Funding

CSL Research Acceleration Initiative

Deadline: 24th February 2025

CSL is a leading global biotech company that develops and delivers innovative therapies. Their CSL Research Acceleration Initiative supports early stage biotechs and research organizations to fast-track the discovery of groundbreaking biotherapies. Successful applicants can receive up to $400,000 USD in non-dilutive funding over 2 years to advance their innovative programs.
The 2026 Research Acceleration Initiative will focus on research proposals that align with a CSL Therapeutic Area. Please see CATS website for specific Focus Areas. Interested researchers are invited to:

Attend an information webinar (choose one of two sessions) on Tuesday, 20th January 4:00PM CET (UTC+1) or Tuesday, 3 February 11:00AM CET (UTC+1)
Submit enquiries, expressions of interest and requests for application instructions to Dr Juraj Rievaj: Juraj.Rievaj@admin.cam.ac.uk; You will be required to prepare a non-confidential, 500-word abstract for submission.

2026 Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Scholar Award

Deadline: 9th March 2026, 11:59pm ET

The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre invites you to apply for the Rare Disease Scholar Award. Proposals of interest include novel approaches to treat rare diseases with an emphasis on neurological disorders, developmental and metabolic disorders, and rare cancers. Other rare genetic indications with high unmet need are also of interest. Any therapeutic modality will be considered.  

Eligibility: MD or PhD (or equivalent) researchers at accredited academic medical centers, research institutions and universities in the UK, US, and Canada. 

Up to 10 Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Scholars will be selected to receive:  
•    Guaranteed grant award of USD$100,000 for US- and Canada-based awardees and £100,000 for UK-based awardees 
•    One year of therapeutics development support and project management with potential to renew for a second year based on milestones met   
•    Access to core facilities and infrastructure including oligonucleotide synthesis and screening, small molecule and protein platforms, cell and gene therapy facilities  
•    Opportunity to compete for acceleration funds up to USD$300,000 / £250,000   
•    Opportunity to qualify for investment funds up to USD$1,000,000 according to project requirements  
•    NOTE: IP rights are retained by the awardee or their institution  

Visit the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre website to learn more: OxfordHarrington.org/Award 
To submit an application, go to the Harrington grant system and create an account.  Questions? Email Questions@HarringtonDiscovery.org. 

Potential applicants are encouraged to attend an informational webinar on 17th February, 4pm – 5pm GMT.

The Milner Therapeutics Consortium Call

Deadline: 13th March 2026

The Milner Therapeutics Consortium Call will open on 12 January

The pharma partners in the Milner Therapeutics Consortium have been working together with academics at the University, Babraham and Wellcome Sanger Institutes to better understand disease mechanisms and to discover and validate new therapeutic targets. These pre-clinical projects range from reagent sharing to funded pilot or longer-term collaborations (2-3 years) and are expected to lead to joint publications with the company partners.

The 2026 Consortium Call will seek project proposals for current challenges in:

• Oncology
• Neuroscience
• Immunology and inflammation
• New technologies that will aid therapeutic discovery
• Metabolic and cardiovascular disease
• Dermatology
• Infectious disease

The Consortium Call offers the following items for successful projects:

• Expertise e.g. in particular techniques, disease areas, target selection and validation
• Support for pilot (e.g. 6-12 months) or longer-term projects (2-3 years)
• Funding e.g. for a research associate and consumables
• Access to company reagents where appropriate e.g. tool compounds, compound libraries

The Consortium Call is a competitive process; a company may engage in a few initial discussions around a potential project before deciding to proceed and project proposals are then subject to an internal approval process at the company. Although many proposals will not result in a funded project in the short term, these introductions are a good opportunity to make connections and build a relationship with pharma partners, as well as to receive useful feedback from the pharma perspective.

Important dates

12 January 2026 – Call opens for applications
22 January 2026 – Call Q&A Webinar
13 March 2026 – Closing date for applications

Q&A webinar
On 22 January, we will hold a Zoom webinar to provide more information about the 2026 Consortium Call, and answer any questions you may have. Please click here to register.

Contact us
If you have any questions, please email consortium@milner.cam.ac.uk

ESRC New Investigator Grants

Internal Deadline: 13th March 2026

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 (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.

EPSRC IAA & Siemens Impact Starter Fund

Deadline: 20th March 2026

The EPSRC IAA & Siemens Impact Starter Fund aims to support early-stage research impact and knowledge-exchange projects. Proposals should align with Siemens’ Company Core Technologies (CCTs) which fall within the wider EPSRC research areas, and contribute to strengthening the EPSRC impact portfolio. Activities that consolidate existing collaborations with Siemens or establish new ones that extend beyond research and towards a clear pathway to impact, are both eligible and encouraged.

• Call opens: Monday 19th January 2026
• Call closes: Friday 20th March 2026 at 16:00
• Total Project Award: Up to £20,000
• Project Length: Max. duration 3 months (finishing 31st August 2026 at the latest)

Applications are welcomed from Principal Investigators and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) employed in any university department to develop impact ideas originating from research in the EPSRC’s remit and within the Siemens’ Company Core Technologies (CCTs). Please note that, in contrast to previous EPSRC IAAs, previous/current EPSRC funding is NOT a requirement. We particularly encourage and welcome applications from different underrepresented demographics and groups.

Applications from Early Career Researchers* with PIs as co-applicants are encouraged. All applicants must have department affiliation and all applications require Head of Department signature.                                   

Visit the website for more information!

C2D3 Early Career Researcher Seed Funding 2026

Deadline: 16th April 2026

C2D3 are awarding Seed Funding to University of Cambridge Early Career Researchers, up to £3,000 per project. The aim of the funds is to provide a step towards an independent research career. Applications should focus on interdisciplinary data science or AI.

Projects

Preference will be given towards activities that address one or more of the following:

• Increase engagement opportunities for underrepresented groups
• How the seed fund fits into the applicant’s career plans to apply for a larger grant
• Foster external industry collaborations
• Foster other external collaborations

Examples of interdisciplinary projects that could be funded are:

• Providing a short internship for a student, with yourself as the mentor
• Collaboration with a short industry project
• Host a skills-development or research workshop
• Building a network to pursue your next project

Eligibility: Who can apply?

Funding is open to Early Career Researchers who are: a) employed within a University department AND b) working within the remit of this call.

For the purposes of this funding call, an Early Career Researcher is defined as: a postdoctoral researcher or research fellowship holder who does not hold a permanent position at the University of Cambridge.

For more information and application form please visit their website.

Cancer Research Horizons Therapeutic Catalyst Award