Grants
Project Award
Grant amount:
Up to £500K
Grant deadline:
21 October 2026
The Alzheimer’s Research UK Project Award support ambitious, hypothesis-driven research projects that address well-defined questions in dementia research. It is intended to support studies that are ready to move beyond initial exploratory research and deliver meaningful advances.
Overview
With funding of up to £500,000 over up to four years, this scheme supports established researchers to lead substantial research projects with clear objectives and measurable outcomes. Projects should be grounded in strong scientific rationale and supported by appropriate preliminary data.
Funding can also support an integrated PhD scholarship, provided proposals are supported by appropriate doctoral training plans and students are provided with equal access to doctoral support as their peers at the Institution.
What we aim to support
We are seeking proposals that:
- Advance understanding in areas related to dementia research such as disease mechanisms, diagnosis and prevention
- Address important and clearly defined questions in dementia research
- Are driven by robust hypotheses and supported by preliminary evidence
- Deliver tangible outputs within the lifetime of the award
Duration: Up to 4 years
Deadlines
Applications open
July 2026
Deadline
21 October 2026
Funding outcome
Spring 2027
Lead Applicants must be based in a UK university, hospital or research institution. However, applications can include Co-applicants (i.e. Co-Investigators and Collaborators) from outside the UK. Co-Investigators and Collaborators from small and medium enterprises are also permitted.
The Lead Applicant is expected to have a contract (fixed term or tenure) which covers the proposed duration of the grant. Alzheimer's Research UK can support the salaries of Co-applicants that do not have tenure or fixed term contracts but not to Lead Applicants. If the Lead Applicant does not hold a tenure appointment, the application must include a Joint Lead Applicant that does.
In addition, Co-applicants can include:
- Joint Lead Applicant(s): Someone who will give equal intellectual input and time as the Lead Applicant to the project. Together with the Lead Applicant, any Joint Lead Applicants will be responsible for the success of the project. Any Joint Lead Applicant(s) and the Lead Applicant will be recognised with equal status
- Co-Investigator(s): Someone who will give substantial intellectual input and time to the project, for example by leading a specific aim or work package, and who is responsible alongside the Lead Applicant and any Joint Lead Applicant(s) for the success of the project
- Collaborator(s): Someone who is important for the completion of the project, for example by supplying specific expertise or special materials, but are not responsible for the success of the project
Administrative Support: One Administrative Support contact may be invited to your application to help provide your budget information.
Applications are considered once a year and must be submitted through our grants management system, Flexigrant.
The Lead Applicant must assume responsibility for submitting the application on Flexigrant and your Host Institution, via your Administrative Support contact, must be ready to approve the submission before the deadline.
Please read our research guidelines and policies before applying.
Alzheimer’s Research UK Project Award applications are assessed by the Alzheimer's Research UK Research Committee.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities and complies with their guidelines for best practice in expert review.
Grants will be awarded on the basis of open competition with reviewers being asked to assess applications based on three key criteria:
- The excellence of the science, and the potential for impact in the field and people affected by dementia
- The skills and expertise of the applicants, and the suitability of the team and environment that surround them
- How well the proposal meets the scheme criteria, and whether the resources requested are justified
In addition, all applications are reviewed by our Lived Experience Involvement Group, based on three key criteria:
- Potential impact for people with or affect by dementia
- The quality of the Plain English Proposal, including Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Plans
- The quality of the Plain English Summary
All applications are shortlisted via a triage process. If you application is successfully shortlisted, you will be given the opportunity to respond to preliminary reviewer comments with a written response.
This response, together with your application and the comments of Lived Experience Reviewers, will be considered at a meeting of the Research Committee. The Research Committee makes funding recommendation to Alzheimer’s Research UK based on our Scoring System. Alzheimer’s Research UK make all final funding decisions.
All applications that are successfully shortlisted, will receive feedback from the Committee. Unfortunately, applications that are not shortlisted, will only receive preliminary review comments and a rebuttal cannot be considered.
Please note that all Alzheimer’s Research UK funding decisions are final, and Alzheimer’s Research UK does not accept resubmissions, unless invited by the Committee.
Grants are awarded as per our general grant conditions that are updated time to time. In addition, additional conditions may be placed on a grant.
All grant holders are expected to report on the progress of their project on a regular basis. Read more about our reporting requirements on the measuring impact page.
All applications submitted to Alzheimer’s Research UK are subject to the policies found in our research guidelines and policies.
Please ensure you familiarise yourself with these policies and contact research@alzheimersresearchuk.org with any queries.