UK Research Funding Directory
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National Institute for Health and Care Research

NIHR

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.

Funding opportunities ↗Main site ↗
Kind of funder
Government body
Where it funds
England, UK-wide
Indicative award size
£50k – £5m
Approx. annual research spend
£1.3bn
Who can apply
Universities, NHS & healthcare providers, Research institutes, Charities & NGOs, Public sector
Career stages
PhD / doctoral, Postdoctoral, Early career, Established researcher

Research for Patient Benefit caps around £500k; programme grants run to several million.

Research areas

Health & medicineMental healthSocial sciencesCancerNeuroscience

Named schemes (4)

  • Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme ↗

    Funds clinical trials testing efficacy and the mechanisms behind it, for interventions with early evidence of promise. Jointly supported with MRC.

    Rolling / recurringCheck funder site for current round£300k – £3m per awardchecked 2026-05-01

  • Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme ↗

    Funds trials and evidence synthesis on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of treatments and tests for the NHS. Runs both commissioned topics and researcher-led calls.

    Rolling / recurringCheck funder site for current round£200k – £3m per awardchecked 2026-05-01

  • NIHR Academy fellowships (doctoral to advanced) ↗

    A career ladder for health and care researchers, from doctoral fellowships through to advanced fellowships, open to clinical and non-clinical applicants including nurses and allied health professionals.

    Rolling / recurringCheck funder site for current round£100k – £1.2m per awardchecked 2026-05-01

  • Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) ↗

    Regionally-managed funding for applied health and care research addressing day-to-day service problems. A common first major award for NHS-based researchers.

    Rolling / recurringCheck funder site for current round£50k – £500k per awardchecked 2026-05-01