Available funding calls

This list highlights regular opportunities available from some of the main leading funding bodies, updated quarterly. This list is not exhaustive. Although all listed opportunities are repeated annually or biannually, the timelines and application stages vary between different funding schemes so please check this carefully.

Please check each opportunity if you’d like to know when the next round of applications will open.

Internships and predoctoral opportunities

• NIHR – Pre-Application Support Fund (applications for 2026 closed)
• NIHR – Predoctoral Award (applications for 2026 closed)
• Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK) – Research Training Bursaries (applications for 2026 closed)

Doctoral opportunities

• NIHR – PhD Programme for Primary Care Clinicians (applications for 2026 closed)
• NIHR – Doctoral Award (applications for 2026 closed)
• Breast Cancer Now – PhD studentships (applications for 2026 closed)
• Pharmacy Research UK (PRUK) – PhD Studentship Scheme (applications for 2026 closed)
• Wellcome Trust – PhD Fellowships for Health Professionals

Postdoctoral opportunities

• British Oncology Pharmacy Association-PRUK – Research Award (applications for 2026 closed)
• NIHR – Clinical Future Leaders Fellowship (applications for 2026 closed)
• NIHR – Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award (applications for 2026 closed)
• NIHR School for Primary Care Research – Post-Doctoral Fellowships (applications for 2026 closed)
• NIHR – Population Health Career Scientist Awards (applications for 2026 closed)
• NIHR – Academic Clinical Fellowships 
• NIHR – Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (opportunity closed)
• NIHR – Global Health Research Development Awards (currently paused)
• NIHR – Programme Development Grants
• NIHR – Global Health Research – Health Policy and Systems (closed, replaced by Global Health Research Themed Programme in April 2026)
• Medical Research Council (MRC)-funded fellowships (funding opportunities for both non-clinical and clinically active researchers)
• Royal Society – Industry Fellowships 
• Royal Society – Research Professorships (applications for 2026 closed)
• University College London – Maplethorpe Fellowships (applications for 2026 closed)
• Wellcome Trust – Early-Career Awards
• Wellcome Trust – Discovery Awards 
• Wellcome Trust – Career Development Awards 
• Wellcome Trust – Accelerator Awards 

The Health Education England-NIHR Integrated Clinical and Practitioner Academic Programme offers schemes which supports individuals at all stages of their career.

Programme and large-project funding

Examples of programme or large-project funding opportunities are listed below. Doctoral and postdoctoral opportunities may be available through institutions awarded. 

MRC and Innovate UK include a range of large-programme grant-funding opportunities.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. Its diverse portfolio includes the use of digital technologies in health. For example, the recently funded EPSRC Digital Health Hub for Antimicrobial Resistance.

NIHR funds a range of research programmes, for example Research for Patient Benefit, the Health Technology Assessment Programme, and the Public Health Research Programme. These are available here.

Funders of healthcare research (people and project funding) 

• PRUK: PRUK is the largest pharmacy research funder in the UK, dedicated to supporting UK-registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from all sectors of practice. Personal awards, fellowships and bursaries are available for the development of projects relating to the practice of pharmacy. PRUK works to build research capacity and capability in pharmacy, so it is keen to fund good-quality research undertaken by early career researchers.
• International Pharmaceutical Federation Foundation: the FIP Foundation supports and fosters research activities through grants, research incubation, and the development of collaborative research partnerships among and between the foundation and other FIP units as well as other external organisations.
• MRC: the largest funder of research in 2022; provides investment and support for researchers, project and fellowship funding opportunities. These opportunities are available three times a year.
• The Wellcome Trust: Wellcome improves health for everyone by funding research, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building global partnerships. Its funding is available on an annual basis.
• NIHR Biomedical Research Centres: are collaborations between NHS organisations and universities. They bring together academics and clinicians to translate scientific discoveries into potential new treatments, diagnostics and technologies.
• NIHR: the NIHR is the lead funding body in the NHS supporting innovation in health, public health and social care. It funds a variety of commissioned, researcher-led and themed-call research, as well as personal awards such as fellowships. 
  • For programme funding specifically. 
  • For career development funding specifically.
• The NIHR also has an extensive Research Support Service that provides free and confidential advice to develop funding applications within the remit of the NIHR, including clinical, applied health and social care research, and post-award advice to award holders. Access to support, advice and expertise is available for all researchers across England applying to NIHR research programmes or research training awards as well as to non-NIHR funders such as charities.

The NIHR and Wellcome also offer opportunities to health practitioners who are based outside the UK through their respective global health programmes.

Funding bodies

These organisations also provide funding not specific to healthcare research.

• Innovate UK: provides grants towards business-led innovation in all sectors and technologies.
• Royal Society: offers fellowships and grants across various disciplines and career stages to scientists pursuing discovery-led and applied research.
• EPSRC – EPSRC funds a variety of research projects with aims to benefit the economy, environment and society, some of these being healthcare and pharmacy focussed.

Industry funders of clinical projects

• Pfizer: Pfizer supports independent initiatives to improve patient outcomes in areas of unmet medical need.
• Gilead UK & Ireland Fellowship and Medical Grants Programme: the programme supports local innovation and best practices in caring for people living with HIV, cancer, invasive fungal diseases and viral hepatitis. 

Charity funders

The Association of Medical Research Charities directory contains leading medical and health research charities in the UK and is a useful resource for finding suitable charity funding, found here.

The following charities provide funding within a specific area of research.

• Cancer Research UK: funds research aimed at discovering and developing clinical applications and prevention of cancer.
• British Heart Foundation: provides grants for projects, fellowships and partnership funding on focused areas of cardiovascular science.
• Diabetes UK: funds research into the causes, prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications.
• Antibiotic Research UK: this charity provides grants to resolve gaps in research funding for antibiotic use and resistance.
• Alzheimer’s Society: funds research in the pursuit of breakthroughs in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. 

These charities provide funding across multiple areas of research.

• NHS charities: there are more than 200 NHS charities across the UK supporting hospitals, ambulance trusts, mental health trusts, and community services. Together, they provide extra support for NHS staff, patients, and volunteers.
• Barts Charity: Research Project Grants support innovative, health-related research that could improve the lives of people in East London.
• The British Academy: the charity invests in researchers and projects across the UK to support development and engagement within the social sciences.
• Harold and Marjorie Moss Charitable Trust Fund: this trust does not have a website. We recommend speaking to your pharmacy school for help when applying for a grant with this trust.
• Vivensa Foundation: this trust provides research-funding opportunities for those focussed on improving the health and wellbeing of older people.

Studentship opportunities

PhD opportunities

Many educational institutions offer funding opportunities for PhDs to students and researchers. Additional opportunities can be found via FindAPhD or jobs.ac.uk.

A research-funding database for pharmaceutical science research can be found here. 

UK Research and Innovation and research councils such as MRC and EPSRC support doctoral training. More information can be found here.

Hardship funding and bursaries

Pharmacy schools and trusts offer financial support to pharmacy students completing their studies. Find out more about funding available for students using this list collated by Pharmacist Support.

You can find a detailed overview of UK health-research funding from all public sectors, including the governments of the four nations of the UK, charities, societies, and professional bodies from the UK Health Research Analysis. Download the 2022-2023 report.