Funding

Wellcome Access to Expertise (AtE) Internal Funding Call 2026 

Deadline: Monday 15th June 2026

Access to Expertise (AtE) is an internal call supported by the Wellcome Trust. The aim of AtE is to accelerate research, development and application of new drugs, biologicals, gene therapy, software applications or medical devices for human patient treatment, management of diagnosis.

AtE scheme will allow the applicant to:

• gain evidence of the feasibility (or otherwise) of their translational plans
• unblock specific bottlenecks to shift their research to the next phase of translation
• strengthen their chances of obtaining downstream funding

Requested expertise could be in the form of:

• regulatory advice
• health economics
• competitor landscape
• market analysis
• biostatistics
• business plan
• computational and modelling analysis
• Other expertise not available in University of Cambridge and beyond the merit of Experts in Residence program

Funds cannot be used to support:

• Patent filing or similar direct cost for registering intellectual property rights, as this type of support is offered by Cambridge Enterprise
• Salary costs
• Laboratory work or clinical trials

Fund will support costs up to a maximum of £15,000 (including VAT, which is typically 20%).

Eligibility

All University of Cambridge affiliated researchers are eligible to apply. Researchers who are not Principal Investigators need to have at least one PI registered as their co-applicant. 

Application process

If considering to apply, please contact Dr Juraj Rievaj at your earliest convenience to discuss the next steps and to get the application form. Deadline for submitting completed Application Form is Monday 15th June 2026.

ESRC New Investigator Grants

Internal Deadline: 19th June 2026

The ESRC New Investigator Grant 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 (MT, LT and ET).  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 attached) 
• 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.
• A Worktribe 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 costing should be created as a full project with submission set to 2150  - not a standalone costing. A UKRI Submission Report should be run. 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. Please attach it as a .pdf document, rather than an Excel file.

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

Doctoral Focal Award: UKRI Venture Doctorates

As announced in the autumn budget 2025, UKRI is providing a funding opportunity to launch in late May/early June for new doctoral focal awards which combine training in research with deep experiential learning in entrepreneurship and venture creation.  Students will be expected to make a contribution to new knowledge and developing a new business.

Support will be provided to a small number of large-scale venture doctoral focal awards. Applications must support a minimum of 50 students, across up to 5 annual cohorts.  

Applications must be led by research organisations eligible for standard UKRI funding. Businesses, social enterprises, and other organisations which do not fall under UKRI standard eligibility can participate as collaborating partners and receive funding (co-leading delivery and hosting project co-leads or other named individual roles or as project partners or subcontractors). You are encouraged to engage with other organisations to ensure delivery of a truly integrated programme which combines academically rigorous research with deep, experiential learning in entrepreneurship and venture creation.  

Your organisation can only lead on one submitted application but can collaborate on any number of applications.  

UKRI has up to £25 million available. Expect to fund up to 3 awards.

As a non-full economic cost award, UKRI will fund 100% of eligible costs listed in the opportunity. Estates and indirect costs will not be funded.  

Depending on the organisations involved in each consortium, the activities they are undertaking, and the nature of their involvement, part of the funding awarded through this opportunity may constitute a subsidy. Any awards made will be subject to subsidy control considerations, and this may affect the level of funding or the conditions. UKRI will work with applicants to ensure that, if successful, any awards made comply with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Applications must:  

• deliver doctoral training that strengthens links between research, innovation and enterprise and supports venture creation 
• clearly support at least one of the eight high-growth sectors in the UK government’s Industrial Strategy, as well as UKRI’s mission to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth 
• move beyond classroom-based commercialisation training, with spin-out creation being the intended commercial output from the outset 
• be shaped by real-world commercial opportunity 
• demonstrate a strong capability and track record in academic quality, venture support and attracting investment, entrepreneurship training and commercialisation 
• demonstrate the capacity to support cohort-based delivery at scale 

More detail will be included in the full funding opportunity. 

Venture Doctorate funding opportunity timetable

• Opening date: end of May/beginning of June
• Webinars: 18, 22, 26 June 2026
• Deadline for mandatory expression of interest: 16 July 2026 4:00pm UK time
• Closing date: 01 October 2026 4:00pm UK time
• Assessment panel: week commencing 02 November 2026
• Interview panel: week commencing 07 December 2026
• Grants start: between 1 April 2027 and 1 October 2027 

Pre-announcement: NIHR Research Professorships Cohort 17

Internal deadline: 22nd September 2026

It is expected that NIHR will issue a call for the Research Professorships Round 17 (RP) in September. This scheme is aimed at health, public health, and adult social care researchers, as well as methodologists with an outstanding record in clinical and applied health or care research.

The primary priority of the award is to promote the effective translation of research into practice to improve health and care outcomes.

Candidate Profile

• Career Trajectory: Candidates must demonstrate a steep career trajectory over the last 5–10 years.
• Seniority: Applicants should have spent no more than 5 years at their current level of seniority at the time of application.
• Leadership Status: Candidates should not already be established leaders in their field but must demonstrate the potential to become leaders by the end of the award period.

Research Scope

• Fields: Nominations are welcomed from those working in experimental medicine, public health, health services research, social care research, or methodological research.
• Translation: A demonstrable record in translating research into improved health or social care is essential.
• Partnership Requirement: Nominations are only eligible where the Higher Education Institution (HEI) is working in partnership with the NHS, or organisations/commissioners/providers of public health and/or care services based in England.

Key Institutional Expectations

Salary Recycling

The basic salary of the Research Professor is funded by the NIHR. Host institutions are required to recycle the salary costs released from the Professor’s previous role. The institution must reinvest these funds into building research capacity (e.g., hiring new research staff or supporting early-career researchers). This reinvestment plan is a mandatory part of the application assessment.

Institutional Support and Future Employment

Institutions must demonstrate a sustained commitment to the nominee, including:

• Providing appropriate administrative and research support.
• Guaranteeing necessary infrastructure and facilities.
• Supporting the nominee’s participation in the NIHR Leadership Programme.
• Long-term Integration: A commitment to the individual beyond the lifetime of the award is required, including a clear long-term employment plan and integration into the institution’s strategic research direction.

University Internal Selection

NIHR restricts the number of nominations an HEI can put forward. This limit applies regardless of whether the University is the lead employing organisation or the partner organisation.

For the Research Professorship, the University may put forward a maximum of 3 nominations, subject to the following diversity requirements:

• If 1 nomination is made: Applicants can be male or female.
• If 2 nominations are made: At least one applicant must be female.
• If 3 nominations are made: At least one applicant must be female AND at least one applicant must be from an ethnic minority group.

Based on NIHR data, specific groups remain underrepresented at senior levels. In the 2022/23 NIHR funding cycle, while 44% of total applicants were from ethnic minority backgrounds, this figure often decreases for high-seniority professorship awards. These diversity requirements are designed to directly address these disparities.

Process

This call will be managed according to the University’s restricted calls procedure.

Schools have been asked to provide a ranked list of recommended individuals. Departments should await communication from their respective School offices regarding the internal selection timetable. Please note that applicants who have not been through the School ranking stage will not be accepted for the final University submission.

Internal deadline for Schools to submit ranked candidates: 22nd September 2026

Anticipated funder deadline: Early December 2026

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact researchstrategy@admin.cam.ac.uk.  

Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard Award 2026: Round 12

Deadline: 3rd June 2026

The Academy of Medical Sciences has invited institutions to begin their internal triage processes for the Academy’s competitive Springboard Awards – Round 12.

Springboard offers a bespoke package of support to biomedical researchers at the start of their first independent post to help launch their research careers. This scheme is targeted at those who are in the early stages of their first independent research position and have not yet obtained substantial research funding support from other sources, such as large research grants or large fellowships. Proposals are accepted across the full breadth of biomedical research as long as the research aims to improve human health. 

The award for Round 12 will provide funding of up to £125,000 over two years to support research costs (excluding applicant salary) and professional development. The award also gives access to the Academy's one-to-one mentoring scheme and a programme of events and activities developed for awardees' benefit. Please note that all applicants who successfully make it through internal selection receive an invite to take part in AMS's Mentoring programme, regardless of the outcome of their application.

For more information, please see the AMS website, the Springboard Round 12 application guidance and Frequently Asked Questions document. 

Eligibility criteria:

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Hold a salaried academic position that incorporates research.
• Have sufficient time remaining on their contract to complete the proposed Springboard project.
• Be in their first independent (salaried) position (i.e. group-leader level who is line managed not supervised).
• Have been appointed to this position within the last 5 years, i.e. 5 years from 3 June 2026 (FTE; exceptions made for career breaks).

Candidates must not:

• Currently hold a clinical contract of any kind (including honorary contracts).
• Be in receipt of substantial research funding as the Principal or Co- Investigator exceeding £150,000 for the two-year Springboard award (excluding your personal salary, overhead and indirect costs). See the worked-out example provided by AMS here for reference. 
• Have already secured a significant fellowship. Candidates who have already secured significant fellowships are not considered to be in the spirit of the scheme. Please see the list in the attached form under question 4.
• Be a postdoctoral researcher employed on a grant awarded in the name of another Principal Investigator.
• Hold a Research Associate position where they are under someone’s supervision.
• Have already secured a promotion onto a second independent post (there is an exception for those who can demonstrate that their second position was a side-ways step).

Please note that AMS permits only one resubmission to this scheme. A resubmission is classified as the second time that a candidate has been nominated by their HEI and submitted a full application to the Academy.

An applicant’s eligibility with respect to career stage and length of contract must be confirmed in the Head of Department letter for the internal selection step. If you are uncertain about any aspects of eligibility, please contact the Research Strategy Office at researchstrategy@admin.cam.ac.uk

Cancer Research Horizons Therapeutic Catalyst Award