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New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG)

New Investigator Research Grants provide support for clinical and non-clinical researchers while they are establishing themselves as independent principal investigators.

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What is a New Investigator Research Grant?

The New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG) is aimed at researchers who are capable of becoming principal investigators and who are now ready to take the next step towards that goal.

 

The scheme can provide talented early-career scientists with a route into a permanent lectureship position. For those who already have a post it provides funding and ‘protected time’ with which to establish an independent research career. A NIRG is also a potential source of research funding for fellows whose awards only cover a personal salary.

 

NIRGs provide funding for three years or more as long as the Full Economic Costing financial ceiling of £600k is not exceeded. They are not renewable and cannot usually be extended.

 

The scheme does not cover research involving randomised trials of clinical treatments. If your proposed research will lead directly to a separately funded clinical trial, you will need to contact an MRC research board manager to discuss your eligibility.

 

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Who can apply?

Applicants must be based at a UK institution and hold a PhD, DPhil or an MD. They should either be at the start of their first lecturer appointment (they must be aiming for a research board deadline which falls within the first three years of taking up the post) and have a minimum of three years post qualification research experience or be in a senior post-doctoral (non-lecturer) position and have between three and ten years post qualification research experience. Further eligibility criteria apply and can be found within the New Investigator Research Grant Annex which can be accessed under ‘How to Apply’.

 

If you do not hold a permanent lecturer post, your research organisation will be required to provide written confirmation that it would seriously consider you for a permanent position during the lifetime of the award.

 

You may only apply for funding for research that you will be carrying out at the institution where you are already based. However, if you are in the process of moving institutions to take up your first lectureship you must be in post by the research board deadline date you are submitting to.

 

The scheme is for sole applicants only. However, you can name other researchers as collaborators in your proposal.

 

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Financial support

The maximum amount of funding that can be applied for is £600,000. A New Investigator Research Grant normally lasts for three years, but applications for a longer period of time are accepted providing the support requested does not exceed £600,000.

 

The MRC will usually meet up to 80 per cent of the full economic cost of your research i.e. up to £480k to your institution, so your proposal must show full economic costing throughout.

 

Grants are not renewable and cannot be extended except within the criteria listed in the MRC’s terms and conditions for research grants. However, grant holders are free to apply for other grants after the New Investigator Research Grant has been awarded.

 

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How to apply?

  • Check which of the MRC’s four research boards awards grants in your scientific area and check its application deadlines dates.
  • Read the MRC applicants handbook, which will guide you through preparing a proposal, including eligibility, case for support, costing your proposal and any ethical and regulatory requirements that may apply to the research.
  • There are additional requirements for NIRG applicants. These are listed in a separate New Investigator Research Grant Annex that should be read in conjunction with the applicant’s handbook. The NIRG Annex takes precedence over the handbook where the advice is not in agreement. Please ensure that you also look at the terms and conditions governing MRC grants.
  • Your completed proposal must be submitted through the MRC’s J-eS system. This is done by your research institution’s administrative department, after they have completed their section of your J-eS application form.
  • To ensure that your application reaches us in time, please give your administrative department at least two weeks’ notice of your application and the MRC research board deadline date.
  • Applications may be submitted to any one of the three available deadlines in the year. Applicants may only submit a second proposal if the first is not awarded; in addition you must wait at least 12 months between deadlines. Once two applications have been made no further submissions to the scheme can be accepted.

 

Partnerships

If you are considering establishing a collaboration with an industrial partner(s), you and your potential collaborator(s) are advised to refer to the guidance on MRC Industry Collaboration Agreement (MICAs).

In summary, applicants with industrial collaborator/s will also be required to include MICA: as a prefix to their project title, complete the Project Partner section in Je-S and submit PDF versions of:

 

• A completed MRC Industrial Collaboration Agreement (MICA) form

• A signed Heads of Terms for the proposed collaboration

 

Please note that if you plan to collaborate with industry and submit a MICA application but fail to submit the documents detailed above, the MRC reserves the right to decline the application on eligibility grounds.

 

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Deadlines

Application deadlines are usually in January, May and September. All proposals are assessed by external experts before they are considered by the MRC research boards at their meetings in May/June, October/November and February/March.

 

Your proposal must be submitted through the MRC J-eS system by 4pm on the relevant research board deadline date.

 

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The assessment procedure

Your proposal will be peer reviewed by independent scientific experts from the MRC's college of experts. The MRC also sometimes consults other specialist referees in the UK and overseas. This peer-review is the first part of a two-stage process, which helps the MRC research boards to decide which proposals to consider at their funding meetings.

 

You will receive anonymous copies of the reviewers' assessments. If your proposal is shortlisted, you will have the opportunity to comment on these assessments before your proposal is considered by the research board. You will also receive feedback on the board’s final decision.

 

The research boards use similar criteria to those of the referees and also identify any ethical issues or risks to human participants that need further attention.

 

At the board meeting New Investigator Research Grant proposals will be considered separately from standard research grant proposals.

 

Please note that applicants must not lobby MRC staff, referees, or members of peer review panels and boards, nor submit additional information in support of an application after the original submission date. To do so may result in the application being withdrawn by the MRC.

 

Find out more about the assessment procedure.

 

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Contacts and guidance