Experimental medicine stage one

MRC funding for academically led research using experimental interventions or challenges in humans to investigate mechanisms of disease. Projects should address an important mechanistic question and show a credible route to clinical impact. The opportunity covers all disease areas and supports established and new investigators. Purely efficacy-focused trials and untargeted observational studies do not meet this mechanistic remit.

Applicants must be based at a research organisation eligible for MRC funding; international project co-leads may participate under UKRI rules. There is no fixed award ceiling or project-duration limit: applicants must justify resources and timescales. MRC normally funds 80% of full economic cost and 100% of permitted exceptions. Submit stage one through Funding Service opportunity OPP1248 by 7 October 2026 at 16:00 Europe/London (BST). Successful applicants are invited to stage two. This listing concerns the October 2026 round.

Applicants at organisations eligible for MRC funding; established and new investigators; international co-leads subject to UKRI policy.