MRC Confidence in Concept

About the scheme

With support from the MRC, the University has funding available to support health related translational projects which are at the stage of proof of concept (Confidence in Concept Awards)

Description of the scheme

• CiC awards will fund larger proof of concept studies which provide robust evidence to funders of the feasibility of a proposed solution to a health, clinical or product development need.
• They are intended to accelerate the translation of discovery research into new therapies, diagnostics and medical devices by supporting preliminary work or feasibility studies to establish the viability of an approach – before seeking more substantive translational funding.
• The scheme forms part of the Biomedical Catalyst partnership between the MRC and Innovate UK, which also includes the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS)
• Partnerships between medical/health related disciplines and engineering disciplines are specifically encouraged
• Matched funding from industrial/academic partners is encouraged
• A clear vision of translation and the pathway to impact is required within the application

Award amount and duration

Applicants can apply for up to £50k direct costs (in exceptional circumstances more will be considered) and we expect project durations to be between 6-12 months which will be dictated by the needs of each project. Projects should be ready to start upon confirmation of funding and must be completed and funds must be spent within 12 months of being awarded.

Eligibility

• This scheme is open to all academic staff members within an interest in solving health-related problems
• Funds will be used to support translational projects directly (not for coordination activities)
• Individual projects should be based on specific milestones in the translational pathway

The funding will not support:

• Entire translational projects; applicants seeking funding for entire projects are directed to DPFS
• Administration costs or industrial partner costs
• Staff between posts/funding (i.e. as “bridging” funds), or PhD studentships including bridging funds
• Continuation of normal research grants
• Costs relating to the protection of intellectual property
• Equipment over £10,000

Timelines:

Round closes on the 1st October 2018.  Successful applicants will be notified in December 2018. To apply the application form and guidance notes are located under Useful Downloads at the bottom of this page.

Further information and queries

If you require further information or have any queries please contact Sue Mcdonald, Programme Manager, CiC@soton.ac.uk .

Current and past awarded projects:

Project Title: Harnessing nanoclay gels for delivery of growth factors for bone repair .

Investigators:
Professor Richard Oreffo - Medicine
Dr Jonathan Dawson - Medicine

Project Title: Haptoglobin as a treatment for intracranial haemorrhage

Investigator :
Dr Ian Galea - Medicine

Project Title: Real-time Microbial Pathogen identification in Microbial Keratitis Using a Microfluidic Impedance Cytometry(MFIC)

Investigators :
Dr Parwez Hossain - Medicine
Professor Myron Christodoulides - Medicine
Dr Alison Hill - Medicine
Dr Daniel Spencer and Professor Hywel Morgan - FEPS

Project Title: Developing a near-patient tuberculosis test suitable for population screening

Investigators :
Professor Paul Elkington - Medicine
Dr Collin Sones - FEPS

Project Title: Experimental human challenge study with recombinant Neisseria lactamica expressing the meningococcal adhesin protein, Neisseria Adhesin A (NedA)

Investigators :
Dr Jay Laver - Medicine
Professor Robert Read - Medicine
Professor Saul Faust - Medicine

Project Title: StarHealer: a novel ultrasonically activated water stream device for wound management

Investigators :
Dr David Voegeli - FEPS
Dr Tom Secker - FELS
Professor Bill Keevil - FELS
Professor Myron Christodoulides - Medicine
Professor Tim Leighton - FEPS

Project Title: New chemical probes for targeting IDOL ubiquitin ligase

Investigator :
Professor Ali Tavassoli - FEPS

Project Title: Developing wearable sensor for real-time and continuous monitoring of lactate for sepsis and traumaB

Investigators:
Dr Xize Niu - FEPS
Professor Robert Crouch - FELS
Professor Charles Deakin - Medicine

Project Title: Engineered enhancements of ultrasonic stream cleaning and endoscopic cleaning for healthcare decontamination

Investigators:
Professor Tim Leighton - FEPS
Professor Bill Keevil - FELS
Dr Tom Secker - FELS

Project Title: Fast µCT scanning: confidence in concept for intraoperative use

Investigators:
Dr Peter Lackie - Medicine
Dr Philipp Schneider - FEPS
Dr Orestis Katsamenis - FEPS
Dr Aiman Alzetani - Medicine
Professor William Roche - Medicine

Project Title: Effect of lirilumab on an NK cell therapeutic vaccine

Investigator:
Professor Salim Khakoo - Medicine

Project Title: Targeting FcgRIIb to prevent alpha-synuclein propagation through the brain as a novel treatment for Parkinson’s Disease

Investigators:
Professor Jessica Teeling - FELS
Dr Ali Roghanian - Medicine
Professor Mark Cragg - Medicine

Project Title: D eciphering the biophysical rhythms of the womb during E arly development using a NO vel battery-less and wireless sensing platform T Echnology (DENOTE)

Investigators:
Professor Ying Cheong - Medicine
Professor Hywel Morgan - FEPS

Project Title: Bioactive nano-clay gels for healing diabetic foot ulcer

Investigators:
Dr Nicholas Evans - FELS
Dr Jonathan Dawson - Medicine

Review Panel

Professor Salim Khakoo - Associate Dean – Enterprise, Faculty of Medicine (UoS)  -  CHAIR
Professor John Holloway - Associate Dean – Research, Faculty of Medicine (UoS)
Professor Peter Smith - Director of The Institute for Life Sciences (UoS)
Professor Tim Leighton - Professor of Ultrasonic and Underwater Acoustics, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering (UoS)
Professor Ying Cheong - Professor of Reproductive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine (UoS)
David Bream - Head of Business Acceleration (SetSquared), RIS (UoS)
Diana Galpin - Head of Technology Transfer and Impact Programmes, RIS (UoS)
Professor Paul Townsend - Associate Dean for Business Engagement, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, (University of Manchester)
Dr Duncan Holmes - European Head, Discovery Partnerships with Academia, GlaxoSmithKlien