Purchase mid-range equipment for biomedical research: MRC Equip (Grant)

Funding opportunity for mid-range capital equipment will enable and enhance research across 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. Demand management Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘Who can apply’ section. Aim To build world class laboratory capability that will enable research to deliver MRC’s mission. Scope The primary purpose of the equipment must be biomedical research within MRC remit .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, you are encouraged to specify 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 UK Research and Innovation (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 all 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, you must approach us for permission before applying. Contact ca@mrc.ukri.org providing a short one-page document outlining how your application constitutes a single platform. Duration The duration of this award is seven months. Projects must start by 1 June 2027 and must end by 31 December 2027. Funding available The FEC of your application can be up to £1 million.MRC will fund 100% of the FEC.Up to £14 million in total will be available for this funding opportunity. 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.A MRC contribution of up to £1 million at 100% of the FEC can be requested. The MRC contribution requested must be over £200,000. The total item cost may be higher than £1 million if the additional cost is met by other contributions.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. If there is a sole supplier or fewer than three quotes, this should be explained as part of the resources and cost justification.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 but the contract cost must be paid by 31 December 2027. Should the expected length of the contract exceed five years in duration, then the cost included in the application should be reduced on a pro rata basis to fit within the conditions as stated.We expect that organisations will make longer term arrangements to ensure appropriate ongoing support over the lifetime of the equipment. Separately negotiated service contracts are not eligible for this funding opportunity. 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 and associated maintenance costs • separately negotiated service contracts • equipment 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 and not the list price • applications that cannot complete procurement and spend by the expected end date of 31

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 Research organisations may only submit two applications to this funding opportunity, unless their research office has been otherwise notified by MRC. We would encourage organisations to discuss and prioritise their submissions as soon as possible. Potential applicants are advised to contact their research office at the earliest opportunity.You are only permitted to be project lead on one application per funding opportunity; however, you can still be involved in an application submitted to the same funding opportunity when you are involved as project co-lead.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 Units, including 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. Resubmissions We will not accept uninvited resubmission of applications that were submitted after 1 August 2026 to MRC, or any other part of UKRI. An uninvited resubmission is an application that was previously unsuccessful and has been submitted again without being invited by MRC. This includes applications that are unchanged, minimally revised, or substantially the same as the original submission. Uninvited resubmissions will be rejected.You should contact us if you are unsure whether your application is a resubmission. Find contacts in the ‘Contact details’ section.Resubmissions from previous rounds of the funding opportunity are eligible but are included in the organisation application limit. Who is not eligible to apply You are not eligible to apply if: • you are based at an international research organisation (exceptions are MRC Units, The Gambia and Uganda Research Unit) • you are intending to be project lead on more than one application • your application is in addition to the two applications allowed by your research organisation (unless otherwise notified by MRC) Contact ca@mrc.ukri.org if you are unsure of eligibility. International researchers As MRC is a lead funder for this funding opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’.Project co-leads (international) must 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 section ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’).Read the UKRI project co-lead (international) policy for more details. Contact ca@mrc.ukri.org if you are uncertain about eligibility.You should include all other international collaborators as project partners.Applications should clearly state where the equipment will be located. 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.

Click here to start an application on the UKRI Funding Service: https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1292/apply/1319 We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system. The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application. Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI. If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation, check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply. To apply Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page. • Confirm you are the project lead. • Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. • Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page. • Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office. • Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing. • Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI. Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant. Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. When including images, you must: • provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit) • insert each new image on a new line • use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include: • sentences or paragraphs of text • tables • excessive quantities of images A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column. For more guidance on the Funding Service, see: • how applicants use the Funding Service • how research offices use the Funding Service • how re