Infections and immunity partnership

Apply for a grant to support new partnerships between diverse groups of researchers in infections and immunity.

You must:

• be based at a UK research organisation eligible for MRC funding, this includes MRC units and centres
• have at least a postgraduate degree. The grant will allow you to:

. establish new, high-value collaborative activities or capabilities

• add value to high-quality scientific programmes that are already supported by grants from MRC and other funders.

Funding is available for between one and five years.

This is an ongoing scheme. Application rounds open every February, June and October.

Any UK-based researcher with an employment contract at an eligible research organisation can apply. You will need to:

• have at least a graduate degree, although we usually expect most applicants to have a PhD or medical degree
• show that you will direct the partnership and be actively engaged in the work.

You can include one or more industry partners as project partners in your application. International co-investigators can be included if they provide expertise not available in the UK.

A principal investigator must lead the partnership. Any researchers you invite to become co-investigators must contribute to the academic leadership of the partnership.

Find more guidance for applicants on eligibility for MRC funding (section 1).

The focus of this funding opportunity is infections and immunity research. There are similar opportunities across other areas of medical research within the MRC remit, including:

• molecular and cellular medicine
• population and systems medicine
• neurosciences and mental health.

You can also apply for a partnership grant through the methodology research programme. There are also other types of awards including:

• research
• programmes
• new investigator.

You should contact us if you are not sure which opportunity to apply to.

We fund partnerships working to transform our understanding of infections and immunity. Partnership grants are expected to support these research areas, although research itself is not supported through this route.

The infections and immunity board funds research into infectious human disease and disorders of the human immune system.

The board supports a diverse portfolio of research of relevance to the UK and globally and to address both long-standing questions and support the investigation of emerging higher-risk opportunities.

Research we fund includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:

• discovery research relating to:
• human pathogens
• pathogenicity
• antimicrobial resistance
• host pathogen responses including inflammation and the development function and disorders of the - immune system where this informs mechanism of disease.

immune disease including:

• allergy (except asthma and other organ-based disorders)
• transplantation immunology
• systemic immune disorders
• auto-immune disease.

This includes use of in silico systems, relevant animal models and experimental studies in humans throughout the lifecourse:

• population-level research using epidemiological, genetic and omic approaches, and computational modelling, to:
• elucidate disease risks, aetiologies and progression
• understand the evolution of pathogen populations and epidemic preparedness.
• research to inform novel strategies for preventing and controlling infectious and immune disease, including:
• vector control
• predictive modelling
• early development research to inform future intervention strategies including vaccines.