international co-leads under MRC rules. Businesses and most charities participate as partners rather than leads.