Secure Up to £12.5M: EPSRC Research and Partnership Hubs for a Healthy Society (2026 Invite Only Grant)

If you lead a research team that sits at the awkwardly exciting intersection of engineering, physical sciences and health — and you want the funding muscle to build something genuinely large-scale — this EPSRC opportunity is one you need to understand inside out. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is backing multidisciplinary research hubs aimed at helping people live healthier lives and preventing ill health. This is not a small pilot grant. This is hub-scale money: the funders are making between £37.5 million and £62.5 million available across the competition and individual projects can request up to £12.5 million (full economic cost), with EPSRC covering 80% of that FEC.

Two important facts up front. First: this is invite only. You can only submit a full proposal if EPSRC has invited you following a successful outline application. Second: you must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding. If you meet those two conditions, read on — this guide walks you through exactly what to prepare, how to structure a winning bid, and the practical tricks teams use to show they can manage scale and produce measurable health impact.

At a Glance

Why this funding matters (and who it really helps)

Large multidisciplinary hubs do two things well: they create critical mass and they hold teams accountable to long-term, measurable outcomes. This EPSRC opportunity is aimed at research that connects physical sciences and engineering expertise with health research practice — for example combining advanced modelling, sensors, materials, data science or systems engineering with clinical, behavioral or public health interventions. The goal is prevention and supporting healthier lives, not just treating disease after it appears.

Think big-picture benefits: infrastructure for long-term studies, platforms for industry partnerships, coordinated trials or community interventions that can be scaled, and the mentorship and training environments needed to attract top talent into interdisciplinary work. For applicants, the benefit is both financial (a hub-level grant covers staff, equipment, data platforms, stakeholder engagement and more) and strategic: hubs become centres of gravity for follow-on funding, commercialisation and policy influence.

If your group wants to prototype a national monitoring system, show how a novel material reduces infection risk in community settings, or build predictive models that target early interventions — this is the right class of funding to aim for. But you have to show you can deliver at scale.

What This Opportunity Offers

This competition supplies the resources to set up long-term, multidisciplinary partnerships that bring together academics, NHS or public health bodies, industry partners, SMEs, charities and community groups. At a practical level it covers personnel (research staff, project managers, administrators), capital equipment, platform development (databases, distributed sensor networks, modelling infrastructure), travel and engagement activities, and the operational expenses required to run a hub for multiple years.

The hub model is more than money: successful awards create a governance structure, a programme of work with phased milestones, and an external advisory board that includes end-users and funders. Expect to propose a programmatic portfolio: linked work packages that together address a central, measurable problem in preventing ill health. The funder will expect credible pathways to impact — how research outputs will be translated into policy, clinical practice, industry products or public programmes.

On funding mechanics: EPSRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC). That means if you request the maximum £12.5m FEC, EPSRC will provide £10m and the remaining £2.5m must be covered through other sources — institutional contribution, co-funding from partners, industry investment or alternative grants. Plan this early; FEC rules and cost-sharing need institutional sign-off.

Who Should Apply

This call is for teams based at UK research organisations eligible for EPSRC funding. But more than institutional eligibility, the successful applicant must be able to show three things: disciplinary breadth, partnership strength, and hub governance capability.

Disciplinary breadth means your core consortium should bridge engineering/physical sciences and health research in substantive ways. If your work uses computational modelling to improve screening protocols, or advanced materials for community health devices, you’ll fit naturally. Teams purely in biomedical biology without a strong engineering/physical sciences component are less likely to match the call’s intent.

Partnership strength is crucial. You should include NHS trusts or public health agencies that can provide access to implementation settings, industry or SME partners who can support translation or match funding, and non-academic partners (charities, local authorities, community groups) who can help deliver impact and widen access. Concrete letters of support, with named commitments, weigh heavily.

Finally, governance capability. EPSRC is looking for hubs that can manage significant sums, deliver within timeframes, and show a plan for sustainability beyond the award. That means your team should include experienced grant managers, a named PI with previous leadership of large projects, and a clear governance structure (steering committee, executive leadership, programme leads, external advisory board).

Example applicants include university-led consortia with strong health partnerships, established centres scaling up into national hubs, and multi-organisational collaborations that bring engineering expertise into applied health contexts.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application

This section is where you stop wishing and start strategising. Winning a hub award is as much about credibility and delivery as about the novelty of your idea. Here are seven specific, actionable tactics that separate successful bids from those that fall short.

1. Demonstrate proven leadership and management systems. Funders want to know you can handle large budgets. Show prior experience running multi-million-pound projects, provide a clear finance and project management plan, and include CVs for staff who will actually manage operations. Don’t hide governance in vague terms — supply an organisational chart, role descriptions, and how decisions will be made.

2. Build measurable impact pathways. It’s not enough to claim your tech or model will “benefit patients.” Map out specific, measurable outcomes: reduced hospital admissions by X% in a trial cohort, a validated model deployed in Y clinics within three years, or a demonstrable cost saving to the NHS. Provide milestones and metrics for success.

3. Lock in partner commitments early and explicitely. Generic letters of support are weak. Get letters that specify what the partner will deliver (data access, recruitment pathways, match funding amount or in-kind support, deployment sites) and sign them off at senior levels.

4. Plan the 20% match realistically. If your host institution is expected to cover part of the FEC, make sure the institutional statement is explicit. Alternatively, secure co-funding agreements from industry partners or charities and include signed memos that show the funds or in-kind contributions will be available. Demonstrate that the money covering the 20% won’t be a late-stage problem.

5. Show phased delivery and contingency plans. Big projects encounter technical and practical bumps. Break the programme into phases with go/no-go decision points. Include a risk register and mitigation strategies — reviewers read this as evidence you’ve thought beyond the optimistic scenario.

6. Invest in public and patient involvement (PPI) and ethics planning early. Prevention and community-focused work will be judged on its engagement with affected populations. PPI should be embedded from the design phase, with named participants and a budget to remunerate their time.

7. Prepare a robust data management and sharing strategy. Hubs often create large datasets; explain how data will be stored, shared, curated, and protected. If your project uses AI or predictive analytics, address transparency, bias mitigation, and explainability.

These tactics take time and coordination. Start partner conversations at least six months before the full deadline, and secure institutional approvals early.

Application Timeline (work backward from the full proposal deadline)

The official full proposal deadline is 17 March 2026 at 16:00. Because this is invite-only, you should already have cleared the outline stage — but the time crunch remains.

• 6–9 months before deadline: Confirm invitation conditions from EPSRC, assemble the core consortium, and appoint a programme manager. Begin drafting the case for support and budget assumptions.
• 4–6 months before deadline: Lock partners and secure letters of support. Begin drafting detailed work packages and governance documents. Start institutional costing exercises for FEC and secure willingness to cover any required contributions.
• 3 months before deadline: Finalise CVs, PPI plans, data management plan, and risk register. Circulate complete draft to reviewers (internal and external).
• 6–8 weeks before deadline: Tighten budget, ensure institutional sign-off from research office and finance, and collate signed partner agreements.
• 2 weeks before deadline: Upload documents to the portal and perform final checks. Plan to submit at least 48 hours before the deadline to avoid technical problems.
• Post submission: Expect an assessment period; if shortlisted, prepare for possible interviews or site visits and for negotiating terms on the match funding.

If you did not submit an outline and were not invited, start preparing now for the next call: engage with EPSRC programme managers, join relevant community events, and build demonstrable pilot work you can present at outline stage.

Required Materials and How to Prepare Them

The full proposal will require a comprehensive set of documents. While the exact portal checklist is the authoritative list, prepare the following items early and in parallel so you’re not scrambling at the end:

• Case for support (programme vision, objectives, work packages, methods) — write this as a coherent narrative with diagrams and a clear logic model.
• Full economic cost budget and justification — show line-by-line staffing, equipment, travel, consumables, overheads and partner contributions. Make sure the institution’s finance office validates the figures.
• CVs and role descriptions for key personnel — include evidence of leadership and large award management.
• Letters of support or partner commitment letters — should be explicit about resources, roles and any financial contributions.
• Data management plan — cover storage, access, security and long-term curation.
• Public and Patient Involvement plan — include signed PPI contributors if possible and a realistic budget.
• Risk register and governance documentation — project timeline, milestones, evaluation criteria.
• Ethical considerations and potential approvals — note intended approvals and how you will secure them.
• Pathways to impact and exploitation plan — commercialization, policy engagement, or service adoption routes.

Prepare draft documents in parallel rather than serially. Give partner organisations a template for letters of support to ensure they include the level of detail reviewers expect.

What Makes an Application Stand Out

Reviewers are looking for clarity, feasibility and evidence you can deliver. The strongest applications combine bold ambition with tight execution details.

First, specificity of impact. Quantify outcomes and provide realistic timelines. Second, matched resources and commitments. If you claim you’ll run community interventions across several regions, show signed agreements with those regions. Third, leadership and track record. A PI and management team with prior hub-scale experience is a major advantage. Fourth, interdisciplinarity that is operationally real — show how physical science methods will integrate with health research practice (not just a promised dialogue).

Finally, a sustainability plan. Funders want hubs that survive beyond the award. Lay out how the hub will attract follow-on funding, commercial partners or institutional backing.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Teams often fail not because their idea is bad but because the administrative, partnership and delivery details are weak. Here are common pitfalls and how to fix them.

• Vague partner letters. Fix: Get explicit commitments in writing, with named resources and sign-off from senior managers.
• Under-budgeting or unrealistic budgets. Fix: Do bottom-up costing with your finance office and build a contingency line.
• No governance plan. Fix: Provide clear roles, decision pathways and an advisory board roster.
• Weak pathway to impact. Fix: Spell out deployment steps, policy engagement and commercialisation routes with timelines.
• Overly technical case with no accessible argument. Fix: Ensure non-specialist reviewers can grasp the significance. Use plain language summaries and diagrams.
• Relying on informal promises for match funding. Fix: Secure signed agreements or institutional letters committing the 20% contribution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can international partners be included?
A: Yes. International collaborators can add value, but funding must flow to a UK lead eligible for EPSRC. Any costs for international partners should be clearly justified and compliant with EPSRC rules.

Q: What does EPSRC funding 80% of FEC actually mean?
A: It means EPSRC will pay 80% of the total cost you present (salary, overheads, equipment, etc.). The remaining 20% must be covered by other sources — your university, partners, charity co-funding, or cash/in-kind contributions.

Q: My team was not invited — can we still apply?
A: No. Full proposals are by invitation only after a successful outline stage. If you didn’t proceed from outline, review feedback and prepare for the next round; engage with programme managers to understand gaps.

Q: How much detail is required for partner contributions?
A: Detailed and specific. Reviewers expect signed letters specifying resources, time commitment, data access and financial contributions where relevant.

Q: Are clinical trials allowed within the hub?
A: Yes, provided all necessary approvals and governance are in place. If you intend to run trials, outline your approvals plan and indicate how ethics and regulatory issues will be handled.

Q: Will EPSRC fund translational activity?
A: Yes — translation and partnerships are central to this call. Include commercialization plans, routes to market, and policy engagement where appropriate.

Q: Can the same institution host multiple hubs?
A: There’s no explicit ban, but funders consider overall portfolio balance. Demonstrate you can provide distinct leadership and management for each hub.

Q: Will applicants receive feedback if unsuccessful?
A: Yes. Feedback is typically provided and can be invaluable for resubmissions or improvements.

Next Steps and How to Apply

Ready to take action? If you have been invited to submit a full proposal, start by confirming the exact conditions of your invitation with EPSRC and with your university research office. Immediately convene the core consortium and assign a programme manager. Ask your finance office to begin FEC calculations now — these take time.

Draft your narrative to show impact, governance and deliverability, and secure partner letters with explicit commitments. Build your budget bottom-up and secure signed confirmations for any match funds. Prepare PPI representatives, and draft your data and ethics plans.

When you are ready to submit, use the EPSRC portal and follow the guidance on formatting and required attachments. Submit early — at least 48 hours before 17 March 2026 16:00 GMT — to avoid last-minute portal issues.

Ready to apply? Visit the official opportunity page for full details, guidance and contact information: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/research-and-partnership-hubs-for-a-healthy-society/

If you need specific clarification, contact the support addresses listed on the EPSRC page: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected].

This is a rare opportunity to build something big and sustained that sits at the intersection of engineering and health. It demands excellent partnership work, careful budgeting and a strong delivery plan — but for groups ready to commit, it can create a centre that changes practice, influences policy, trains the next generation and secures follow-on investment. If you’ve been invited, treat this as the start of a major programme, not just a grant application.