Pre-announcement: Purchase mid-range equipment for biomedical research: MRC Equip

- Funders: Medical Research Council (MRC) - Funding type: Grant - Opening date: 2026-08-13 - Closing date: 2026-11-05

Funding opportunity for mid-range capital equipment will enable and enhance research across Medical Research Council’s (MRC’s) scientific areas.

You must be employed at a UK research organisation eligible for MRC funding.

All applications must have a duration of seven months with a start date of 1 June 2027.

A limit of two applications per research organisation is in place for this funding opportunity, unless otherwise notified by MRC.

You can request a contribution of between £200,000 to £1 million. MRC will fund up to 100% of the full economic cost (FEC). The total cost may be higher, with the remainder met by other contributions.

This is a pre-announcement and the information may change.

The funding opportunity is due to open on 13 August 2026. More information will be available on this page then.

Who can apply

This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

Who is eligible to apply

To be eligible to apply for this UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding opportunity you must be a researcher or research technical professional employed by an eligible research organisation.

Demand management

You are only permitted to be project lead on one application per round, however, you can still be involved in an application submitted to the same round by a different eligible research organisation when you are involved as project co-lead. You should also note that as such, applications will be in direct competition, therefore this is not recommended unless the applications are in very different scientific areas.

We will be moving to a new re-submissions policy aligned to UKRI guidance. Further information will be provided on this in due course.

Building on the Technician Commitment UKRI Action Plan, we particularly encourage applications from research technical professionals as either project lead or project co-lead.

Applicants based within MRC institutes and units, including the MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) or MRC/UVRI (Uganda Virus Research Institute) and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit are eligible to apply as project lead.

A limit of two applications per research organisation is in place for this funding opportunity, unless otherwise notified by MRC.

Who is not eligible to apply

You are not eligible to apply if:

- you are based at an international research organisation (exceptions MRC Units ‘The Gambia’ and Uganda’)

- you are looking to be project lead on more than one application (unless prior agreement has been received from MRC)

- your application is in addition to the two applications allowed by your research organisation (unless otherwise notified by MRC)

Please email ca@mrc.ukri.org if you are unsure of staff eligibility.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity 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

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

What we're looking for

Demand management

Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘who can apply’ section.

Scope

The primary purpose of the equipment must be biomedical research.

Applications from all scientific areas within MRC remit are eligible. Relevance to MRC priority areas is particularly encouraged.

Applications may be for new capability or replacement equipment for existing capability. In the case of the latter, applications are encouraged to outline any additional new capacity or capability provided by the replacement.

Applications for second-hand or beta-testing equipment are also permitted, if you can demonstrate how you are addressing any associated risks with increased chance of equipment failure.

Requests for contributions to the following are outside the scope of this UKRI funding opportunity:

- very large facilities

- the purchase of equipment that constitutes normal elements of a well-founded laboratory (including centrifuges, fridges and other sample storage, and incubators)

- buildings and other types of infrastructures

- establishment of generic departmental computing platforms (for example, high performance computing clusters) for data analysis or data storage

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.

If you plan to request several components that could constitute a platform, it is important that you approach MRC for permission before submission ca@mrc.ukri.org providing a short one page document outlining how your proposal constitutes a single platform.

Duration

We expect awards to be up to seven months in duration, with an end date of 31 December 2027.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £1 million.

MRC will fund 100% of the FEC.

What we will fund

Applications may seek the cost of capital equipment over £200,000, including VAT, if payable, requested under the ‘Exceptions – equipment’ heading only.

You must obtain quotes for the equipment, from multiple suppliers where possible, and use these as the basis for your costings. The panel will generally expect that you should not use list prices where discounts are typically available. By obtaining quotes you will be able to ensure that your costings are accurate, realistic and present good value for money for the requested equipment.

Costs such as initial installation or service maintenance contracts can be included if they are one-off costs and part of the manufacturer’s offer. These costs should be included in the equipment quotation. Service maintenance contracts up to five years in duration may be included.

What we will not fund

We will reject applications in certain areas without consultation, these are:

- applications that request any other costs apart from capital equipment funding

- equipment requested valued below the £200,000 (VAT included) threshold. Equipment should exceed this threshold and equipment prices should be based on standard higher education institution discounted prices not the list price

- proposals that cannot complete by the expected end date of 31 December 2027

- requests for funding for equipment that is scheduled for market release after the opportunity closing date

- principal beneficiaries outside the UK (except for eligible MRC units in Africa)

- principal beneficiaries outside biomedical research

- establishment of generic computing platforms (for example, high performance computing clusters) when the intended use extends largely beyond a small number of specific projects or research areas that are within the MRC remit

- requests for contributions to very large facilities or to the purchase of equipment that constitutes normal elements of a well-founded laboratory (for example, centrifuges, fridges and incubators), or for buildings and other types of infrastructures

- applications for the development of new technology, these are outside of the scope of this funding opportunity, although the use of new or emerging technologies is encouraged

- applications to develop software packages

- applications of the same nature that at the same time have also been submitted to other award schemes, including research council funding opportunities

- unsolicited resubmissions of applications that have previously been considered by MRC or any other funder

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. We will publish full details on how to apply when the funding opportunity opens.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

Further details on assessment process will be provided when the funding opportunity opens.