The Christabel Pankhurst Institute has been awarded a second round of funds to support a number of seed corn projects. The aim of this funding is to support multidisciplinary and collaborative research proposals in health technology research and innovation. Applications should be between £10,000-£25,000 GBP. The total amount of funding available is £75,000 GBP and we aim to support as many projects as we can. The funds need to be spent by 31^st July 2024 and there is no flexibility around this.

Eligibility for and terms of the funding are as follows:

• Proposals must have two or three UoM Principal Investigators, with expertise spread across technology research; biology, medicine or health; and humanities/social sciences.
• Proposals must involve collaborators from industry, NHS, social care, and/or public sector, and either create new, or build on existing multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral partnerships.
• Proposals should focus on translational research for health technology (digital health and care, AI, and/or advanced materials).

Please note: The Translation Manchester A2E scheme enables investigators to access necessary technical expertise external to their immediate research group to overcome a bottleneck or hurdle, thereby allowing the research to progress along the translational pathway. In contrast, the Pankhurst Seed Corn Scheme funds translational research carried out by research groups themselves.

• Priority will be given to proposals that address one of our cross-cutting themes (Responsible & Inclusive Innovation; Digital Health Inequities; Translation; Multi-Omic Health Technologies) and leverage existing infrastructure (Greater Manchester Care Record; Digital Health Software Team; NERC Digital Solutions Programme).
• Proposals must clearly define plans for future funding, and a completed funding application must be one of the deliverables of the project.
• Funds cannot be transferred to subcontracting organisations, so any salary costs must be for a named member of UoM research staff. Salary overheads and capital expenditure (e.g. estates and indirect costs) will not be covered by this funding.
• The call is open to all UoM staff.
• Call opens 9 October 2023.
• Submission deadline is Friday 17 November, 5pm GMT.

If you are looking for collaborators, please email pankhurst@manchester.ac.uk before 24 October to describe your expertise, research ideas and interests. We will then facilitate collaborations by identifying and introducing groups of researchers with similar interests.

If you have any questions about this call, please contact Pankhurst Themes & Partnerships Manager, Nicola Telfer, nicola.telfer@manchester.ac.uk.

Please find out more information about the Seed Corn Call here