North Regional Community Grant

The North Regional Community Grant will be awarded at the Human Specific Research Community North Launch Event at the Norcroft Centre, University of Bradford on 3 September 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 £6,000 
• 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 3 September 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.