Funding
Listed below are some of the Past Funding Calls (mainly grants) ending in 2026 that have been available to companies in UK healthcare.
Past funding calls ending in:
2025 can be found here and
2024 can be found here.
Future and Current Funding Calls can be found here.
For more information, please contact us.
Past Funding Calls 2026
Application Development Award for Health and Care Professionals
Funder: NIHR
Opened: 17 September 2025
Closed: 1pm, 4 February 2026
Sector: Healthcare & Life Sciences
NIHR is looking to commission up to 10 Application Development Awards (ADAs) to carry out development work prior to research applications, with a requirement for applicant teams to involve a specific group of Health and Care Professionals (HCP).
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To be eligible for this funding opportunity as an early-mid career researcher HCP, you must be a registered professional within 1 of the following eligible HCP groups: nurses (including nurses that work in social care); midwives; pharmacists; healthcare scientists; allied health professions.
Funding of up to £150,000, over a maximum of 12 months, is available for each ADA. Applicants will need to justify how funds are to be used.
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ADA funding aims to create collaborative teams of health professionals (HCPs) to design a future research project. A key goal is to develop the research leadership of an underrepresented HCP by pairing them with experienced academics. The funding also supports building research networks and conducting preparatory work to inform a subsequent full application to a national research programme.
More information here.
​MRC Centre of Research Excellence: round four: outline application
Funders: MRC and MoD
Opened: 1 October 2025
Closes: 4pm, 4th February 2026
Sector:
Total fund: £50,000,000
Maximum award: £26,250,000
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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.
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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. MRC expects to fund one or two MRC CoREs every year.
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MRC CoRE challenges are expected to:
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be bold, ambitious, and innovative, and address a gap or opportunity which is not being adequately addressed elsewhere
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address substantial unmet needs in understanding or modifying human health and disease
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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
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align to the MRC mission
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require coordinated and flexible, major long-term funding
More information here.
Knowledge Transfer Partnership: 2025 to 2026 round five
Funder: Innovate UK
Opened: 2 December 2025
Closed: 11am, 4 February 2026
Sector: Healthcare & Life Sciences
​The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme allows a UK registered business, which is referred to as the business partner from now on, to partner with a knowledge base partner. This can be either a UK higher education (HE) or further education (FE) institution, research and technology organisation (RTO) or Catapult.
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The KTP partnership brings new skills and the latest academic thinking into the business partner to deliver a specific, strategic innovation project. The knowledge base partner recruits the associate to work on the project. The associate has the opportunity to lead a strategic development within the business, developing new skills and gaining valuable experience.
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Each application must be led by a knowledge base, working with a business partner and supported by a Knowledge Transfer Adviser. If you are a business and do not yet have a relationship with a knowledge base partner, the Knowledge Transfer Adviser can help you to identify one.
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A project’s total eligible costs are typically £8,500 per month. Projects must be between 12 and 36 months. Some of the knowledge base partners costs will be funded by Innovate UK. The rest of the eligible project costs are paid by the business partner.
More information here.
Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26
Funder: Innovate UK
Open: 26 November 2025
Closed: 11am, 4 February 2026
Sector: ALL
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is offering up to 60 Women in Innovation Awards for women founders or co-founders of UK-registered SMEs. Each successful applicant will receive up to £75,000 in grant funding plus 12 months of bespoke business support. A number of highly commended applicants who do not receive funding may still be offered a year of tailored business support.
The competition aims to back women leading late-stage start-ups with scalable, investment-ready innovations aligned to three high-growth sectors in the UK’s Industrial Strategy: Advanced Manufacturing, Digital and Technologies, and Life Sciences. Applicants should already have a prototype or MVP, evidence of early customer interest or revenue, an understanding of their market, and a growing team beyond the original founders.
Innovations must be new to market or a significant improvement over existing solutions. Projects must address a clear market need and demonstrate strong potential for commercial growth. Award holders must also contribute at least four hours of role-modelling activity to inspire other women innovators over the 12-month award period.
Innovate UK uses a portfolio approach to fund a diverse range of women innovators across regions and the three growth sectors. Priority areas include zero-emission vehicles, batteries, aerospace, space, advanced materials, agri-tech, AI, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, semiconductors, engineering biology, 5G/6G, biotechnology, MedTech, pharmaceuticals, and health data/AI.
Eligibility
Projects must request no more than £75,000, run for 12 months, and start on 1 July 2026, ending 30 June 2027. Work must be carried out in the UK, with exploitation of results intended in or from the UK. Only eligible project costs may be included, and applicants must not exceed the Minimal Financial Assistance limit.
To lead a project, applicants must be:
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A woman founder or co-founder of a UK-registered micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise.
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A UK resident.
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Able to commit to 10+ hours of training and development and four hours of role-modelling.
Previous recipients of Women in Innovation Awards or certain other Innovate UK programmes are not eligible. Only one woman per organisation may apply. Subcontractors are allowed, with costs capped at 50% of the grant; overseas subcontracting must be robustly justified.
The success rate in 2024/25 was 3.4%, and a suitability checker is required before applying.
More information here.
Growth Catalyst December 2025
Funder: Innovate UK
Opens: 10 December 2025
Closed: 11am, 3 February 2026
Sector: All
Innovate UK Growth Catalyst is an Innovate UK programme designed to help startups and scaleups with high growth potential to grow faster. This Innovate UK Growth Catalyst competition combines grant funding, aligned private investment and structured support services to help innovators progress through key growth milestones.
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Up to £900k per company to support late-stage R&D and commercialisation, aligned with private investment from an Innovate UK Investor Partner.
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You should have established traction with at least one Innovate UK Investor Partner. Your Investor Partner must be identified in your application and confirm their support through an Expression of Interest (EOI) before the application close date. See directory of Investor Partners.
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Your project must fall into one of the following categories:
Feasibility studies
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Total project costs: £50,000 to £300,000
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Duration: 6 to 12 months
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Grant funding: up to 70% of costs
Industrial research
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Total project costs: £100,000 to £1million
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Duration: 6 to 24 months
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Grant funding: up to 70% of costs
For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, aligned private investment must be at least equal to the grant amount. This investment does not need to directly fund the project but must be committed to the business before the grant can be made.
Experimental development
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Total project costs: £250,000 to £2million
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Duration: 12 to 24 months
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Grant funding: up to 45% of costs
More information here.
Polyphonicâ„¢ AI Fund for Surgery QuickFire Challenge
Funder: J&J
Open
Closed: 30 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare
The Polyphonic AI Fund for Surgery QuickFire Challenge seeks innovators developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence solutions with potential to transform surgical care. Proposals may target clinical workflow, surgical decision-making, patient outcomes, or the broader surgical ecosystem through responsible AI technologies.
The programme is open internationally and welcomes entries from startups, SMEs, academic teams, and entrepreneurs aiming to address unmet needs in surgery through AI.
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Funding:
Eligible innovators with the best potential solutions will have the opportunity to receive grant funding up to $100,000 and mentorship from experts across Johnson & Johnson. Awardees may also be eligible to receive computing tools and technologies to help advance their innovations, including access to: GPUs and related software for accelerated computing, cloud platform and application services, Machine Learning (ML) and AI modeling toolkits and other Software Development Kits (SDKs).
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Eligibility:
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Individuals or teams from startups, SMEs, academic institutions, and other relevant organisations.
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Solutions must focus on integrating AI in surgical care.
Innovators interested in bringing responsible AI to surgical practice can view full details and apply to the challenge here.
Behavioral shifts for longevity
Funder: AXA
Opened: 24 November 2025
Closed: 30 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare & Life Sciences
AXA Research invites individual researchers and research consortia to submit innovative proposals that aim to:​​
-> Develop predictive markers that enhance program matching ​
-> Explore cost-effective and scalable solutions to improve therapies across intervention tiers ​
-> Leverage behavioral insights and technological advancements to drive long-term impact on individual metabolic health.​
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Selected projects may be awarded grants of up to €150,000 for a duration of up to 18 months.​
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Full Guidelines available here.
James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships rolling funding opportunity
Funder: NIHR
Opened: 1pm, 14 October 2025
Closed: 1pm, 28 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare & Life Sciences
​The JLA Priority Setting Partnerships facilitate patients, carers and clinicians to work collaboratively to identify research priorities in particular areas of health and care.
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Write a maximum of 5 A4 pages for your research plan. When reviewing applications, NIHR will not consider any additional information over this 5 page limit.
Applicants should clearly state how their proposed research addresses a current evidence gap and how the research adds value to the existing NIHR research portfolio.
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The top 10 priorities (for multiple years and countries) of the JLA priority setting partnerships are shown here. 2025 priorities include:
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Bone marrow transplantation in paediatrics
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Burn injury
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Co-existing dementia and hearing conditions
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Diverticular disease
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East London Pandemic PSP for Ethnic Minority Communities
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Epidermolysis Bullosa
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Faecal Incontinence in Adults
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Mental Health and the Body Clock
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Midwifery Practice and Maternity Care
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Palliative and End of Life Care Refresh
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Perianal Crohn’s Disease
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Prehabilitation for Hip & Knee Replacement Surgery
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Premature Babies born <25 weeks' gestation
More information here.​​​
Early action and prevention within Health and Social Care Services
Funder: NIHR
Opened: 26 September 2025
Closed: 1pm, 21 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare, Social Care
The Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Programme is looking to fund high quality research about early action and prevention within Health and Social Care Services. This is a 2-stage, commissioned funding opportunity. To apply for the first stage you should submit an outline application. There are no specific eligibility requirements or restrictions for applicants to this funding opportunity.
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Although not an exhaustive list, some examples of interest for evaluative research are:
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the pathway, flow, and coordination of patients through prevention services and the broader configuration of prevention services for those with long-term conditions and rehabilitation following acute care
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innovative ways of providing, commissioning, or streamlining prevention services, for example:
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the integration of preventative approaches and initiatives within health and social care services (such as original/novel research on NHS vaccination programmes, social prescribing, smoking cessation, preventative clinics/hubs in hospital and primary care settings)
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the effectiveness of service delivery models enabled by emerging technologies and the trade-off between administrative efficiency and patient/staff experiences
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how data can be used to proactively offer preventative support and how data can be linked across health, social care, and other systems
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models of effective systems leadership and funding mechanisms to embed prevention into the commissioning and provision of health and social care.
We are looking to fund research which has the potential to inform prevention services at a national level, and therefore local or regional evaluations are unlikely to be fundable.
More information here.
Major Projects Awards
Funder: Rosetrees
Opened: 3 November 2025
Closed: 4pm, 19 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare and Life Sciences
Rosetrees Major Project Awards provide up to £210,000 over three years (maximum £70,000 per year) to support advanced translational research with established proof-of-concept. Projects must demonstrate robust supporting data and aim for clinical translation to address a significant unmet need in the UK patient population. Applications focused on rare diseases may be considered if there is potential for broader clinical benefits. No dementia-related projects will be accepted.
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Eligibility:
Lead applicants should hold a PhD (or equivalent), have a strong track record in research management, and normally a tenured position or confirmed salary for the grant period.
Funding Covers:
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Salaries for post-docs/research assistants/technicians
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Research consumables, sequencing, animal costs
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Some small equipment costs
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(Exceptionally) PhD stipends as part of wider research/programmes
Key Features:
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Matched funding is required (secured grants or in-kind support). Applications with pending matched funding may be considered but Rosetrees funding is conditional on match confirmation.
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Projects must have a realistic plan for patient benefit within 5–10 years post-grant.
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Two-stage application: preliminary application, then full application if shortlisted; peer-review included.
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Highly competitive; clear justification of costs and strong patient impact essential.
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Applications for small patient groups must demonstrate broader applicability potential.
More information here.
UNITE Open Call
Funder: European Commission
Open
Closed: 15 January 2026
Sector: Scottish Healthcare
​​The first UNITE Open Call invites digital health innovators from seven participating European regions to develop high-impact solutions that can transform healthcare delivery, empower patients and strengthen European digital health ecosystems. With a total budget of €4 million, the call supports collaborative projects that advance personalised remote care and data-driven healthcare.
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Maximum budget per project: €1,000,000. Maximum budget per organisation: €600,000. Support rate: 100 percent (lump sum model)
More information here.
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Programme Development Grants - November 2025
Funder: NIHR
Opened: 19 November 2025
Closed: 1pm, 14 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare & Life Sciences
NIHR Programme Development Grants (PDG) is inviting applications for funding (up to £250K) to undertake preparatory work to develop a future programme of research (stream A). PDGs are also available for researchers to develop and enhance the quality and value of an ongoing or recently completed Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) award (stream B).
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This is a one-stage, researcher-led funding opportunity. To apply you will need to submit a full application.
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The programmes are:
2025/440 PGfAR PDG researcher-led - stream A - pre-programme grant
2025/439 PGfAR PDG commissioned - stream A - NIHR NICE rolling funding opportunity
2025/438 PGfAR PDG commissioned - stream A - NIHR JLA rolling funding opportunity
2025/437 PGfAR PDG researcher-led - stream B - post-award programme grant
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More information here.
​Quarterly Research Grant Funding Programme
Funder: Cure Parkinson's
Open:
Closed: 12 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare
This scheme is providing grants for scientists and clinicians from universities, hospitals and commercial organisations to help them fund preclinical and clinical research focused on slowing, stopping, or reversing Parkinson’s.
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There are grants of up to £250,000 which prioritise projects that are likely to lead to clinical trials in people with Parkinson’s within 5 years. For clinical research, CP funds clinical trials and sub-studies of trials in people with Parkinson’s. The grant amount is flexible but please contact CP ahead of submission if you are thinking of applying for a clinical trial.
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2025/2026 application deadlines:
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Monday 3 November 2025
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Monday 12 January 2026
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Monday 13 April 2026
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Monday 22 June 2026
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Monday 12 October 2026
More information here.
NIHR/NICE rolling funding opportunity (HTA Programme)
Funder: NIHR
Opened: 4 September 2025
Closed: 1pm, 7 January 2026
Sector: Healthcare & Life Sciences
The Health Technology Assessment Programme (HTA) is inviting outline applications via the commissioned workstream. We are interested in receiving applications to meet recommendations in research identified in NICE guidance that has been published or updated in the last 5 years.
Applications must be within the remit of the HTA Programme, and the primary outcome measure must be health related. The following research programmes are also participating in this funding opportunity:
After checking the programme remit, you should apply directly to the relevant programme funding opportunity.
This is a 2-stage funding opportunity. To apply for the first stage you should submit an outline application. If invited to the second stage, you will then need to complete a full application.
More information here.