The Medical Research Council (MRC) mid-range equipment call has now been published.

There is an MRC expression of interest stage with a deadline of the 28 April. The University will also be running an internal selection process for this call.

You can request between £100,000 and £800,000 for equipment. MRC will fund up to 100% of the full economic cost.

Applications must consist of a single piece of capital equipment, although this can include equipment that requires assembly or involves several components (not necessarily physically linked) provided they constitute a single technology platform. Relevance to the priority areas in MRC’s delivery plan is particularly encouraged.

MRC Expression of Interest

It is mandatory to complete the MRC expression of interest stage before submission of a full application. At present applications from all scientific areas within MRC remit are eligible at the expression of interest stage, but the MRC reserve the right to focus the remit of the full funding opportunity to manage demand.

There is no limit to the number of expressions of interest a research organisation can submit. However, as demand is expected to be very high, the MRC may need to limit the number of applications that can progress to the full application stage. This may include:

  • reducing the scope of the opportunity, such as by limiting to certain technologies
  • imposing a limit on the number of applications per research organisation

For this reason, the MRC are encouraging organisations to discuss and prioritise their submissions as soon as possible.

University of Bath Selection Process

The University will be running a selection process for this call. An internal application will need to be completed by anyone planning to submit a full application to the MRC. A Bath panel will select the final applications to be submitted to the MRC. Please note, the final selection will not be made until the details of the full call have been announced.

As we are not limited on the number of EoIs submitted please do complete the MRC EoI stage by the deadline of the 28 April. All applicants must let Dr Laura Wisby (RIS) know that they are submitting an EoI to the MRC so that they can take part in the internal selection process. Only applications that have not gone through the Bath internal process and have been selected by the panel will be able to submit a full application to the MRC.

Further information on the call and how to submit an EoI to the MRC

Apply

A University of Bath Panel will select the final applications to be submitted to the MRC. It is also mandatory to submit an EoI to the MRC. Please note, the MRC reserves the right to reduce the scope of the call after the EoI stage. Therefore, the Bath applications will be reviewed by the panel after the internal deadline of the 3 May but the final selection will not be made until the details of the full MRC call have been announced.

Timescales

  • 28 April: Potential applicants submit MRC EoI and inform Dr Laura Wisby of intention to submit
  • 3 May: Potential applicants complete written Bath application form and submit to Dr Laura Wisby
  • 4 May: Applications sent to panel members for review and scores
  • May: MRC announce full call and further details of demand management and/or focus of the call
  • 25 May: Panel meeting to discuss applications and ranking and select those be submitted to MRC (feedback provided to all potential applications)
  • TBC: As soon as possible after the MRC announcement: Peer review support (Organised by RIS) for selected applications
  • TBC: As soon as possible after the MRC announcement and Bath selection
  • TBC: Bath selected full applications submitted to MRC