Opportunity status:
Upcoming
Funders:
Funding type:
Grant
Publication date:
2 March 2026
Opening date:
17 March 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
21 May 2026 4:00pm UK time
Apply for funding to establish a UK Hub for the development of pre-clinical translational human in vitro models.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Medical Research Council (MRC) funding.
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £25 million. The maximum MRC will fund (including any exceptions funded at 100%), is £20 million.
Only one application (as project lead), can be submitted by each organisation.
The Hub will be funded for up to 42 months. Awards will have to start by 14 November 2026.
Who can apply
This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. .
Who is eligible to apply
To be eligible to apply for funding you must:
* show that you will direct the project and be a member of the proposed hub leadership team
* have the relevant expertise and experience to lead the hub
* have strong institutional support to establish the Hub as a national resource
The hub should be based in one location, which will be the site for model development and host any guest staff and external visitors.
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:
* businesses
* charity and third sector organisations
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 Hub.
You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.
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
Equality, diversity and inclusion
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:
* career breaks
* support for people with caring responsibilities
* flexible working
* alternative working patterns
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 the Hub’s leadership to be diverse. We encourage the leadership model to be inclusive, diverse, and creative.
What we're looking for
Aim
The Hub will aim to:
* create more accurate predictive pre-clinical models of human disease to lower the attrition rate of new therapeutics and accelerate medicines discovery for patient benefit
* be a national resource for in vitro model development and increase access to state-of-the-art technology, human tissue and patient samples and data across the UK
* develop cutting-edge AI science agents to transform target discovery
* enable additional methodological innovation through the co-location and collaboration of expertise across bioengineering, biological, clinical and computational science from academia and industry
* position UK at the forefront of human in vitro model development for medical research, making it an attractive destination for global talent and pharmaceutical investment
* increase the range of robust alternative methods available to support the reduction in the use of animals in science
The Hub will be a contact point for researchers from industry and academia in need of in vitro models for pre-clinical medicines development, such as drug screening, efficacy testing, target identification or validation. The Hub will provide capability, facilities and expertise to work with partners to refine existing models applicable for commercial and academic research use, or, exceptionally, to create novel models addressing agreed needs, ensuring that they are:
* robust and reproducible
* validated against clinical data for high disease phenotypic fidelity and human biological relevance
* scalable as needed
* available to a range of users
* developed to comply with accepted industry standards (ISO)
The Hub will not seek to develop models of healthy tissue or systems purely intended for toxicology/safety to underpin phase 1 clinical trials, which will instead be validated via the parallel UK centre for validation of alternative methods (UKCVAM). The Hub will however work closely with regulatory agencies to integrate potential regulatory needs at the earliest stages of model development.
Scope
One Hub will be awarded from this funding opportunity, situated in a location that already has demonstrable capacity and capability in developing complex human in vitro models. The Hub will initially focus on one or more defined health research areas that will be determined in collaboration with the host site and the funding consortium.
The funding we award to the successful research organisation, will:
* expand the host site’s capacity to develop in vitro models
* increase the range of technologies available
* add resources to allow for method and technology development including AI agents for data interrogation
* increase opportunities for academic and commercial collaboration
The Hub must demonstrate:
* strong existing scientific expertise in developing, working with and quality control of in vitro human models, including, but not limited to organoids, organ-on-a-chip and complex iPSC co-cultures
* a range of existing equipment and capabilities to maintain complex human cell culture
* existing equipment, capabilities and expertise to assess biological validity and disease relevance of human in vitro models including, but not limited to high-end imaging, automation, transcriptomic, genomics and proteomic analysis
* access to clinical samples and linked patient data in one or more research areas
* IT infrastructure and capability to enable external access to high quality data, including consideration of storage, security, transfer and the FAIR principles
* computational skills and resource to allow for analysis and integration of data from models with relevant clinical data
* clear strategies for use or development of state-of-the art AI tools for data interrogation
* capacity to expand lab space and use of equipment to accommodate and host external users, including researchers from industry and academia
* clear plans for how to make the Hub a national resource for academic, industry and clinical partners, including stakeholder engagement and outreach strategies
* plans for governance of the Hub including risk management
* approaches to Intellectual property (IP) and contracts management that will be mutually beneficial for model owners, developers and end users
* clear overview and justification of required additional capacity and resources
* plans for experimental pipelines for model validation
The pre-clinical translational models Hub will deliver part of Action 2a of the Life Sciences Sector Plan in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy. It will also support the Replacing animals in science strategy and the AI for science strategy (see related content). The Hub will report on progress to funders and final governance structures will be developed in collaboration with the funded host site.
The Hub will not conduct animal experiments, however, models developed through the Hub, may be compared with existing data from animal models for validation purposes. The Hub is expected to monitor and report how their work contributes to reducing use of animals in science.
The Hub host site will work in close collaboration with MRC and the Office for Life Sciences to develop a full business case for the Hub delivery, which will involve detailed monitoring and evaluation plans. Funding is conditional on approval of the business case.
Support from your research organisation
There is no requirement for matched funding from the institution hosting the Hub, beyond any 20% FEC contribution. However 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 the Hub. We expect the research organisation to provide:
* laboratory space
* access to facilities and equipment
* access to necessary digital support infrastructure
* support to manage estates
* human resources services
* finance services
* underpinning of key staff positions
Number of applications
An organisation may lead one application.
Duration
The duration of this award is 42 months.
Projects must start by 14 November 2026.
Funding available
The FEC of your project can be up to £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 £20 million.
What we will fund
You can request funding for costs such as:
* directly allocated contributions to salaries of the leadership team 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 within the Hub
* mid-range or large equipment critical to the Hub. Mid-range or large equipment is a single item costing over £138,000 (£115,000 excluding VAT).
* travel costs
* data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs
* technology and data platforms to provide accessible facilities and capability essential to the mission and to promote open science, when not available elsewhere
* public partnerships and related activities, including public engagement and involvement, and
* initiatives to improve environmental sustainability
* estates and indirect costs
* creation and maintenance of a website
What we will not fund
We will not fund:
* studentships
* open access costs: these must be covered by the UK Research and Innovation (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
* 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
Project partner
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 hub through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:
* staff time
* access to equipment
* sites or facilities
* the provision of data
* software or materials
* 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 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 and the .
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 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.
, including where you can find additional support.
How to apply
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.
Intent to apply
If you are intending to apply to this funding opportunity, you should note there is a restriction of one institution level application, per eligible research organisation. We therefore advise you firstly contact your research office to discuss your application, before starting your application. This will ensure only one funding application will be submitted by your research organisation.
After discussing your intention to apply, there is a mandatory requirement that you provide us the following information:
* your details (name and research organisation) and confirm your intent to apply as the project lead
* confirming your application will be the only application submitted by your research organisation
* the details of your core leadership team
* a summary of your application (max 550 words)
Based on this information we may advise you whether your application is suited to this funding opportunity.