skip to content
Home

Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences

 

Funding

Get in touch for more information or for support in applying for funding opportunities. 

Funding Opportunities

 

AstraZeneca-Funded Non-Clinical PhD studentships (2026 intake) now open

Remit: The aim of this programme is to fund 4year Non-Clinical PhD studentships at the University of Cambridge (UoC) for talented graduates in research areas which align with the strategic interests of AstraZeneca (AZ). The three broad areas of research interests are:

  • Innovative Technologies and Platforms 
  • Novel Biological and Chemistry Research 
  • Science, Data and Technology

The call for submitting partnership requests is now open , while the application form for submitting collaborative proposals for this program is now available to download from the CATS website

Eligibility and Criteria: Principal Investigators employed by the University of Cambridge and AstraZeneca are eligible to apply in partnership. Individual investigators applying without an AstraZeneca / Cambridge partner must be willing to collaborate with a co-investigator from the partner organisation. The programme management team can assist with the identification of a suitable partner. All applications should be submitted as a partnership between identified Principal investigators employed by the UoC and AZ. The University of Cambridge Principal Investigator will be the lead investigator for this studentship should it be awarded. Support for the proposal will be required from the relevant University of Cambridge Head of Department prior to submission.   

Funding: Each funded studentship covers

  • Student stipend for 4 years
  • Combined fees for Home student only for 4 years  
  • Project consumable budget up to £33,000 for 4 years  
  • Travel and subsistence for the student up to £5000 for 4 years  

Please note, the AstraZeneca funded non-clinical studentship program covers academic fees for UK/home students only. Any additional funding required for the recruitment of overseas students will not be covered and will have to be met by the University department or other sources.

Note: You will find more information regarding the studentship on our CATS webpage.

NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme

Multiple Deadlines

The NIHR i4i Programme is a translational research funding scheme aimed at medical devices, in vitro diagnostic devices and digital health technologies addressing an existing or emerging health or social care need.

The latest funding opportunities for Invention for Innovation are:
  • i4i THRIVE (Translate Healthcare Research through InnoVation and Entrepreneurship) - Deadline: 16 May 2025
  • Product Development Awards - Deadline: 28 May 2025
For full details of the NIHR i4i Programme, click here.

Sanofi iAwards Europe

Deadline for pre-proposals: 16th May 2025

The 2025 - 2026 Sanofi Innovation Awards scheme (Sanofi iAwards Europe) is a partnership program designed to support collaborations with academic investigators to accelerate innovative, disease-relevant, cutting-edge translational research in Sanofi’s areas of interest that can contribute to Sanofi’s early-stage pipeline and ultimately benefit patients. There will be the opportunity for successful projects to be taken forward for further funding and collaboration. Besides financial support, each pilot project will benefit from an access to Sanofi’s R&D expertise and guidance. Pre-proposals are invited for potential iAwards projects in the following therapeutic areas:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology & Inflammation
  • Vaccines
  • Genomic Medicine      
  • Rare & Neurological Diseases
  • Novel Methods in Target Identification
  • Target, Disease and Systems biology

Interested Principal Investigators at the University of Cambridge are welcomed to contact Juraj Rievaj, Senior Research Facilitator at CATS.

Translational Pump Priming Awards

Deadline: 13th June 2025

Translational Pump Priming Awards allow researchers to access smaller agile funding with quick turnaround funding decisions. These awards will enable researchers to answer a particular question, validate data and provide sufficient evidence that would help them accelerate development of their innovation to the next stage on the translational pathway.

Please ensure you have read the information on this page before you start an application on BHF Grants Management System.

Who can apply

  • The principal investigator will be a researcher working in an established research institution in the UK. This includes post-doctoral researchers, heads of groups and fellows.
  • Individuals or teams from commercial organisations can apply as collaborators.  

Grant duration and maximum award

  • Awards of up to £50,000 are available for a maximum of 9 months.

How to apply

Translational Pump Priming awards operate a one-stage application process. 
Submit your application via BHF Grants Management System.
 
Applicants will be required submit a final report and a follow-on report one year after completing the award.

How will they assess your application 

Applications are internally triaged and reviewed by members of the Translational Awards Committee, who possess clinical, academic, or commercial expertise. 
Please allow approximately six weeks from submission to decision. Due to the agile nature of the award, no written feedback will be provided to applicants. 

Assessment criteria:

  • Potential to address an unmet clinical need
  • Evidence to support the proposed question and project activities
  • Strength and feasibility of the project
  • Potential impact of outputs and the likelihood of future success and/or investment

Application submission 

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until Friday 13th June 2025. Applications will re-open on Monday 8th September 2025.  
Receipt will be acknowledged within 24 hours and we will advise you when you can expect the result.

BHF reserves the right to change the deadline dates and close the scheme early. We recommend that you check their page on a regular basis to take note of any changes.

Please visit their website for more information on applying for this award - https://www.bhf.org.uk/for-professionals/information-for-researchers/what-we-fund/pump-priming-awards

Restricted call: ESRC New Investigator Grants

Internal Deadline: 20th June 2025

The ESRC have announced their New Investigator Grant scheme. This scheme is suitable for early career researchers who have yet to make the transition to be an independent researcher. Proposals are welcome in any topic which falls within ESRC’s remit, including projects at the “interface with the wider sciences”, provided that social sciences accounts for at least 50% of the proposed research. The ESRC will award grants of between £100-350K (covered at 80%fEC).

University Internal selection

The ESRC expect the University to run an internal selection process to ensure that we submit only bids from outstanding individuals with the potential to become the research leaders of the future. The University may only submit a limited number of applications. To meet these requirements, this call will be overseen by a cross-school Committee, as decided by University’s Research Policy Committee.
There are three internal calls every year (October, March, and June).  Only applicants whose proposals have been approved through the internal selection process will be allowed to proceed with submission of their applications to ESRC.
Interested applicants should submit an online application.   

You will be required to upload the following:

  • Your research project proposal (template provided) 
  • A letter of support from your Head of Department

This letter is very important to the success of the application as it is needed to confirm the details of the departmental support and the applicant’s eligibility. The letter must also specify a department/faculty based mentor, and a reviewer, both of whom have agreed to provide feedback on the full proposal, should the applicant be selected to proceed. The reviewer may be from within or outside the applicant’s department/faculty. Please note that naming a reviewer is an internal requirement, and the reviewer will not be named on the full application to ESRC. The mentor and the named reviewer will be expected to provide feedback on the full proposal prior to submission to ESRC. This will be coordinated by the School Research Facilitator.

  • An X5 PDF report

The report should show the preliminary costing for the project, including the cost of the applicant’s salary and research assistance (if required). The Worktribe report should not be submitted for ROO approval at this stage; the costing is for indicative purposes only, to inform the internal selection. It will be possible to modify it after the internal selection.

If you have any questions, please write to ESRCNewInv@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Policy Innovation Fund (PIF)

CSaP is now inviting applications for next round of Policy Innovation Fund (PIF). In collaboration with the University's Research Strategy Office, PIF offers awards up to £10,000 for Cambridge researchers to work collaboratively with policy partners to develop and carry out innovative policy engagement activities.

Who can apply?

Academics and researchers from any department or faculty at the University can apply for the PIF. Early Career Researchers (ECR) are also encouraged to apply. Project duration can be up to 9 months. 

Please refer carefully to the guidance notes and assessment criteria before applying.

How to apply?

Applicants should submit the completed PIF Application Form, along with relevant documents via email to pif@csap.cam.ac.uk. 
Download the PIF Application form HERE.

All proposals must be submitted on or before 17:00 GMT by 30 June 2025.  

Get Support

CSaP is pleased to offer further support and advice in developing your proposal. Researchers interested in applying for PIF who do not yet have a Policy Partner are also encouraged to get in touch

If you wish to schedule a meeting, please contact Kavya Neeba (k.neeba@jbs.cam.ac.uk) 

Take a look at last year’s PIF projects here.

Cancer Research Horizons Therapeutic Catalyst Award

Open ended

Cancer Research UK is uniting all their drug discovery and commercialization activity to form Cancer Research Horizons. An integral part of Cancer Research Horizons is an exciting and ambitious approach to driving therapeutic innovation. The new organization will be home to over 200 drug discovery scientists and will use cutting-edge capabilities to tackle the biggest challenges in discovering cancer drugs to help accelerate patient benefit.

To support this vision, the Therapeutic Catalyst Award is designed to kick-start exploratory drug discovery efforts in cancer, to validate and de-risk targets and technologies, and to position them for onward investment and progression. As a researcher, you can take your idea from bench to patients with a single funder and partner. Successful projects will receive up to £250,000 for up to 18 months. Informal enquiries can be directed to Matthew Farren and Neil Jones. 

Cambridge Academy of
Therapeutic Sciences

University of Cambridge

17 Mill Lane

Cambridge CB2 1RX

 

CATS@admin.cam.ac.uk

Follow us @CambridgeATS

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge