Midlands Regional Community Grant

The Midlands Regional Community Grant will be awarded at the Human Specific Research Community Midlands Launch Event at the Senate Chamber, University of Nottingham on 24 November 2026.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to present their proposals in a live Dragon’s Den-style pitch session. Each shortlisted applicant will deliver a 3-5 minute presentation, followed by up to 10 minutes of questions from the panel.

The successful applicant will be announced on the day.

Pitch Theme

The Impact Factor: Turning an Idea into Action

This grant is intended to support focused, achievable work with clear value to the regional human-specific research community. Proposals should explain the problem being addressed, the activity the grant would enable, the likely benefit, and how the work could lead to longer-term progress.

Grants can be used to support activities such as:

• Generating pilot or preliminary data
• Testing or adapting a human-specific research method
• Validating a model, platform or assay
• Addressing a technical or practical barrier
• Developing a shared protocol or resource
• Supporting training or knowledge exchange
• Establishing a new collaboration
• Improving the adoption, accessibility or reproducibility of a human-specific approach.

Assessment Criteria

Panel questions and scoring will focus on impact across four key areas:

• Scientific Impact
  The scientific advantages, relevance, and innovation offered by the proposed human-specific approach
• Animal Replacement Impact
  The potential for the project to enable the replacement of animals and/or animal-derived products
• Community Impact
  The strength of the dissemination, engagement, and potential adoption within the research community
• Commercial Impact
  The feasibility and clarity of the commercialisation strategy, where applicable.

Grant Details

• Funding: Up to £9,000 
• Duration: Up to 12 months
• Eligible Costs: Consumables and small equipment items directly required for the project.

Grant Requirements

• Projects should provide further insight into the utility of human-focused techniques or technologies and advance their development, validation, and application
• Projects should be directly relevant to biomedical research and human health
• The Grant will support entirely animal-free protocols. The use of animal-derived products (ADPs) is supported when a clear humanisation plan is in place. The cost of these ADPs will not be covered by the Centre.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be willing to attend and present at the launch event on 24 November 2026 if shortlisted
• Applicants must be affiliated with a university, hospital, pharmaceutical company, biotechnology company, contract research organisation, or other research institution
• Applications led by mid-career researchers must include a senior researcher (e.g. Principal Investigator, Department Head, or equivalent) as a Secondary Grant Holder to provide oversight and institutional support
• Early-career researchers (e.g. PhD students or junior scientists) are eligible to apply, provided a senior researcher (e.g. Principal Investigator, Department Head, or equivalent) is named as the Grant Holder and will supervise the project
• Applicant must be a registered member of the Centre for Human Specific Research Forum.

Application Process

The Regional Community Grant application is a two-stage process:

Stage One – Preliminary Application
Applicants must submit a brief preliminary application outlining:

• The scientific rationale and significance of the project
• How the project will support replacement of animals and/or animal-derived products
• The expected scientific, community, and translational impact

Applications will be reviewed internally.

Stage Two – Live Pitch
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to present their proposal at the launch event in a Dragon’s Den-style pitch session.

Grant Selection Criteria

Applications will be assessed based on:

• Potential impact and dissemination within the scientific community
• Alignment with the Centre for Human Specific Research strategic goals
• Scientific merit and innovation
• Expertise and capability of the applicant and project team
• Feasibility, methodology, and implementation plan.