Pre-announcement: MRC Partnership Grant: Applicant-Led

About this grant

Apply for funding to support partnerships to carry out novel collaborative activities between a team of researchers.

Eligibility requirements

All of the following criteria must be met:

• Must be employed by an eligible research organisation

What the funding covers

• Support for partnerships to carry out novel collaborative activities
• Collaborative research between teams of researchers

How to apply

1. 1Module 1 — Problem / Need Case: Use across Q9, Q13, Q14, Q20. Include market failure or adoption barrier, regulatory drivers (IMO, UK Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, FuelEU Maritime etc.), existing technology gaps, and why now. Strong evidence includes TAM/SAM/SOM, end-user pain quantified, competitor benchmark, and adoption barriers explicitly mapped.
2. 2Module 2 — Innovation / Technical Case: Use across Q10, Q11, Q18. Cover baseline TRL, innovation delta versus state-of-the-art, technical architecture, demonstration hypothesis, success metrics, and freedom to operate/IP. Include TRL progression plan, validation protocol, regulatory pathway, and energy supply assumptions.
3. 3Module 3 — Environmental Impact Case: Critical for CMDC7. Include well-to-wake GHG methodology, counterfactual baseline, annual MtCO2eq reduction, pollutants (NOx, CH4, N2O, NH3 slip where relevant), and sensitivity analysis. Assessors like conservative assumptions, scenario ranges, fleet adoption model, and clear equation logic in appendix.
4. 4Module 4 — Commercialisation Case: Use for Q13–16, Q20–21. Include route to market, business model, customer commitments or LOIs, revenue model, export opportunity, and UK supply chain impact. Show how grant accelerates deployment and why private capital alone will not fund this stage.
5. 5Module 5 — Consortium Credibility Case: Use for team/resources and interview. Demonstrate why the consortium is uniquely positioned, end-user pull, delivery track record, roles by work package, and partner complementarities. A consortium map graphic helps.
6. 6Module 6 — Delivery / Governance Case: Use for Q17–18. Prepare work packages, Gantt, milestones, risk register, stage gates, decision governance, and regulatory engagement plan. Assessors like clear go/no-go points, quantified risks and contingencies.
7. 7Module 7 — Knowledge Sharing / Sector Impact: For Q19. Include open data or non-confidential dissemination, standards engagement, replication pathway, lessons-learned package for sector, and contribution to UK clean maritime leadership.
8. 8Module 8 — Value for Money Case: For Q21. Show why grant ask is minimum necessary, leverage ratio (private/public), cost per tonne CO2 abated if possible, spillover benefits, and UK economic return.
9. 9Critical Success Factor 1: Demonstrable novelty — comparative proof, not claims. Show quantified performance improvements and what constraints existing solutions fail to solve.
10. 10Critical Success Factor 2: Robust emissions evidence — baseline emissions minus project emissions multiplied by realistic deployment assumptions equals abatement. Make methodology explicit.
11. 11Critical Success Factor 3: Regulatory pathway — show engagement with MCA, class societies, port authorities, flag/state requirements, and certification route.
12. 12Critical Success Factor 4: Credible offtake demand — demo without users scores badly. Include end users in consortium, LOIs/MOUs and utilisation assumptions.
13. 13Critical Success Factor 5: Public funding additionality — prove why grant funding is needed, what would not happen without it, and how funding de-risks and accelerates commercialisation.

Application tips