Funding and finance

This page will help you with latest funding calls and information about the NIHR Cambridge BRC’s Finance team.

Applications are now open for Cambridge Clinical Research Fellowships which we co-fund together with Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and the Evelyn Trust.

Provides fellowships at the entry point of the clinical academic research training pathway and enables fellows to gain research experience and generate pilot data to enhance applications to external funders including the NIHR, leading to further research and PhD qualification.
Grants cover a year of salary and consumables.
Open to doctors, nurses, midwives and allied healthcare professionals (NMAHPs) and healthcare scientists.
For more details including eligibility, deadlines & application form visit: https://bit.ly/3T3f8iu.

R&D Finance team

The team is based in Barton House on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and works closely with the rest of the Research and Development department. With eight team members they will be able to help researchers with patient expenses and purchase orders.

Contact the team:

General enquiries and grants: cuh.rdfinance@nhs.net

The information below will help you find the latest information funding calls and links to partner websites.

NIHR

The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) vision is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Visit the NIHR website to find out more about funding opportunities, including funding for research studies and training/career development. The NIHR also offers extensive career development opportunities for health care professionals including, nurses, midwives, allied healthcare professionals and doctors.

Charities

Various charities and groups offer professional training fellowships, including:

The Alzheimer’s Society
Versus Arthritis (formerly Arthritis Research UK, which merged with Arthritis Care)
The Wellcome Trust Research awards for Health Professionals

Drop-in sessions: Commercialising your healthcare idea

Do you have a novel idea that could improve patient healthcare but not sure what to do next?

NIHR Cambridge BRC Technology Transfer Team from Cambridge Enterprise and Health Enterprise East are running free monthly one-to-one sessions to all Cambridge University Hospitals and University of Cambridge staff, to provide guidance on how to commercialise your idea.

Whatever your role at the hospital or university, no matter what stage you’re at, the team will be able to advise on how to proceed to protect and commercialise your concept.

You don’t have to work in research or have a clinical role to attend, as long as you have a new healthcare idea and are interested in seeing it developed.

The online meetings will take place between 11:00 and 13:00 on the first Wednesday of every month. Email: NHSBRC@enterprise.cam.ac.uk for more information or to book a meeting. If you are unable to make this time, contact the team and they will try and accommodate a suitable time around you. Find out more details.

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT)

ACT is the independent registered charity for Cambridge University Hospitals, including Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Rosie Hospital.

Charitable donations have bought extra high-tech equipment, paid for additional specialist staff and contributed to environmental enhancements to help make a difference for patients. ACT also funds research to improve the understanding of conditions and find possible cures for patients in Cambridge and around the world.

Applications for funding are considered by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Research Advisory Committee (RAC). The RAC meets quarterly and takes six applications per meeting, applications are processed in the order they are received and submitted to the next meeting which has available capacity.

Cambridge Clinical Research Fellowships

The Cambridge Clinic Research Fellowships scheme with Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, the Evelyn Trust and the NIHR Cambridge BRC, provides an entry point into a career in clinical academia. It provides salary support and a consumable allowance for up to one year, during which time it is anticipated that successful candidates will apply for fellowships, with a view to completing a PhD.

For any queries, please contact Ines Smith, Grant Manager.

Cancer Research UK

A number of grants are available from Cancer Research UK. These cover a wide range of activity, from basic research to late phase clinical trials.

Cancer Research UK also offers awards to students, post-doctoral researchers and early-stage researchers, including travel awards, fellowships and burseries. Find out more information about CRUK funding.

Clinical Academic Careers East

Apply for HEE funded Pre-Masters Internship & Pre-Doctoral Bridging Programme for EOE in 2023 will open in March 2023. Find out more

Dunhill Medical Trust

The Dunhill Medical Trust offer Research Training Fellowships, intended to provide training opportunities for academics, clinicians and allied health professionals who wish to pursue a research career in ageing, rehabilitation or palliative care.

They advertise four fellowships annually, usually in the autumn.

Peter Hartley, Physiotherapy Team Lead in the Department of Medicine for the Elderly at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, received a Dunhill Medical Trust Research Training Fellowship award at PhD level.

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme

The Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme is a source of funding for clinical trials delivered through industry-academia-NHS collaborations that support the development and adoption of new treatments and devices. Within these studies, EME supports research in the mechanisms of diseases and treatments. EME is a partnership between the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the NIHR. More information about EME can be found on the NIHR website.

Funding opportunities from MRC

The latest calls for proposals can be found on the MRC website.

EU Funding

The 7th Framework Programme (FP7) was the European Union’s Research and Innovation funding programme for 2007-2013. The current programme is Horizon 2020 but there are many projects funded under FP7 which are still running. The European Research Council’s mission is to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence.

The ERC complements other funding activities in Europe such as those of the national research funding agencies, and is a flagship component of Horizon 2020.

Find out more about the European Research Council and to view current news and opportunities
For more information on Horizon 2020

Health Education England (HEE)/ NIHR Integrated clinical academic programme for non-medical health professionals

The HEE and NIHR’s Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) Training Programme provides personal research training awards for healthcare professionals (excluding doctors and dentists) who wish to develop careers that combine clinical research and research leadership with continued clinical practice and clinical development.

Five levels of award are available, each requiring the support of clinical and academic host organisations, which together form a career pathway for aspiring and developing non-medical clinical academics:

Internships
Pre-doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship
Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship
Clinical Lectureship
Senior Clinical Lectureship

UK government

Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. For more information and to view current open competitions the UK Innovation website.