Developmental pathway funding scheme: invited stage two

Opportunity status: Upcoming Funders: Funding type: Grant Total fund: £11,000,000 Publication date: 26 November 2025 Opening date: 10 December 2025 9:00am UK time Closing date: 4 March 2026 4:00pm UK time Apply for funding to develop and test novel therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and other interventions. You must be invited to apply for stage two of this funding opportunity. Your project can start and finish at any stage on the developmental pathway from early development, through pre-clinical refinement and testing to early-phase clinical studies and trials (up to phase 2a). There is no limit on the amount of funding you can apply for, but it should be appropriate to the project. We usually fund 80% of a project’s full economic cost. This is an ongoing funding opportunity. Application rounds close every March, July and November. You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so following a successful stage one application. This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. . Who is eligible to apply To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must: show that you will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work be part of a team that submitted a Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) stage one application and, after successful assessment, have been invited to submit a stage two application for this funding opportunity. Additional team applicants can be included that were not in the stage one application or, be part of a team that have been invited to submit a DPFS stage two application as part of a panel-approved resubmission If you do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting an application the research organisation is confirming, if it is successful: contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project all necessary support for you and the project will be provided, including mentorship and career development for early career researchers International researchers As Medical Research Council (MRC) is a lead funder for this funding opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’. Project co-leads (international) make a major intellectual contribution to the design or conduct of the project. Their contribution and added value to the research should be clearly explained and justified in the application, see Applicant and team capability to deliver. Read the for more details. Contact us if you are uncertain about eligibility. You should include all other international collaborators as project partners. Equality, diversity and inclusion We are 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 during the application and assessment process. Scope You can apply for academically-led translational projects that aim to, either: improve prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of significant health needs develop research tools that increase the efficiency of developing interventions All human diseases and medical interventions are eligible for support, both in the context of UK healthcare and addressing global health issues. Your project can start and finish at any stage on the developmental pathway from early development, through pre-clinical refinement and testing to early-phase clinical studies and trials (up to phase 2a). You can submit follow-on proposals where you can justify the need for continued support. Activities we support You can apply for funding for work on novel: candidate therapeutic entities (for example, drug discovery) vaccines for infectious or non-infectious disease biologics (antibodies, peptides, proteins) advanced therapeutics (for example, gene therapy and cell therapy) regenerative medicine approaches repurposing clinical studies or using existing therapies for new indications medical devices digital healthcare and app development diagnostics (including biomarker validation and development of clinical decision-making tools) medical imaging technology surgical techniques or tools behavioural and psychological interventions radiotherapy and radiation protocols interventions that benefit health in low and middle-income countries Activities we do not support This funding opportunity will not support: fundamental or investigative research not linked to a development plan (supported by the MRC science areas) studies where the main aim is to investigate disease mechanism (supported by the ) technology development not aligned to a medical or clinical developmental plan, likely Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) or Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) remit late-phase clinical trials (supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) efficacy and mechanism evaluation, health technology assessment, and global health research programmes) development of technologies or interventions that aim to improve health service delivery rather than meeting a specific clinical need development of population-level and societal solutions to healthcare challenges Learn about: Duration There is no limit to the duration of your project. You should justify the timescale of the project in the context of the proposed work. Award start date Projects should start one to six months after the funding decision date. Applications following on from active awards should take into account the current status of those projects when submitting a stage two application. Milestones Milestones allow us to mitigate risk and support potentially high-risk projects. Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) awards will typically have two to four milestones (including the project endpoint) with specific success criteria that reflect major progress points and allow decision-making on project progression. Your milestones should include realistic timelines for key steps, such as study team recruitment, achieving ethics approvals, technical development, regulatory evaluations, participant recruitment, study completion and data analysis. Milestone success criteria should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely), and enable a ‘go or no-go’ decision. Milestones should be consecutive, not concurrent. It is advisable to structure the project so that the critical questions are addressed as early as possible in the plan. Funding available There is no limit to the amount of funding you can apply for. You should justify the resources needed in the context of the proposed work. We will fund 80% of the full economic cost and 100% of permitted exceptions. Find out . What we will fund You can request funding for costs such as: a contribution to the salary of the project lead and co-leads support for other posts such as research and technical staff research consumables equipment travel costs data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs estates and indirect costs public partnerships and related activities, including You can also request costs for work to be undertaken at international organisations by international project co-leads. We will fund 100% of eligible costs. The total of such costs requested for international applicants from high-income countries (HIC) (those not on the ), India and China must not exceed 30% of the total resources requested. There is no cap on costs requested for international applicants from DAC list countries. See more information on and the . What we will not fund We will not fund: costs for PhD studentships publication costs funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants costs associated with applying for IP protection, for example, patent filing Collaborations We encourage working with charities or industry partners where these partnerships can add value to the project. Collaborators may add value by giving access to: expertise technologies reagents funding Please note that collaboration is not a prerequisite for application. You should make a clear case for the DPFS award being academic-led and requiring MRC funding to support the work proposed. Be clear about any conflicts of interest and how they will be managed through the conflict of interest policies at the project lead’s research organisation. 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 team project partners that will support your research project 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 Each project partner must provide a statement of support. If your application involves , they must provide additional information if the team project partner falls within the .