Experimental medicine stage one

Open UKRI funding opportunity · Grant. Closes 2027-04-14. Opportunity page: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/experimental-medicine/

Apply for funding to investigate the causes, progression and treatment of human disease.

Your project must:

- focus on a mechanistic hypothesis

- include an experimental intervention or challenge in humans

You must be based at a research organisation eligible for MRC funding. If you are taking the next step towards becoming an independent researcher, you may be eligible to apply as a new investigator.

There is no upper limit on funding or duration. Requested resources must be appropriate to the proposed work and justified. We will fund 80% of your project’s full economic cost.

This is an ongoing funding opportunity. Application rounds close in April and October.

What we're looking for Scope

You can apply for academically-led experimental medicine projects that are conducted in humans. Your project should be based around a clearly articulated gap in understanding of human pathophysiology and have a clear path to clinical impact.

Successful projects will generate new mechanistic insights, including those that may:

- identify opportunities to modify disease pathways

- enable the future development of novel therapeutic or diagnostic approaches

Research across all human disease areas and involving any intervention to investigate disease mechanisms is eligible for support, whether undertaken in a UK or global health context. Applications involving partners outside the UK should be equitably led and co-designed.

What your application must include

Your application must involve an experimental intervention or challenge in humans, with safety profiles established, which has been designed to validate a mechanistic hypothesis. The challenge may be, but is not limited to:

- pharmacological

- immunological

- physiological

- psychological

- infectious modalities

Activities we support

The following types of work are eligible for…