MRC Centre of Research Excellence: round five: outline application

MRC Centre of Research Excellence: round five: outline application is sponsored by Medical Research Council (MRC). MRC Centre of Research Excellence: round five: outline application. Funding opportunity from Medical Research Council (MRC).

Apply via the UKRI portal.

MRC Centre of Research Excellence: round five: outline application – UKRI Funding opportunity: MRC Centre of Research Excellence: round five: outline application Medical Research Council (MRC) 1 October 2026 9:00am UK time 3 February 2027 4:00pm UK time Apply for MRC Centre of Research Excellence (MRC CoRE) funding to tackle complex and interdisciplinary health challenges.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Medical Research Council (MRC) funding. MRC CoREs will be funded for up to 14 years. Your award will initially last for seven years, with a further seven years based on successful review.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your MRC CoRE can be up to £26. 25 million for the first seven years. MRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

The maximum MRC contribution will be £21 million. This is an annual funding opportunity. We expect to fund one or two MRC CoREs every year.

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible .

To be eligible to apply for MRC CoRE funding, you must: show that you will direct the project or be actively engaged in the work have the relevant expertise and experience to lead or contribute to an MRC CoRE and its research culture focus your application on tackling complex and multi or interdisciplinary health challenges at the outline application stage, be a member of the proposed MRC CoRE leadership team The leadership team should have the relevant expertise and experience to lead or contribute to an MRC CoRE and support its research culture.

The team can be from a single eligible organisation or a partnership of eligible organisations. Due to the long duration of MRC CoREs you do not require a contract for the full duration of the award. By submitting the application, the research organisation is confirming its support for the named applicants, that they are capable of leading the MRC CoRE, and it will accept its relevant terms and conditions.

An organisation may lead one outline application in round five that addresses a challenge across any part of MRC remit. Applications from existing MRC units may be submitted in addition to other applications from the organisation and do not count towards the lead organisation limits. Organisations may freely participate as a partner in applications led from other organisations.

Who is not eligible to apply If you are employed by these organisations you cannot apply as project lead or project co-lead, but can participate as project partners on an application led by an eligible UK organisation: charity and third sector organisations international research organisations This does not include MRC Unit The Gambia or MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, employees of these organisations are eligible to apply as project lead or project co-lead.

International researchers While international organisations cannot lead an application, it is possible for international researchers to apply as part of the leadership team, as an international co-project lead. We expect international co-leads to make a major intellectual contribution to the design or conduct of the project and to provide clear indicators of commitment to the MRC CoRE.

The contribution and added value to the research collaboration should be clearly explained and justified in the application, see ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’. You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners. Equality, diversity and inclusion We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants.

We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers. We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes: support for people with caring responsibilities alternative working patterns UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

Diversity is one of the core MRC values and we are committed to creating inclusive environments that encourage excellence in research through good equalities practice. We strongly encourage applications from currently underrepresented groups including female and ethnic minority researchers, and researchers with disabilities or long-term conditions. We expect MRC CoREs and their leadership to be diverse.

We encourage the leadership model to be inclusive, diverse, and creative, with rotation or succession of positions as appropriate. Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘Who can apply’ section MRC CoRE funding aims to tackle complex and interdisciplinary health challenges.

As such, MRC CoREs should support bold and ambitious research focused on a defined challenge. Tackling such challenges will be transformative to biomedical research, health research or both within 14 years, and will enhance approaches to the prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, improving health and wellbeing for all.

MRC CoREs will be beacons of excellence in research culture, equality, diversity and inclusion, leadership models and innovation. A MRC CoRE should be distinct in the context of other national and international activities and its research positioned in the context of ongoing investments across MRC and the broader landscape, synergising with or capitalising upon existing knowledge and investments where relevant.

These major investments should be outward facing, harnessing the best talent in the UK to deliver upon their proposed vision and providing a stimulating environment to train the next generation of researchers and technologists. Applications can be from a single research organisation or in partnership across multiple organisations. Applications may include project partners.

We expect to fund one or two MRC CoREs every year. Unsuccessful applications declined at the outline stage cannot be resubmitted unless invited by the panel. For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.

What types of challenges should MRC tackle?

MRC CoRE challenges are expected to: be bold, ambitious, innovative, and address a gap or opportunity not being adequately addressed elsewhere address substantial unmet needs in understanding or modifying human health and disease be specific, with major strategic objectives achievable within the 14-year timeframe which, if achieved, will transform the research field or area of health research align to the MRC mission, and contribute to UK government priorities require coordinated and flexible, major long-term funding MRC CoRE challenges will be achieved through: fostering innovation and engagement to establish the capability and capacity to place the UK at the international forefront of impactful health research an outward facing position, harnessing and networking the best expertise in the UK bringing together creative and diverse approaches for cross-sectoral and multi or interdisciplinary, and novel ways of working distinct and disruptive research that drives breakthrough advances and addresses specific bottlenecks through knowledge generation, technological or methodological innovation, with clear translational relevance pursuing a compelling vision around specific questions of importance or critical knowledge gaps, not through open-ended research programmes developing a stimulating and supportive research environment What areas of research should the challenge address For round five we welcome outline applications to address challenges across any part of MRC remit, including discovery, understanding mechanisms, and the development of concepts or interventions for prevention or treatment.

It is not our expectation that a single MRC CoRE will address the challenge of the field as a whole within 14 years. Your challenge should be built around a defined gap or opportunity, a major barrier or bottleneck that needs to be surmounted, or the breakthrough advance that is pivotal for our understanding and ability to prevent, diagnose and treat disease.

Your outline application should explain how the proposed MRC CoRE will be positioned in the context of ongoing investments and activities across MRC and the broader UK and international landscape, synergising with or capitalising upon existing knowledge and investments where relevant. You should consider what is needed to promote or achieve equity of access to resulting knowledge, technologies, interventions, and therapies.

MRC CoRE research environment The success of the research system depends on the people working within it. A positive working environment and culture are essential for researchers and, in turn, for research to thrive. MRC CoREs provide an opportunity to create a collaborative and stimulating multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary research and training environment that nurtures a positive research culture.

MRC CoREs are expected to embed positive research culture throughout their ecosystem, adopting and maintaining the highest standards in research conduct and open communication.

MRC CoREs will: support creative leadership approaches and a team science ethos develop and nurture career paths and support career progression include public partnerships in research strategy and delivery integrate equality diversity and inclusion into all aspects of their activities Further information and guidance on research culture can be found in in the ‘Additional information’ section.

MRC expects the people who will potentially benefit from your research to be involved in shaping it. All new MRC CoREs should include public partnerships to support the development of their research strategy and activities. Public partnerships are how people and the research community can come together to shape and share scientific research.

Public partners include the public, patients, carers, and voluntary and community groups, and they can be based in the UK and internationally. Sharing knowledge and experience through public partnerships improves the relevance of research, making it more likely that everyone will benefit. MRC’s public partnerships strategy outlines our ambitions for creating effective collaboration and genuine partnerships.

The strategy applies to all the research that MRC supports, including non-clinical research. Further information on including public partnerships in MRC-funded research can be found in the ‘Additional information’ section. Host research organisations Applications can be from a single eligible organisation or a partnership of organisations.

When there are two or more eligible organisations involved, for administrative purposes it is necessary to identify a single project lead who must be affiliated with the lead research organisation.

Support from research organisations While there is no requirement for matched funding from the institution(s) hosting the MRC CoRE, beyond any 20% FEC contribution, considerable, sustained and clearly defined support from the research organisation is essential to a successful application and will be an equal part of the assessment of applications for MRC CoREs.

We expect research organisations to provide: access to facilities and equipment access to necessary digital support infrastructure support to manage estates underpinning of key staff positions access to additional sources of funding and support available to other researchers across the research organisations We will support MRC CoREs for up to 14 years.

The duration of this award is for seven years, with a review point in year six to approve release of the second period of funding. You should enter the duration of the project as 168 months (14 years). This reflects the maximum duration of an MRC CoRE.

The MRC CoRE start date can be from 1 April 2028 to 30 October 2028. You will be asked to indicate outline costs for the first funding period of seven years. The FEC of your project for the first seven years can be up to £26.

25 million. MRC will fund 80% of the FEC. Any identified exceptions will be funded at 100%.

The maximum MRC contribution, including any identified exceptions funded at 100%, is £21 million. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) indexation will be applied at the time of award. We will not supplement awards for inflation after they have started.

We will provide all the awarded funding to the lead organisation, to manage and distribute accordingly. Awards spanning multiple organisations will require a clear plan addressing award governance and management to ensure funds can be used flexibly to support changes in research delivery and opportunity across the course of the award.

We will support a limited number of interlinked research activities or themes, with funding focused on key strategic objectives, achievable during the 14-year lifespan. The MRC CoRE award should provide a platform to win additional grant support from MRC and other funders. A minimum expectation is for doubling of the MRC CoRE associated budget through external funding by the mid-term point (year seven).

You can request funding for costs such as: directly allocated contributions to salaries of the leadership team and other established researchers, usually between 15% and 30% of their time, in line with their research contribution directly incurred salaries of research staff, technicians, and professional enabling staff, where there is a clear justification for their critical role in delivering the MRC CoRE recruitment of new researchers critical to addressing the research challenge, for example those switching disciplines or sectors, or from overseas, where up to 100% salary may be requested for up to three years before other grant support is established.

The requested salary should reflect their time spent on the MRC CoRE if required, up to £500,000 start-up costs for routine equipment (items over £25,000 that constitute normal elements of a well-founded laboratory).

All items will have to be fully justified at the full application stage and may not include generic departmental equipment by exception and with the permission of MRC head office, mid-range or large equipment critical to establish platforms or facilities. However, it is anticipated for most mid-range equipment MRC CoREs will apply to the MRC annual mid-range equipment opportunity in competition with the wider community.

Mid-range or large equipment is a single item costing over £138,000 (£115,000 excluding VAT) data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs costs for innovative training and capacity building required to address the research challenge, when not available elsewhere studentships support (an exception funded at 100%), including iCASE studentships, may typically be requested for up to two studentships starting each year across the duration of the award (maximum of 14 studentships).

Numbers should not exceed the supervisory capacity of the MRC CoRE.

Costs for the full duration of the studentship should be included in the resource request technology and data platforms to provide accessible facilities and capability essential to the mission and to promote open science, when not available elsewhere experimental medicine studies initiatives to underpin or strengthen positive research culture public partnerships and related activities, including public engagement and involvement, and payments to public contributors initiatives to improve environmental sustainability estates and indirect costs creation and maintenance of a website Directly incurred costs for international co-leads (an exception funded at 100%) may be requested, although we expect most costs to be incurred by UK organisations.

The total of such costs requested for international applicants from high-income countries (those not on the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients ), India and China must not exceed 30% of the total resources requested. There is no cap on costs requested for international applicants from DAC list countries.

The leadership team will have flexibility over use of most of the funding to support changes in research delivery and opportunity across the course of the award. There will be constraints on the use of directly allocated and capital equipment funding.

In addition, directly incurred or exceptions flexible funds can be requested to top-up the development and support of activities and new opportunities but must be appropriately justified with clear plans for financial management. We do not expect exact costs to be known or specified at the time of outline application.

open access costs: these must be covered by the UKRI open access grant training and capacity building that can be accessed through existing funding routes, such as existing doctoral training programmes, MRC or UKRI fellowships mid-range equipment other than agreed and assessed as necessary as part of the start-up requirements.

All other mid-range equipment must be requested through the annual MRC equipment funding opportunity or other funding routes routine equipment (that constitutes normal elements of a well-founded laboratory) over and above the start-up fund of up to £500,000.

MRC has other arrangements to modestly support ongoing routine equipment needs of its major investments additional or duplicative equipment that is already part of the existing research environment of the applicants generic computing platforms for data analysis or data storage, which should be part of wider research organisation data management activities buildings and other types of infrastructures clinical trials or longitudinal population studies, which have specific governance requirements and for which alternative funding routes are available.

MRC CoREs may utilise existing cohorts or clinical trials funded through other routes A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU, who will have an integral role in the proposed research.

You may include project partners that will support your MRC CoRE through cash or in-kind contributions, such as: recruitment of people as research participants providing samples, such as human tissue, for the project Who cannot be included as a project partner Any individual included in your application core team cannot also be a project partner.

Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation this includes other departments within the same organisation. If you are collaborating with someone in your organisation or an organisation of a core team member, consider including them in the core team as project co-lead, or specialist. They cannot be a project partner.

Supporting skills and talent We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment . MRC’s vision for doctoral training is to support high-quality doctoral training programmes that take a student-centred approach, focusing on scientific excellence, positive research culture and wider training opportunities.

Funding for studentships may be requested as part of your approach to training and capacity building in the challenge area. Our expectation is that non-clinical studentships offered by an MRC CoRE would be four years in duration but may be shorter to account for a student’s relevant prior qualifications or experience.

Studentships will be fully aligned with an existing Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) or equivalent at the host research organisation(s). This ensures a consistent national standard for doctoral training and ensures that MRC CoRE students benefit from the best practice approaches, expertise and cohort element provided by the DTPs.

Resource awarded for MRC CoRE Studentships will be ring-fenced and the scientific agenda driven by the MRC CoRE. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks. See further guidance and information about TR&I , including where you can find additional support.

An organisation may lead one outline application in round five which addresses a challenge across any part of MRC remit. If you are submitting to this funding opportunity, as your organisation’s lead application, you are encouraged to inform us of your intention to submit by 4:00pm UK time on 8 December 2026. Submit your expression of interest .

Important note, this step is voluntary and does not form part of the assessment process. If you do not inform us of your intention to submit you can still apply to the funding opportunity. MRC will not undertake eligibility checks at this point and will not provide feedback.

You should not await a response but simply continue with the development of the outline application to be submitted by the closing date. MRC will use the information provided to help prepare for the assessment process. Applications from existing MRC units are also encouraged to inform us of their intention to submit.

Unit submissions are not included in the one lead application per research organisation limit(s). We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application. Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI. Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page: Confirm you are the project lead Answer questions directly in the text boxes.

You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.

Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI. Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must: provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit) insert each new image on a new line use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words.

The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include: sentences or paragraphs of text excessive quantities of images A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see: how applicants use the Funding Service how research offices use the Funding Service how reviewers use the Funding Service References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application. Hyperlinks can be used in reference information.

When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that: references are easily identifiable by the assessors references are formatted as appropriate to your research persistent identifiers are used where possible General use of hyperlinks Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information.

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment . MRC must receive your application by 3 February 2027 at 4:00pm UK time. You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines. Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

MRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications. We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice .

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email core@mrc. ukri. org Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include: individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave) additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection the application is an invited resubmission For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice .

Institutional matched funding There is no requirement for matched funding from the institution(s) hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond any 20% FEC contribution. UKRI advises reviewers and panel members not to consider the level of matched host institution funding as a factor on which to base funding recommendations.

Any project partners are expected to contribute to the project, either with cash or in-kind contributions. MRC CoRE applications still require evidence of considerable, sustained and clearly defined support from the host research organisation(s). Further details can be found in the ‘What we are looking for’ section.

This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff. MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at MRC board and panel outcomes .

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research . Please provide a plain English summary that we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application. We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so do not include confidential or sensitive information.

Make it suitable for all readers, for example: people with no specialist scientific knowledge the wider research community Guidance for writing a plain English summary Your summary should be a clear overview of your proposed challenge. Avoid using complicated language, jargon and abbreviations, and clearly explain technical terms.

For your proposed challenge describe the: gap, opportunity, or unmet need innovative approaches you will take transformational impact it will have if successful relationship with MRC priority areas or highlights further guidance on writing a plain English summary can be found in the ‘Additional information’ section.

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) Only list one individual as project lead. This should be the individual who will act as the grant holder with responsibilities to MRC at the start of the MRC CoRE award. If you include more than one project lead your application will fail at the checking stage.

If the application is for a MRC CoRE to be delivered in partnership by two or more eligible organisations, then the project lead must be from the organisation which will lead the partnership. List other leadership team members as project co-lead or international project co-lead. All host organisations must be represented by an eligible co-lead.

At the outline stage we expect the applicants to be the proposed MRC CoRE leadership team only. The leadership team members’ application roles should not imply relative status or influence the leadership model which is for the applicants to propose. These roles do not limit who might be recruited to successful MRC CoRE teams.

We will request more details of the research teams in the full application. These roles are not available in this outline application: professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications . Provide up to five keywords that describe your application.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide up to a maximum of five keywords including the health area, for example: mental health, engineering biology, environmental health, diagnosis, obesity, vaccine development. Use commas or spaces to distinguish individual terms or phrases.

This is for administrative purposes to help with the initial application processing and will not affect the overall assessment or influence the outcome of your application. What is the research challenge, why is it important and why do you need MRC CoRE funding?

What the assessors are looking for in your response the distinctive research challenge you will address over 14 years, this should include a clear challenge statement that articulates your challenge in no more than 100 words what will be different as a result of your work; how will tackling the challenge make a difference and lead to transformative impact in biomedical or health research how your proposed MRC CoRE is positioned in relation to other research efforts in the field, nationally and internationally how the challenge is aligned with the MRC mission how the proposed work will contribute to UK government priorities the bold, distinctive, disruptive, and innovative approaches you will use to achieve your ambitions why these ambitions are best achieved through MRC CoRE funding rather than other available funding mechanisms References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. How will you approach your research challenge?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how you have designed your approach so that it: is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable) summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable) Your approach should provide an outline of your proposed MRC CoRE research and how this will address the challenge: your research ambitions for the full 14 years what you will achieve