UK Research and Innovation (MRC)

UKRI Translation: MRC Impact Acceleration Awards

MRC funding for academically led translational projects that tackle a single, high-risk development step for a new or repurposed medicine, medical device, diagnostic or other medical product, generating the critical data to de-risk onward development or show it should stop. It sits between Impact Acceleration Account pump-priming and the larger MRC Proof of Concept awards, and was formerly called the Gap Fund. Projects cost £50,000 to £300,000 full economic cost, of which MRC pays 80% plus 100% of permitted exceptions, and last 6 to 18 months. Applications are judged by the MRC Proof of Concept panel without external peer review.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £50,000 – £300,000
Deadline: 24 days left; 11 November
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

Standard UKRI eligibility: the project lead must be based at a research organisation eligible for MRC funding, must direct the project and be actively engaged in it, and only the lead research organisation submits
You can submit only one application as project lead
Businesses and charities or third sector organisations cannot lead or co-lead, but can take part as project partners; however, charities and third sector organisations that are approved UKRI Independent Research Organisations are eligible to apply as project lead or co-lead
Researchers at international research organisations cannot lead (except the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM and the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit)
International researchers can join as project co-lead (international)
If the project lead's contract does not cover the project, the research organisation confirms by applying that it will extend it and provide support
Project partners can be in industry, academia, the third sector or government, in the UK or overseas; industry partners must follow MRC's Industry Collaboration Framework
NHS organisations can lead if available in the Funding Service

What it funds

Single-step development work on novel:

New small molecule medicines
Vaccines for infectious or non-infectious disease
Biologics (antibodies, peptides, proteins)
Advanced therapeutics (for example gene therapy, cell therapy, RNA therapy, nucleic acid therapy and T-cell therapy)
Complex medicines, for example PROTACS, molecular glues and antibody-drug conjugates
Regenerative medicine approaches
Repurposing clinical studies or using existing therapies for new indications
Medical devices
Digital healthcare and app development
Diagnostics (including biomarker validation but excluding biomarker identification)
Medical imaging technology
Surgical techniques or tools
Behavioural and psychological interventions
Radiotherapy and radiation protocols
Costs: a contribution to the salary of the project lead and co-leads
Other posts such as research and technical staff
Research consumables
Equipment
Travel costs (not conference attendance)
Data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs
Estates and indirect costs
Public partnerships and related activities, including payments to public contributors
Work at international organisations by international project co-leads, funded at 100%

the project must address one high-risk step backed by prior funding, for example high-risk therapeutic discovery and validation, prototype development or early testing, initial biomarker validation, vector identification or optimisation, or hit expansion medicinal chemistry. All human diseases are eligible, for UK healthcare or global health. International co-lead costs from high-income countries, India and China must not exceed 30% of the total requested; there is no cap for DAC list countries. Organisations without an MRC Impact Acceleration Account may apply for earlier-stage, IAA-like projects.

What it will not fund

Fundamental or investigative research not linked to a product development plan
Clinical studies whose main aim is to investigate disease mechanism
Generation of preliminary concept data
Pre-clinical safety and toxicology studies
Early-phase clinical trials (clinical feasibility studies within the cost limits may be considered; contact the mailbox before submitting)
Late-phase clinical trials
Interventions aiming to improve NHS service delivery
Late-phase global health trials
Same or similar applications rejected by other MRC funding panels in the last 12 months
Applications that involve multiple work packages
Costs for PhD studentships
Publication costs
Funding to use as a 'bridge' between grants
Costs of applying for intellectual property protection, such as patent filing
Conference costs
Uninvited resubmissions of applications submitted after 1 April 2026 to MRC, UKRI or any other funder

How to apply

Ask your research office whether your organisation holds an MRC Impact Acceleration Account (you must quote the award reference, or state that none has been awarded)
Agree support with your research organisation and have the support statement approved by an appropriate office such as technology transfer
If the lead organisation is an NHS organisation, check early that it is available in the UKRI Funding Service
Start an application on the UKRI Funding Service and confirm you are the project lead
Answer all sections, including background, fit to the funding opportunity (four compulsory questions), approach with a Gantt chart, opportunity and market, team capability, intellectual property, and the AI section if AI is central
Send the application to your research office, which checks it and submits it to UKRI by 4pm on 11 November 2026

for clinical feasibility studies, contact gapfund@mrc.ukri.org before submitting. Applications over the cost limit are rejected at initial checks. Panel decisions cannot be appealed.

Have ready

Letters or emails of support from each named project partner, as a single PDF in English or Welsh, no more than two sides of A4 per partner
Industry or company letter of support template, for any industry or company partners
Animal research forms, if the project involves animals

partner letters are needed only if you have project partners. Letters from anyone else expressing general support will be ignored.

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