Developmental Pathway Funding S

Application Platform: UKRI Funding Service

Application Sections: Related applications, opportunity and market, scientific background and development stage, development plan and route to patient benefit, approach and methodology, milestones, applicant and team capability, intellectual property management, ethics and responsible research and innovation, data management and sharing, resources and cost justification.

Assessment Process: Applications are assessed through independent expert review followed by panel evaluation and final funding decision by the Medical Research Council.

Co-Funders: Not specified

Collaboration Rules: Collaboration with charities, industry or other partners is encouraged where it adds value to the research project.

Competitiveness: Not specified

Consortium Requirements: Not mandatory. Projects may include collaborators or project partners where relevant to the research.

Decision Risks: Applications may be rejected if they do not meet eligibility criteria, fall outside the translational development scope, fail to address milestone requirements or do not follow application guidance.

Decision Timeline: Applicants are notified of the outcome shortly after the panel meeting, and reviewer feedback is typically provided within eight weeks of the meeting.

Eligible Expenses: Investigator and research staff salaries, research consumables, equipment, travel, data preservation and sharing costs, dissemination activities, estates and indirect costs, and public partnership activities.

Eligible Scope: Projects aimed at improving prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of significant health needs or developing research tools that improve the efficiency of developing health interventions.

Funding Intensity: MRC typically funds 80% of the full economic cost of the project and 100% of permitted exceptions.

Important Notes: Projects should include clearly defined milestones that enable go or no-go decisions during development and may involve collaboration with industry or other partners where appropriate.

Ineligible Projects: Fundamental research not linked to a development pathway, studies primarily investigating disease mechanisms, technology development unrelated to clinical development, late phase clinical trials, population-level public health interventions or healthcare service delivery innovations.

International Collaboration Requirement: International researchers may participate as project co-leads (international) or project partners where they provide significant intellectual contribution.

Interview Stage: Not specified

Key Requirements: Applicants must have been invited following a successful stage one submission and demonstrate a clear translational development pathway with defined milestones and measurable success criteria.

Lead Organisation Requirement: Applications must be submitted by an eligible research organisation through the UKRI Funding Service.

Match Funding Requirement: No institutional matched funding required beyond the standard 20% full economic cost contribution.

Project Duration: No fixed duration limit. The project timeline must be justified according to the proposed work.

Project End Date: Determined by the project duration approved during funding assessment.

Project Start Date: Projects should start one to six months after the funding decision.

Publication Date: 2025-11-26 00:00:00

Renewal Rules: Resubmission of the same or similar application is not permitted within 12 months unless early resubmission is invited.

Research Category: Translational medical research and intervention development.

Research Organisation Funding: Research organisations receive funding under the UKRI full economic cost model.

Subcontractors: Subcontracting is permitted where justified for specific activities that cannot be undertaken within the host organisation.

Total Fund Available: £11,000,000