MRC Impact Acceleration Awards

MRC Impact Acceleration Awards is sponsored by Medical Research Council (MRC). Supports high-risk development steps to generate key data for new or repurposed medical products.

MRC impact acceleration accounts (previously confidence in concept) – UKRI Area of investment and support Area of investment and support: MRC impact acceleration accounts (previously confidence in concept) Impact acceleration accounts (IAAs) are strategic awards providing funding to research organisations to use creatively for a wide range of impact activities.

The aim of this programme is to speed up the transition from discovery research to translational development projects. It will do this by funding preliminary work to establish whether an approach or technology is viable and to rapidly de-risk projects across the whole translational pathway.

MRC has invested over £164 million in this programme since 2012 Medical Research Council (MRC) The scope and what we're doing Following the harmonisation of UKRI Impact Acceleration Accounts , MRC’s Confidence in Concept has now become MRC Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAA).

IAA is an integral part of MRC’s translational research strategy and provides annual awards to institutions of between £100,000 and £750,000 to flexibly support a portfolio of translational research projects and activities.

It is intended to accelerate the transition from discovery research to translational development projects by supporting preliminary work to establish the viability of an approach and to rapidly de-risk projects across the whole translational pathway so that they become competitive for substantial funding for development. Since 2012, MRC has invested over £164 million in the scheme.

It has funded 43 research institutions across the UK and supported over 2000 projects and activities. These projects have generated proof-of-concept data, secured follow-on funds for further development, and led to new industry collaborations and spin-out companies. The current round of IAA awards ends on 31 March 2027.

Ensuring that fundamental science is translated into new therapies, diagnostics and medical devices is central to our mission. MRC’s IAA aims to accelerate the transition from discovery science to the early stages of therapeutic and biomarker development and rapidly de-risk projects across the translational lifecycle, so that they become competitive for substantial funding.

The award provides institutions with locally administered, flexible funding to support a diverse portfolio of translational projects and activities, and to respond to institutional needs and opportunities.

The projects supported should aim to generate sufficient or critical preliminary data to establish the viability of an approach before seeking more substantial funding, for example, from the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) .

The funding is not intended to support: entire translational projects – applicants seeking funding for project grants are directed to DPFS or, for a single high-risk step, the Developmental Pathway Gap Fund staff between posts or funding (for example, as bridging funds) continuation of normal research grants costs related to protection of intellectual property staff exchange into a spin-out company of the host institution Collaborative working and cross-sector skills flow are often key to successful translational development.

Institutions are encouraged to explore how awards could be used to develop new academic and industry interactions and enable knowledge exchange, and may use a small proportion (up to 15%) of the award to support such activities. These can include networking and showcase events, developing early stage collaborations, supporting short-term people exchanges and co-funding projects.

Find guidance on MRC Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF) . Institute of Cancer Research London Institute of Medical Sciences Queen Mary University of London Queen’s University Belfast Sheffield MRC IAA Consortium Tropical Infectious Diseases Consortium UK Dementia Research Institute University College London University of East Anglia The University of Edinburgh The University of Manchester See a list of all UKRI IAAs .

Ask a question about the programme Email: dpfsanddcs@mrc. ukri. org Email: kathryn.

whitmore@mrc. ukri. org Questions about accessing IAA funding at a particular organisation should be directed to that organisation.

Governance, management and panels IAA panel membership as of 1 November 2021: Professor Jonathan Seckl (Chair), The University of Edinburgh Dr Veronique Birault, Francis Crick Institute Dr Gillian Burgess, Grunenthal Dr Morag Foreman, Wellcome Dr Phil L’Huillier, Catalym Dr John Stageman, The University of Manchester Professor Paul Stewart, University of Leeds Dr Jason Witherington, Johnson & Johnson Dr Joanna Wolak, SV Health Investors Last updated: 24 August 2026 This is the website for UKRI: our seven research councils, Research England and Innovate UK.

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