Funding and opportunities

Resources

• NIHR Be Part of Research is a free service that matches volunteers to health and care studies, based on their interests, taking place online or at locations near them. Volunteers who sign up to take part in research projects will be matched to suitable studies and sent clear information about what’s involved and how they can take part, if they choose to, whatever their state of health. For those running funded research studies, it can take the hard work out of recruitment once you have added your study to the NIHR registry and Be Part of Research service. It already has over half a million research-ready volunteers waiting to take part in research studies. Be Part of Research provides the first UK-wide registry for all health and care specialties – as well as social care and public health research. We can identify volunteers for your study through a wide range of data available including age, ethnic group, sex, location and condition. A short video guide is available on YouTube.
• New open access digital and data education programme launched for all UK AHPs. Digital and Data Foundations: Practical Skills for UK AHPs was developed with all AHP Professional Bodies, Keele University and NHSE Digital Academy. It is a completely free to use, open access course with 7 hours of learning covering practical uses of data and techniques for improving digital and data use in services. The course can be accessed here. To access you will need an NHS leadership account, which you can sign up for here. Anyone can set up a profile on the leadership academy as long as they are based in the UK (i.e. any UK nation, any setting: Health, Social Care, Private and Independent or 3rd Sector).
• Applying for Funding – advice and support for Northern Ireland applicants. For those in NI considering applications to NIHR grant schemes, researchers can discuss applications with members of HSC R&D Division. Further information and contacts on the HSC R&D website.
• Recording of Dr Sophie Booton’s seminar at LuCiD on “Digital Technology and Young Children”: Evaluating educational apps and asking what matters for families, children and educators”. View recording of this and other LuCiD seminars.
• Help inspire future health and care researchers: the NIHR has launched career development posters to raise awareness of research opportunities across health and care. Designed for staff rooms, notice boards, and communal spaces, these posters aim to reach professionals and practitioners who may not see our digital content. Please access and share widely. Contact academy.comms@nihr.ac.uk to request copies to be sent to you directly.
• RCSLT Membership: Access to Leading Academic Journals. As an RCSLT member, you have access to a wide range of high‑quality academic journals supporting evidence‑based speech and language therapy. This includes full access to our own publication, the International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders (IJLCD). Alongside IJLCD, members can explore hundreds of additional journals to support CPD, clinical decision‑making, and research. Log in to your RCSLT account to access this membership benefit.
• Reporting GUideline for Intervention DEscription in Rehabilitation (GUIDE-Rehab): a tool to open the ‘black box’ of rehabilitation complex interventions. The Cochrane Rehabilitation, functioning and disability thematic group have developed guidelines for reporting rehabilitation interventions. The complete version comprises 16 items, while the version for uncontrolled studies includes 13. The GUIDE-Rehab graphical illustration (nine items) facilitates intervention description. GUIDE-Rehab will assist in the reporting of interventions in rehabilitation to enhance clinical research and support clinical implementation. The complete article and guidelines can be found in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine

Inclusive research opportunities and resources

• Brad-ATTAIN (Bradford Pathways to Academia for Minoritised Ethnicities) is a £1.3m project focused on the West Yorkshire region and the University of Bradford which brings together partners from across the region to improve access and participation for Black, Asian and/or Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups in PGR study within the HEI sector. The initiative includes fully funded studentships, Post Graduate Research (PGR) placements, undergraduate, postgraduate and alumni internships and travel bursaries. In addition, there is a seminar series and research summer school. For more information contact: Dr Tiffany R Holloman (Brad-ATTAIN Project Manager) or Lenka Kaur (Brad-ATTAIN Coordinator).
• Supporting Black Excellence: Full PhD scholarships for UK Black researchers at the University of Southampton. Explore the Black Futures Scholarship or explore the possibility of completing a funded PhD.
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation supports people with unusual or radical ideas to improve the life chances and opportunities of people in the UK. The Foundation is focused on leading change and designing solutions to overcome inequality. Various funds are currently open, focusing on Migration, Youth, Arts Based Learning and India.  Priority is given to people and organisations with direct lived experience of the issue they want to explore.
• Nuffield Foundation Racial Diversity UK Fund. Research funding to understand the barriers and pathways to a racially just and inclusive society. Outline application deadline in October 2026.
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health. EDIS is a coalition of organisations working to improve equality, diversity and inclusion within the science and health research sector. The website includes further EDI resources.

Project/programme grants and funding

ZeDTech

Funding for research to support independent living with dementia: Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Alzheimer’s Society.

We’re looking for zero-burden, sustainable tech solutions for: mobility, everyday living, communication, health monitoring, carer support. Projects must be co-developed with people with lived experience. Cross-disciplinary proposals led by academic researchers, can be in collaboration with industry and other partners. Funding offers £50,000–£100,000 per feasibility project at 80% FEC. Projects should be for 12–24 month projects starting from June 2026.  Funding call closes: 23 March 2026. Full details at the ZeDTech website.

HSC R&D Division Northern Ireland

PPI in Research Support Small Grant Scheme: grants to facilitate the involvement of patients, carers, and public in the research process as partners rather than participants, and to encourage innovative practice in the delivery of PPI through the development of new ways of working with patients, carers and the public. Open call. Further details on the HSC R&D website.

National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)

All funding opportunities from NIHR can be found online. Open calls include themed calls for funding opportunities that focus on priority research areas. Various funding opportunities available – current themes include Dementia, MND, Brain Tumour, Work Health (working age adults living with chronic health conditions). 

Medical Research Council (MRC)

All funding opportunities from MRC can be found online. Open calls include:

• Researching ME/CFS priority area. No closing date.  

Please see MRC funding for personal fellowships below, as the MRC offers a number of opportunities for individual fellowships and funding.

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

All funding opportunities from ESRC can be found online. ESRC’s funding remit includes economic, social, behavioural and human data science.

Open calls for topics in ESRC’s remit include:

• ESRC responsive mode: research grants round two. No closing date.
• ESRC responsive mode: new investigator grants round two. No closing date.
• ESRC responsive mode: secondary data analysis round two. No closing date.

Wellcome  

All funding opportunities from Wellcome can be found online.

Wellcome Discovery Awards funding for established researchers and teams from any discipline who want to pursue bold and creative research ideas to deliver significant shifts in understanding related to human life, health and wellbeing. Closing date 31 March 2026.

Leverhulme Trust 

All funding opportunities from Leverhulme Trust can be found online.

This includes their Research Project Grants, which you can apply for throughout the year. Deadline for outline applications 27 February 2026.

Nuffield Foundation 

All funding opportunities from Nuffield Foundation can be found online.  Open calls include:

• Strategic Fund. Outline application deadline 16 March 2026.
• Main grant Research Development and Analysis Fund. Closes 13 April 2026.
• Racial Diversity UK Fund. Closes October 2026.

Other funders and charities

• Minor grant in Involvement and Engagement Awards for Ageing Research. Awards of £500 to support early and mid-career researchers to develop inclusive and participatory research in the field of ageing. More information on the NIHR Dementia Researcher website. Deadlines: 5pm 31 March 2026, 5pm 30 June 2026.
• Parkinson’s UK non-drug approaches grants, includes Speech and Language therapy. Deadline for outline proposal 5 May 2026, 16:00 (application portal opens 3 months before the deadline). Full application for successful proposals deadline 3 September 2026, 16:00.
• BBC Children in Need Grants. Apply for funding in one of the following priority areas: preventing mental health issues, alleviating the impact of poverty and deprivation, reducing social inequity for marginalised children and young people, addressing the impact of family related challenges. Priorities for funding differ by geographical region in the UK. Full details on the BBC Children in Need website.

Fellowships and clinical academic opportunities

Millenium Healthcare Bursary for Primary Healthcare professionals working in London. The bursary enables a health care professional to enhance the health care of disadvantaged individuals and families in Greater London. Projects should be focused on research or personal study into ways of improving health outcomes in areas of London where the population face significant health challenges. The bursary offers up to £7,500-£10,000 (spread over 2 years). Closing date is 31 March 2026, with interviews held in May 2026 and awards made the same day.

National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)

Find all NIHR fellowships under the Research career development funding programmes. Highlights include:

• Predoctoral Award. The scheme supports early career researchers to undertake a masters degree, or a bespoke training and development plan comprising masters-level training, and provides protected time to help you develop a competitive PhD application. Available to registered health and care professionals (HCPs) working in NHS settings.  Closing date: 12 March 2026 13:00.
• Principal Investigator Pipeline Programme (PIPP). Offers AHPs in England the opportunity to develop as Principal Investigators on NIHR portfolio studies. The next cohort will be open for applications in April 2026.

MRC

• Capacity building: clinical research training fellowship for registered healthcare professionals with PhDs who have been working outside research for 5 or more years. This funding opportunity is for if you if you have a PhD and want to apply for funding to reacquire research skills. Opens 15 January 2026. Closing date 8 April 2026 16:00.
• Professional doctorate: clinical research training fellowship. Open to registered healthcare professionals to apply for funding to undertake a PhD, within any area of Medical Research Council (MRC)’s remit to improve human health. This is an ongoing funding opportunity with application rounds close every January, April and September. Current round opens 15 January 2026. Closing date 8 April 2026 16:00.
• Early independence: clinician scientist fellowship. An early independence fellowship  supports your career transition within the new Fellowship investment framework, if your research focus is within Medical Research Council (MRC) remit. Open to registered healthcare professionals with PhDs, who have clear plans for establishing a research niche enabling them to become independent researchers. Opens 15 January 2026. Closing date 8 April 2026 16:00.
• Daphne Jackson fellowship. For researchers returning after a career break. No closing date.

Stroke Association

All funding opportunities from the Stroke Association can be found on their website.
A new round of fellowships are being launched in 2026. These include:

• Postdoctoral Fellowships – opening March 2026
• Lectureships – opening April 2026
• Postgraduate Fellowships (PhD Studentships) – opening July 2026

PhDs

• ESRC DTP Collaborative Studentship: Benefits and Challenges of Digital Interventions for Aphasia: Are Group-Based Interventions Feasible? Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership – Aston University & Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust. Closes 2 March 2026.
• Supporting Black Excellence: Full PhD scholarships for UK Black researchers at the University of Southampton. Explore the Black Futures Scholarship or explore the possibility of completing a funded PhD.

Other PhD opportunities

We now share funded project-based PhD opportunities, sourced from findaphd.com 

Note, that there may be opportunities to apply for funding with institutions to pursue other PhD topics and we encourage you to contact relevant universities and browse Find a PhD to explore this. 

Latest opportunities: 

• Amplifying Autistic Voices: A Co-Production Approach to Alternative and Augmentative Communication. Ulster University, Magee Campus, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Closes 27 February 2026.
• Virtual Wards, Real Inequities: Understanding the Intersection of Ethnicity, Culture, and Deprivation in Remote Health Services. Queen Mary University of London, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Closes 27 February 2026.
• (Manchester-Melbourne Dual Award) Improving listening abilities in noisy environments in children with self-reported listening difficulties. The University of Manchester    Division of Psychology, Communication and Human Neuroscience. Closes 13 March 2026.