Current opportunities
The opportunities listed below are in order of closing date. If you are looking to apply for one of the opportunities listed below, we can assist with grant applications. Visit our grant writing page to find out more.
Advancing innovation in accelerated cancer diagnosis
Funding available: up to £25.4 million
Project size: £1.5 million to £4 million eligible project costs
Closes: 28 October 2026, 11:00am (UK time)
Innovate UK, on behalf of the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) Cancer Healthcare Goals programme, will invest up to £25.4 million to support collaborative R&D projects focused on the clinical validation and evaluation of innovative cancer diagnostic technologies and devices.
The aim is to accelerate the development of innovations that enable earlier cancer detection and diagnosis, with particular emphasis on less common cancers. Funded projects should generate robust clinical and health economic evidence to support regulatory approval and future NHS adoption.
This represents an important opportunity for companies, research organisations, healthcare providers, and innovation partners developing next-generation cancer diagnostic solutions.
We welcome conversations with companies and consortia planning to apply to this competition. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is also open to exploring potential collaboration opportunities as a pilot site, supporting the clinical validation and evaluation of promising cancer diagnostic innovations where there is a strong strategic and scientific fit
For more information, visit the InnovateUK page.
EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing
Closing: 28 October 2026, 17:00 (Brussels time)
The EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing aims to support ambitious, high-risk research that develops biotechnology-based or pharmaceutical interventions capable of preventing, delaying, or reversing age-related diseases. The call seeks breakthrough approaches that address the biological mechanisms of ageing, advance personalised healthcare through molecular profiling and phenotyping, and generate evidence to support future regulatory frameworks for ageing-targeted therapies.
Projects are expected to deliver proof-of-concept validation in vertebrate models and contribute to improving healthy longevity, reducing the burden of age-related conditions, and strengthening Europe’s leadership in innovative ageing research. Applications from single legal entities are not eligible.
Closes: 11 November 2026, 4:00pm (UK time)The UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC) Impact Acceleration Awards provide funding for academically led translational projects that advance new or repurposed medicines, medical devices, diagnostics, and other medical products towards real-world application. The scheme is designed to support a single, high-risk development step that generates critical evidence to de-risk further development, helping researchers determine whether a product is ready for progression or whether development should stop. Awards range from £50,000 to £300,000 and act as a bridge between smaller impact acceleration funding and larger proof-of-concept programmes.Applicants must be based at an MRC-eligible UK research organisation, including eligible universities, research institutes, and some NHS organisations. Projects should build on existing research with supporting data and focus on a clearly defined translational milestone rather than fundamental research. Eligible activities include development work on therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and other healthcare technologies that address unmet clinical or global health needs. Projects are expected to generate robust data that supports future investment, regulatory progression, or commercialisation opportunities.
The Health Technology Assessment Programme
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme funds research to evaluate healthcare and social care interventions that already show potential effectiveness, with the aim of generating robust evidence to support their adoption into routine practice. HTA research examines interventions used to promote health, prevent, diagnose or treat disease, and improve rehabilitation, quality of life or long-term care. It assesses both the clinical and cost-effectiveness of these interventions and compares them with current standard care or best alternatives. The findings help inform clinical practice, healthcare and social care policy, and decision-making by clinicians, practitioners, policymakers and the public, ultimately improving outcomes for patients and service users.
Researchers with all levels of experience can apply to conduct research into the effectiveness of technologies. No fixed project period or funding limits apply.
Speech and language therapist-led interventions for school-aged children with developmental language disorder – closes 18 November 2026
Definitive social care evaluations – closes 18 November 2026
Broad call for interventions for improving outcomes in adults with faecal incontinence – closes 6 January 2027
For more information and other themed areas, visit the HTA website.
Efficiency and Mechanism Evaluation Programme – Researcher-led
Closes: 25 November 2026, 1pm GMT
The Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) is jointly funded by the NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC). The EME Programme is designed to generate evidence that can be quickly applied to enhance patient care while also laying the groundwork for future effectiveness studies. Since launching, EME has supported a large number of research projects that have contributed to improvements across health and social care. As a clinical translational research pathway, the programme helps bridge the gap between early-stage human testing and later-stage evaluation by funding studies that explore both the effectiveness of interventions and the mechanisms through which they work.
The programme welcomes applications from researchers at all career stages and focuses on studies with the potential to deliver meaningful benefits for patients and the wider public. By supporting research that evaluates promising interventions, the EME Programme aims to advance evidence-based healthcare and accelerate the adoption of innovations that can improve outcomes and inform future clinical research. This opportunity consists of a two-stage application process.
For more information, visit the EME page on the NIHR website.
NIHR NICE rolling funding opportunity (EME Programme)
Closes: 25 November 2026, 1pm GMT
The NIHR NICE Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme offers rolling funding for high‑quality studies that directly address research recommendations from NICE guidance. Aimed at research teams focused on health-related outcomes, the programme supports robust efficacy and mechanistic studies through a two‑stage funding route. This opportunity enables researchers to generate rigorous evidence on whether interventions work, how they work, and for whom, ultimately helping to close priority evidence gaps, enhance NHS decision‑making, and improve future patient care.
For more information, visit the grant page on the NIHR website.
SBRI Healthcare – NHS Cancer Programme – Innovation Open Call 4
Opens: 14 October 2026
Closes: 1 December 2026, 1pm GMT
Funding: Up to £3M for Real-World Implementation & Evaluation Funding (100% funded)
The NHS Cancer Programme Innovation Open Call 4 seeks mature, market-ready innovations that can help deliver the ambitions of England’s 10-year National Cancer Plan. The competition focuses on two challenge areas: (1) improving productivity and capacity across cancer pathways to support achievement of Cancer Waiting Time standards by March 2029, and (2) accelerating earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer to improve survival outcomes. Priority areas include AI-enabled triage, diagnostic decision support tools, pathway management solutions, innovative screening approaches, biomarker tests, wearable technologies, and other methods that can improve diagnosis, treatment efficiency, and patient outcomes.
The Real-World Implementation and Evaluation Fund supports deployment and independent evaluation of proven innovations across multiple NHS sites and is open to eligible organizations working with NHS and evaluation partners.
i4i Product Development Awards (PDA) NICE early use
Closes: 2 December 2026, 1:00pm
The i4i Product Development Awards (PDA) NICE early use recommendation funding opportunity from the NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme supports the generation of real-world evidence (RWE) for healthcare technologies that have received a recommendation for early use in the NHS through NICE early use assessment. The programme aims to generate the evidence needed to achieve a full NICE evaluation, increase adoption of innovative technologies across NHS and social care settings, and develop practical guidance for innovators on evidence generation and implementation. Projects can last for up to 36 months, and there is no upper or lower funding limit, provided costs are appropriate and demonstrate value for money.
Applications must be led by an evaluation partner and submitted through a consortium that also includes the technology provider and at least one NHS adopting site or service. Funding can be used for a broad range of activities, including real-world evaluations, implementation research, data collection and governance, health economic and market analyses, training, stakeholder engagement, and dissemination. The scheme is specifically targeted at technologies that already have a published NICE early use recommendation, with the intended outcome being robust evidence generation that supports both future NICE guidance and wider NHS uptake of the technology.
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe is the European Union’s flagship research and innovation funding programme. It supports collaborative, multinational research projects that address major societal, health, environmental, and technological challenges while strengthening Europe’s scientific and industrial competitiveness.
There are a variety of calls opening from Horizon, such as “Innovative healthcare interventions for non-communicable diseases” and “Addressing disabilities through the life course to support independent living and inclusion”.
TheHill welcomes consortium partnerships and collaborative project development. Please contact Stefania Schino if you are interested in partnering with us.
Longstanding opportunities:
Women TechEU
Closes: 15 June 2027 at 17:00 CEST/16:00 GMT
For more information, visit the Women TechEU website.
BBSRC Standard Research Grant: applicant-led mode
The BBSRC Applicant‑Led Grants scheme provides flexible, ongoing funding for investigator‑led research across the biological and biotechnological sciences. Following a move to an always‑open model, researchers can submit proposals at any time for Standard Research Grants or New Investigator Awards, with funding available up to £2 million full economic cost for projects lasting up to five years. SMEs can be included as project partners.
This scheme supports a wide range of fundamental and applied research, including multidisciplinary projects and industry collaborations through defined partnership routes. It is particularly suited to academic researchers seeking to develop independent research programmes or establish new lines of inquiry. The emphasis is on scientific excellence and innovation, with flexibility to respond to emerging research priorities without the constraints of fixed funding rounds.
Visit the UKRI website for more information.
EIC Accelerator
The EIC Accelerator provides substantial funding for high‑risk, high‑potential deep tech innovations led by SMEs and startups. UK-based SMEs can apply for grants of up to €2.5M, supporting technologies from late development stages through to market deployment. The programme operates on a rolling basis for short applications, with several full proposal deadlines throughout the year.
Beyond funding, successful applicants gain access to extensive business acceleration services including coaching, mentoring, and investor engagement. The scheme targets innovations with strong commercial potential in areas such as AI, advanced materials, and clean technologies. It is particularly competitive and suited to companies aiming for rapid scale‑up and international market entry.
For more information, visit the EIC website.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF)
EIC STEP Scale-Up
The EIC STEP Scale Up scheme, part of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), provides equity-only investments of €10–30 million to startups, SMEs, and small mid-caps aiming to scale breakthrough innovations in strategic sectors like digital, deep tech, clean tech, and biotech. With a 2025 budget of €300 million, the scheme targets high-risk, high-potential companies that have already secured at least 20% of their funding round from a qualified investor. The programme supports innovations in areas such as AI and advanced biotechnologies, including critical medicines, DNA/RNA, proteins, cell engineering, gene vectors, bioinformatics, and nanobiotechnology. Successful applicants gain access to Business Acceleration Services and may receive a STEP Seal, enhancing visibility and access to further funding opportunities.
TheHill is always open to collaborations and keen to partner with other organisations as consortium member on collaborative projects, if you are interested please complete our triage form.