Research funding opportunities

We support and promote paediatric child health research in the UK and internationally. Search our database of current and upcoming opportunities for projects and posts.

These opportunities are not managed nor endorsed by RCPCH. Though we do our best to ensure they are relevant and high quality, we cannot take any responsibility for their content or accuracy.

If you have questions or would like to submit a joint funding application with the College, contact us on research@rcpch.ac.uk.

Or

European Research Council (ERC) - Advanced Grants

Allows exceptional established research leaders to pursue groundbreaking, high risk projects that open new directions in their respective research fields or other domains.
Award programme/theme
Innovation award
Funding amount range
Over £500,000
Maximum duration
3-5 years

European Research Council (ERC) - Consolidator Grants

Supports researchers at the stage at which they are consolidating their own independent research team or programme.
Award programme/theme
Programme grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000
Maximum duration
5 years

European Research Council (ERC) - Starting Grants

Aims to support up and coming research leaders who are about to establish a proper research team and to start conducting independent research in Europe. It will support the creation of excellent new research teams.
Award programme/theme
Starter grant / pilot grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000
Maximum duration
5 years

Health Quality Improvement Partnerships (HQIP) - National Clinical Audit Programme

Supports audit programmes to improve quality of service and outcomes.
Award programme/theme
Programme grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000

Medical Research Council (MRC) - Initiatives

Through strategic grant funding, the MRC supports a number of ongoing research initiatives.
Award programme/theme
Programme grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000

Medical Research Council (MRC) - New Investigator Research Grant

Provides support for clinical and non-clinical researchers while they are establishing themselves as independent principal investigators. Applicants must hold a PhD, Dphil or an MD with three to 10 years' postdoctoral research experience.
Award programme/theme
Early career investigator award
Funding amount range
Over £500,000
Maximum duration
3-5 years
Submission deadline

Medical Research Council (MRC) - Partnership Grants

Provides core funds for one to five years to support new partnerships between diverse groupings of researchers and can be used for infrastracture support, platform activities and for bringing together managed consortia or multidisciplinary collaborations.
Award programme/theme
Partnership grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000
Maximum duration
5 years
Submission deadline

Medical Research Council (MRC) - Programme Grants

Provides grants for larger, longer term and renewable programmes. A programme is defined as a coordinated and coherent group of related projects, which may be developed to address an inter-related set of questions across a broad scientific area. Applicant must contact the Programme Manager of the relevant MRC Research Board to confirm whether the application fits the scheme at least six weeks before the submission deadline.
Award programme/theme
Programme grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000
Maximum duration
3-5 years

Medical Research Council (MRC) - Research Grant

Funding for focussed research projects that may be short or long term in nature.
Award programme/theme
Project grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000
Maximum duration
3-5 years

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) - Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME)

Primarily supports clinical trials, and other robustly designed studies that test the efficacy of interventions. The interventions should have the potential to improve patient care or benefit the public. The programme will only support studies where there is sufficient evidence that the intervention might work in man, i.e. that there is ‘proof of concept’.
Award programme/theme
Project grant
Funding amount range
Over £500,000