UKRI Translation: MRC Impact Acceleration Awards is a Medical Research Council (MRC) translational funding opportunity supporting the development of new or repurposed medicines, medical devices, diagnostics and other medical interventions. It was formerly known as the Gap Fund: single-step support for medical product development.

The scheme funds a single, high-risk development step that bridges the gap between an initial concept and larger-scale translational funding, such as the MRC Proof of Concept scheme. Projects must already have explored the concept and generated some supporting data; the award is intended to generate critical additional data that de-risks onward development or provides evidence that development should stop.

The call covers all human diseases and medical interventions, including UK healthcare and global health applications, and supports priorities including precision prevention, early diagnosis, advanced treatments, outcome monitoring and improved disease management.

Funding Amount

• Project FEC: £50,000–£300,000;
• MRC funding rate: 80% FEC;
• Standard MRC contribution: Up to £240,000 at 80% FEC;
• Permitted exceptions: Funded at 100%;
• Project duration: 6–18 months;
• Institutional matched funding: No requirement beyond the standard 20% FEC;
• International co-lead costs: Eligible costs funded at 100%, subject to applicable limits.

Submission Deadlines

• Opening: 16 July 2026 at 09:00 UK time;
• Application deadline: 11 November 2026 at 16:00 UK time;
• Project start: 1–6 months after the funding decision.

Submission Conditions

Applications must:

• Be submitted through the UKRI Funding Service;
• Have an FEC of £50,000–£300,000;
• Last 6–18 months;
• Be academically led by an eligible MRC research organisation;
• Address one single high-risk development step;
• Build on an already explored concept with supporting data;
• Explain the critical development gap and how the project will address it;
• Define clear success criteria and onward development plans;
• Demonstrate relevance to medical product/intervention development.

A project lead can submit only one application to this opportunity. Uninvited resubmissions of substantially similar applications submitted after 1 April 2026 to MRC, UKRI or another funder are not accepted.

Eligible Types Of Applicants

Project lead:

• Must be based at a research organisation eligible for MRC funding;
• Must direct the project and be actively involved in the work.

Eligible participants can include:

• UK academic/research organisations;
• Eligible Independent Research Organisations (IROs);
• Eligible international researchers as project co-leads (international);
• Research and technical staff;
• Specialists and other eligible core-team roles.

Eligible Countries

• Lead applicant: Primarily United Kingdom;
• Lead must be based at an organisation eligible for MRC funding;
• Eligible international project co-leads: Permitted;
• International project partners: Permitted, including EU organisations;
• International co-lead eligible costs may be funded at 100%.

For international co-leads from high-income countries, India and China, requested international costs must not exceed 30% of total resources requested. This cap does not apply to international applicants from countries on the OECD DAC list.

The MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM and MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit are exceptions to the general restriction on international organisations leading applications.