Five of the seven UK Research Councils, led by the Medical Research Council along with the NIHR, have this week announced the latest phase of their major initiative to fund research into healthy ageing. The funded projects will be interdisciplinary and will tackle the major challenges facing an ageing population in the UK, including:

• Development or evaluation of interventions to promote mental health and wellbeing.
• Promoting physical health in older age.
• Enhancing mobility and independence in later life.
• Understanding the development and impact of age-related conditions.
• Implications of employment and work in later life.
• Development and validation of methods and measures to integrate biological, physical, psychological, cultural and socio-economic markers or indicators of health and wellbeing in later life.

The funding will be distributed through two different types of grants: Research Grants and Pilot Studies.

The Research Grants will fund major interdisciplinary projects of between £300K and £2.5M FEC (full economic cost) for between 2-5 years which address major challenges in the field of ageing research. There is a two-stage application process for Research Grants, with outlines due on 30th June 2010 and full applications by 24th November. The Pilot Studies will be able to support smaller-scale highly innovative initiatives of around £250K FEC each. There is a single-stage application process for Pilot Studies, due on 15th September 2010.

Both types of application need to be prepared online on the MRC’s Electronic Application & Assessment system. Given the grand challenges the scheme intends to address, a cross-disciplinary approach to the research – and therefore to the bid – is encouraged. If you would like to discuss submitting a bid, please get in touch with the research office.