Advancing innovation in accelerated cancer diagnosis

Who can apply Text update October 14th 2026: We have updated the guidance in the number of applications section regarding multiple applications from the same organisation. Your project Your project must: - have total project costs of between £1.5 million and £4 million - last between 24 and 36 months - start by 1 April 2027 - end by 31 March 2030 Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK. Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date. You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. Lead organisation To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size, an academic institution or an NHS organisation. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application. The consortium must also include a practising clinician, or clinical academic, or involve a clinical delivery team as a minimum. More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules. Academic institutions cannot work alone. Community Interest Companies (CICs) and charities are not allowed to lead in this competition. Project team To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered: - business of any size - academic institution - public sector organisation - charity - not for profit - research and technology organisation (RTO) Note: Public sector organisations include NHS or National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) organisations. For example, a Health Innovation Network (HIN) or HealthTech Research Centres or equivalent in the devolved administrations. For this competition, the collaboration must include a practising clinician or clinical academic or involve a clinical delivery team as a minimum. Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application. To be an eligible collaboration:  - the lead and at least one other organisation must request funding - you must explain why you’re collaborating and how the collaboration will work  - no single organisation can claim more than 70% of the total project costs  Non-funded partners Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK. Where non-funded partners have been invited to the application on IFS, their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs. Subcontractors Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process. You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK. You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor. All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs. Number of appli…

- have total project costs of between £1.5 million and £4 million You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application. Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application. - no single organisation can claim more than 70% of the total project costs Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.

1 September 2026: Competition opens 3 September 2026: Online briefing event: watch the recording Briefing slides are available to download from Supporting Information 28 October 2026 11:00am: Competition closes 7 December 2026: Invite to interview 11 January 2027: Interview panel starts 15 January 2027: Interview panel ends 21 January 2027: Applicants notified 1 April 2027: Project start from