87 UK research funders · 537 schemes · sorted by annual research spend
The umbrella body for the seven research councils, Innovate UK and Research England, and the largest public funder of UK research. Runs cross-cutting schemes in its own right, including Future Leaders Fellowships and the strategic themes, and operates the Funding Finder that lists every council opportunity.
Distributes quality-related (QR) block funding to English higher education providers and supports knowledge exchange through HEIF and the Connecting Capability Fund. Funds institutions rather than individual projects, so it shapes what universities can support internally.
The research arm of the Department of Health and Social Care and the largest funder of applied health and care research in the UK. Funds clinical trials, health services research, public health and social care through programmes such as HTA, EME, PGfAR and RfPB, plus the infrastructure of Biomedical Research Centres and Clinical Research Networks.
Funds engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials and computer science. The portfolio runs from responsive-mode standard grants through fellowships to Centres for Doctoral Training and large programme grants, and it is the main route for university-led engineering research.
The largest charitable research funder in the UK and one of the largest in the world, with an endowment supporting discovery research across health, plus focused programmes in mental health, infectious disease and climate and health. Discovery Awards fund people and ideas rather than tightly-specified projects, and funding is open to researchers based outside the UK.
The UK national innovation agency and the main public funder of business-led R&D. Runs Smart Grants, sector-specific competitions, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and the Eurostars route, with grant intervention rates set by company size and project type.
Funds biomedical research from molecular mechanism through to clinical application, and supports its own institutes and units. Strong in experimental medicine, population health and translational schemes such as the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme.
Funds particle physics, astronomy, nuclear physics and space science, and operates the UK large-scale facilities including Diamond Light Source, the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source and the Rutherford Appleton and Daresbury laboratories. Peer-reviewed facility access is itself a substantial in-kind award.
Funds space science, Earth observation, satellite applications and launch capability, and manages UK participation in ESA programmes. Supports both academic space science and commercial spaceflight and downstream data businesses.
Funds bioscience underpinning agriculture, food, industrial biotechnology and the fundamental biology of plants, animals and microbes. Supports major institutes such as the John Innes Centre and Rothamsted Research alongside responsive-mode grants and industrial partnership awards.
The largest independent funder of cancer research in the world, covering discovery biology, early detection, drug development, clinical trials and population health. Funds through institutes, centres, programme and project awards, and career development fellowships.
Funds environmental science: climate, oceans, polar, atmospheric, geological and ecological research. Supports national capability through centres such as the British Antarctic Survey and the British Geological Survey alongside discovery science grants.
Funds research and innovation in Scottish universities and colleges, including the Research Excellence Grant and the Innovation Centres programme. Institutional rather than project-level for the most part.
Sets the UK aerospace technology strategy and, with Innovate UK and the Department for Business and Trade, funds the ATI Programme — the main route for collaborative aerospace R&D covering zero-carbon flight, aerostructures, propulsion and aircraft systems.
Funds social and economic research — sociology, economics, politics, psychology, education, criminology and data-intensive social science. Also supports the UK longitudinal studies, doctoral training partnerships and social data infrastructure.
A government-backed agency modelled on DARPA, funding high-risk, high-reward research through programme directors who set their own opportunity spaces. Deliberately lighter-touch than conventional peer review, with a tolerance for failure written into its statute.
A biomedical discovery institute in London funded by MRC, CRUK, Wellcome and three universities. Recruits and funds group leaders rather than running open grant competitions, and offers extensive technology platform access to collaborators.
Funds research across history, languages, literature, philosophy, archaeology, design, music and the creative industries. Notably supportive of collaborative work with museums, galleries, heritage bodies and creative businesses.
Funds curiosity-driven research across every discipline, explicitly welcoming work that crosses boundaries or would struggle elsewhere. Research Project Grants, Research Fellowships, Early Career Fellowships and Research Leadership Awards are the main routes, judged on originality rather than strategic fit.
The leading UK funder of cardiovascular research, covering heart disease, stroke, vascular dementia and related conditions. Funds project and programme grants, clinical study grants, fellowships and BHF Centres of Research Excellence.
Finds and funds innovation for UK defence and security on behalf of the MoD and Home Office. Runs themed competitions and an always-open call, with contracts rather than grants, and is a common first route for SMEs into defence.
A self-funded medical research charity that takes promising science towards patients, funding translational projects in rare disease, chronic infection and early diagnostics, and providing drug discovery expertise alongside the money.
The UK’s national academy of sciences. Funds individual researchers rather than institutions, through University Research Fellowships, Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships, Research Grants and international exchange schemes. Fellowships are prestigious and highly competitive.
A Sainsbury family charitable trust funding plant science, neuroscience, science and engineering education and technical skills policy. Works through long-term relationships and sustained programme funding rather than open competitions.
Funds work on climate and nature, social justice and creative, confident communities. Supports research where it serves those aims, and is notably willing to fund core costs and longer-term work for charities.
The national academy for engineering. Funds engineering research fellowships, Chairs in Emerging Technologies, industry-academia partnerships and the Enterprise Hub for engineering entrepreneurs, plus substantial international development engineering programmes.
The national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Best known for its Small Research Grants, Postdoctoral Fellowships and Global Professorships, and a rare source of modest, flexible funding for individual scholars.
An independent charity funding research and improvement work on health and care quality in the UK, including health policy analysis, data analytics and evaluations of service innovation. Practical and policy-facing rather than laboratory science.
Funds infrastructure rather than projects — laboratories, equipment, buildings and facilities for research in science, medicine, the humanities and the arts. The obvious place to look when the need is capital rather than staff time.
The UK’s leading dementia research charity, funding discovery science, drug discovery and clinical research on Alzheimer’s and other dementias, plus a network of research institutes and an early detection programme.
Funds research and practical experiment on social wellbeing, with long-standing strengths in education, justice and welfare. Explicitly interested in work that can change policy and practice, and funds organisations outside universities as well as academics.
The national academy for medical science. Its Springboard scheme is one of the best-known first awards for biomedical researchers starting an independent group, alongside Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers and international exchange funding.
Funds medical research focused on the health of babies and children, including pregnancy, premature birth, rare disease and childhood conditions. A good route for paediatric work that is too niche for the large funders.
Funds collaborative R&D in low-carbon propulsion and automotive powertrain technologies, working with Innovate UK to run competitions for electrification, hydrogen and supply-chain development.
Funds dementia research with a strong emphasis on care, quality of life and the experience of people living with dementia, alongside biomedical work. Involves people affected by dementia directly in funding decisions.
Funds respiratory research covering asthma, COPD, lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis and air quality, including project grants and career development awards for respiratory researchers.
Funds research into leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood cancers, spanning discovery haematology, clinical trials and the long-term effects of treatment.
Funds breast cancer research from tumour biology and secondary breast cancer through to prevention, treatment resistance and quality of life, including dedicated research units.
Funds international research partnerships, cultural collaboration and mobility, including the Going Global Partnerships programme and bilateral research links with specific countries. Awards are usually modest but open doors to international collaboration.
Provides research incentive grants, PhD scholarships and vacation scholarships for staff and students at Scottish universities. Small awards, but unusually accessible and quick to obtain.
Nine technology and innovation centres — including High Value Manufacturing, Digital, Connected Places, Offshore Renewable Energy, Satellite Applications and Cell and Gene Therapy — that co-fund and co-deliver applied R&D with business. Access is often through collaboration and facility use rather than a grant cheque.
The Scottish Government’s health research funder, supporting clinical and applied health research in Scottish universities and NHS boards through project grants, fellowships and catalytic funding.
Funds cystic fibrosis research including modulator therapies, infection, and the needs of people with CF not helped by current treatments, through strategic research centres and innovation awards.
Funds energy innovation through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and successor programmes, covering hydrogen, carbon capture, nuclear, heat decarbonisation and long-duration storage. Typically funds demonstration and deployment rather than early discovery science.
Commissions and funds research on agriculture, animal and plant health, air and water quality, waste and biodiversity, including the Farming Innovation Programme delivered with Innovate UK. Much of its work is commissioned evidence rather than open-competition grants.
The sponsoring department for UK science policy and the source of directed funding for priority technologies — AI, quantum, semiconductors, telecoms and engineering biology. Funds through its own programmes as well as by directing UKRI.
Funds transport research and innovation including connected and automated mobility, zero-emission vehicles and freight, often delivered jointly with Innovate UK and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.
Funds research across type 1 and type 2 diabetes — prevention, treatment, complications and the search for a cure — through project grants, fellowships and strategic programmes.
The UK’s dedicated epilepsy research funder, supporting work on mechanisms, treatment resistance, SUDEP and the wider impact of epilepsy, often through pilot and fellowship awards.
Funds frontier research on excellence alone, through Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy Grants. Single-investigator awards of a size and flexibility that few UK schemes match; UK-hosted researchers are eligible under association arrangements.
Funds space technology development, Earth observation and science missions through programmes UK organisations can bid into where the UK has subscribed. UK participation is coordinated by the UK Space Agency.
Funds international collaborative R&D led by innovative SMEs, with UK participants funded through Innovate UK. Requires at least two partners from two participating countries and a clear route to market.
Funds international development research addressing global poverty, health, climate resilience and governance in low- and middle-income countries. Usually requires partnership with institutions in the countries concerned.
Funds paediatric research, much of it linked to Great Ormond Street Hospital and the UCL Institute of Child Health, covering rare disease, gene therapy and childhood cancers.
An independent health foundation funding research and action on the causes of urban health problems, including obesity, air quality and health inequalities, with a particular focus on London.
The Welsh Government’s health and social care research body, funding research grants, fellowships and the infrastructure that supports NHS Wales research delivery.
The EU’s flagship research and innovation programme, which UK entities can participate in as an associated country. Pillar 2 collaborative calls require multinational consortia; Pillar 1 covers the ERC and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
Part of the Public Health Agency, funding health and social care research in Northern Ireland through research awards, fellowships and support for the region’s clinical research infrastructure.
The professional body for physics, offering research and innovation awards, public engagement grants and support for physics-based business through its accelerator activities. Modest sums, broad eligibility.
Northern Ireland’s economic development agency, offering grant support for business R&D, innovation vouchers, and collaborative projects with universities. A practical route for NI-based SMEs to fund applied development work.
Funds and conducts research on poverty, housing and economic justice in the UK, with a clear orientation towards influencing policy. Commissions work as often as it runs open calls.
The leading UK charity funding kidney research, covering chronic kidney disease, transplantation, dialysis and health inequalities in renal care, through project grants, fellowships and innovation awards.
The EU’s researcher mobility and training programme, funding postdoctoral fellowships, doctoral networks and staff exchanges. A common route for bringing an international researcher into a UK group, or sending one out.
The charitable arm associated with the MRC, deliberately funding neglected areas of health research and early-career researchers, including antimicrobial resistance, pain, eating disorders and hepatitis C.
Funds MND and ALS research, from disease mechanism and genetics through to care, symptom management and clinical trials, including project grants and PhD studentships.
Funds multiple sclerosis research covering myelin repair, progression, symptom management and care, and co-funds the Octopus adaptive trial platform for progressive MS.
An innovation foundation running missions in early childhood, health and sustainability, funding and running research, challenge prizes and experimental programmes. Often works as a delivery partner as much as a grant-maker.
Supports UK manufacturers entering the nuclear supply chain, funding and delivering applied manufacturing research on fission, SMRs and decommissioning technologies with industrial partners.
Funds research into the causes, treatment and cure of Parkinson’s, from basic neuroscience through to clinical trials and care research, and runs a Virtual Biotech arm to push promising treatments towards the clinic.
Funds work in arts, education and young people, and migration, including research and evaluation that strengthens practice in those fields. Offers both open grants and an ideas-and-pioneers route for early-stage thinking.
Funds research into prostate cancer diagnosis, treatment and inequalities in outcomes, including a strong interest in better diagnostic pathways and in risk among Black men.
Funds early-stage and pilot medical research across many conditions, with a reputation for backing ideas before they are mature enough for the large funders. Awards are modest but the application process is relatively light.
The professional body for aerospace, offering the Centennial Scholarship Fund and other modest awards supporting aerospace research, study and professional development. Small sums, but well-targeted for aerospace-specific work.
Funds surgical research through research fellowships, pump-priming grants and surgical specialty awards, supporting surgeons in training who want to build a research career.
An endowed body funding a small number of highly prestigious awards each year: Research Fellowships in science and engineering, Industrial Fellowships for company-based researchers taking a doctorate, and Design Fellowships.
The professional body for chemistry, funding research enablement grants, mobility grants and outreach funding. Awards are small and designed to unblock specific needs rather than fund whole projects.
Scotland’s national academy, funding research fellowships, personal research support, networking and enterprise awards across all disciplines for researchers based in Scotland.
Scotland’s national economic development agency, funding business R&D projects, innovation support and company-university collaboration for firms based in or relocating to Scotland.
Best known for the Sir Jules Thorn Award for Biomedical Research, a single large annual award supporting a clinically-focused research programme, alongside smaller biomedical research grants.
Funds stroke research across prevention, acute treatment, rehabilitation and life after stroke, with a notable emphasis on recovery and rehabilitation research that other funders underweight.
The UK national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. Funds and hosts research through fellowships, project calls and partnerships with universities, government and industry rather than operating as a conventional open grant-maker.
Funds research on ageing and the health of older people, including frailty, multimorbidity and the design of care, plus capital and capacity-building awards. A rare dedicated funder of ageing research.
The UK’s independent institute for electrochemical energy storage research, funding large multi-university battery research projects, entrepreneurial fellowships and PhD training.
Delivers the UK fusion programme, including STEP and the JET legacy facilities, and funds collaborative fusion research and supply-chain development through programmes such as Fusion Industry and LIBRTI.
The main UK charitable funder of musculoskeletal research, covering arthritis, chronic pain and related conditions through project grants, fellowships and research centres.
A genomics research institute funded principally by Wellcome, running large-scale sequencing programmes in human genetics, cancer, cellular genetics and pathogen surveillance. Collaborates and hosts researchers rather than awarding external grants.
Supports research capacity in Wales through the Sêr Cymru programme, which recruits and retains research talent, alongside SMART innovation support for Welsh businesses undertaking R&D.