Funding

Impulse 2026: The Entrepreneurship Programme for Innovators

Deadline for round 1: 2nd February 2026

Now open for applications! Impulse blends teaching, expert advice, networking and extended mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs to help early-stage innovators transform their brilliant ideas into high-potential commercial propositions.

This part-time, 3-month programme – which runs from 28 April to 10 July 2026 – is offered online and in-person via the Maxwell Centre, the University of Cambridge’s hub for industry and research.

Impulse welcomes applications from PhDs, postdocs and researchers across physical sciences, technology and life sciences at Cambridge, as well as early-stage entrepreneurs, researchers, engineers and entrepreneurial managers from external organisations.

Full funding is available through a range of fellowships provided by their generous partners. For the best chance to be matched with an available fellowship, please make your application in the first round, which closes on 2 Feb 2026.

For more information, please download the 2026 brochure or send your questions to impulse@maxwell.cam.ac.uk.

Click here to learn more or apply for Impulse 2026. 

AHRC Design Generators

Internal Deadline: 5th February 2025

This communication is to bring the scheme to your attention to allow candidates sufficient time to prepare strong applications. The call is expected to open on 2 February, 2026 and AHRC have stated that information may change and that more information will be available at that time. The University’s internal selection process is outlined below for this round and if there are any changes, they will be communicated.

The AHRC has announced the Design Generators. AHRC will award £150,000-£200,000 per project (funded at 80% fec) for innovative, design-led research projects of 9-12 months duration that contribute to the green transition. The aim is to generate new arts and humanities-based approaches and methodologies that harness design to address environmental sustainability, decarbonisation, circular economies, policy design and regenerative practices. The majority of the disciplinary focus of the project must fall within AHRC’s subject remit (see section 7 of the AHRC research funding guide) and 50% of the application must comprise and evidence at least 50% design discipline coverage. The call is open to researchers across all career stages (see the Who is eligible to apply section for more information on eligibility). Every project must have a non-academic partner (examples include businesses, public sector organisations, third sector, civil society or community organisations) that supports the proposed activities and has the capacity to commit to delivering impact. 

For full information about the call, please see the call page. AHRC will host a webinar for this call on 11 February which those interested can register for here.

University Internal selection:  

Lead research organisations can only submit 2 applications and these applications must be substantively different from each other in terms of team composition and project objectives. Therefore, this call will be managed according to the University’s restricted calls procedure. Your Department’s Research Grants Team and/or Departmental Administrator (or equivalent) must be made aware of your internal application, and a support letter signed by the Head of Department is required.  

To take part in the internal selection, please complete our online form by 5 February, 2026 (NB: if asked to log-in, please use your CRSID/Raven details; note that a Form cannot be saved and returned to). 

You will need the following documents and information to complete the Form:  

• a document containing a list of team members, their roles in the project and their organisational affiliation(s)
• project summary (max 900 words) addressing the 3 assessment criteria below.
• support letter from the Head of the Department that will host the award confirming their support for the project and agreement to host the award.

Internal Assessment Criteria: 

Please note that the assessment of internal applications will focus on the following core funder criteria: 

• Vision: the proposed work is of excellent quality and importance, timely and impactful internationally as well as locally, regionally and nationally.
• Approach: the design is effective and appropriate to achieve the objectives, is feasible and has been designed to generate impact
• Applicant and team capability to deliver: evidences how the applicant and, if relevant, the team has relevant experience and the right balance of skills, including leadership and management and developing a positive research environment, to deliver the work.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact researchstrategy@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships

Internal Deadline: 6th February 2026

The Leverhulme Trust has announced the fifth round of its Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships. The University of Cambridge can lead on only 1 bid but may partner in multiple applications, provided that they are in different disciplinary areas. Please note that the internal selection process to select the single Cambridge-led bid has concluded. The process outlined below is for bids where Cambridge is partnering on a consortium bid led by anther institution. 

VC / PVC Support letter/statement

The Leverhulme Trust requires that where Cambridge is leading on a bid OR where it is partner on a consortium bid led by another institution, the Cambridge team must submit a statement of support from the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research. Therefore, this call will be coordinated according to University’s Procedure for VC and PVC Research Support Letters.

If you are interested in applying as a partner to a consortium bid led by another institution, please send both the draft support letter and support letter form to researchstrategy@admin.cam.ac.uk by 6 February, 2026. 

The letter and the form templates can be downloaded from the VC and PVC Research Support Letters Webpage. The letter form requires signature from the relevant Head of Department, Head of School and School Finance Manager.

Please refer to the call requirements for the support letters and to the University guidance on support letter for further guidance on what it should include.  

The letter should be 500 words maximum and meet the following funder requirements:

• provide an explanation of why the research subject area is deemed to be of importance to the university
• key information about the university’s research capacity in this area (for example, numbers of staff and doctoral students, and grant income)
• the institution should demonstrate how they will provide the Doctoral
• Scholarships programme with an appropriate level of commitment, some examples of which could include provision of facilities and space, supervisory and managerial staff time and/or supplementary administrative support.

The PVC Research reserves the right to refuse to sign support letters which do not meet these submission deadlines. 

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact researchstrategy@admin.cam.ac.uk. 

BBSRC Flexible Talent Mobility Award Placement Call 2025

Deadline: 12th February 2026

The University’s BBSRC Flexible Talent Mobility Award (FTMA): Placement Call 2025 is OPEN. Support of up to £12,000 per project is available. The deadline for applications is the 12th of February 2026 at 16:00.

The FTMA supports spending time at a project partner’s location for skills development, relationship building or knowledge exchange. The FTMA can also be used to host a partner in a research group/facility at the University of Cambridge.

Applicants may propose their own placements with new or existing partners. They are also pleased to offer a limited number of pre-set placement opportunities proposed by industry who are keen to host researchers/technicians.

Please note this route has additional, interim deadlines to enable project planning and development.

Key Information

• Eligibility: Researchers (post PhD) and Research Technical Professionals employed by the University of Cambridge or Wellcome Sanger Institute. A minimum of 25% of funding will be allocated to ECRs and an additional 25% to Research Technical Professionals.
• Project partners: any type of organisation, in the UK or abroad.
• Project duration: From 1 day up to 6 months. Part time or full time.
• Remit: Proposals should incorporate data-intensive bioscience, including but not limited to bioinformatics, -omics and multimodal data, analytical approaches for large-scale bioscience data, applications of AI in bioscience/bioimaging etc. BBSRC remit/interdisciplinary applications are welcome. Previous BBSRC or UKRI funding is NOT a requirement.
• Support: We highly encourage attending our informal online 1:1 drop-in sessions for tailored application advice. Please email Dr Carmen Fernandez-Posada and Dr Emma Brock (iaa@admin.cam.ac.uk). If you are interested in placements with UK policy organisations, please reach out to us, and we will connect you with the Centre for Science in Policy (CsaP), who may be able to help identify a suitable host organisation.

MRC Gap Fund: Single-Step Support for Medical Product Development

Deadline: 11th March 2026

Apply to the MRC ‘Gap Fund’ for single-step support in developing a new or repurposed medicine, medical device, diagnostic, or other medical product.

Projects must target a high-risk development step backed by prior funding, generating critical data to de-risk onward progression or determine failure.

The ‘Gap Fund’ strategically bridges the smaller Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) and the larger Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).

Applicants must be based at a Medical Research Council (MRC) eligible research organisation.

If you're interested in applying to this funding, please contact the: Office for Translational Research (OTR) who can support you.

Please visit their website for more information!

The Milner Therapeutics Consortium Call

Deadline: 13th March 2026

The Milner Therapeutics Consortium Call will open on 12 January

About the Consortium Call

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

Cancer Research Horizons Therapeutic Catalyst Award