Diabetes UK Project Grants

Diabetes UK Project Grants

Funds United Kingdom biomedical teams conducting diabetes projects with hypothesis-driven methods.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

Diabetes UK Project Grants are the organisation's flagship research funding mechanism, supporting high-quality, hypothesis-driven diabetes research projects at UK academic institutes and NHS Trusts. Awards of up to £500,000 fund project durations of up to five years, covering eligible staff costs (technicians, postdoctoral researchers, and research assistants — excluding PhD students and PI/co-applicant salaries unless the institution confirms salary dependency), consumables, essential equipment, and justified clinical or secretarial assistance. The scheme runs on an annual cycle; the 2026 application deadline was June 1, 2026, with funding decisions expected in October 2026.

Applicants must hold a tenured post or provide evidence that their salary will be covered for the full grant term; research must be conducted within a UK academic institute or NHS Trust. Only one application per researcher per round is permitted. Two open Highlight Notices accompany the 2026 round, signaling priority interest in: (1) pre-pregnancy interventions for women with previous gestational diabetes, and (2) integration of diabetes technology — including continuous glucose sensors and insulin pumps — in hospital inpatient settings. Proposals addressing these themes may receive additional scrutiny for strategic fit during Research Committee evaluation.

The application process involves external peer review, an applicant rebuttal stage, pre-selection screening, and final evaluation by the Diabetes UK Research Committee on scientific merit, statistical rigour, and potential patient impact. Researchers targeting this grant should design studies with clearly stated hypotheses, powered sample sizes, and an explicit mechanism linking the research question to diabetes outcomes for people living with the condition. Teams should also address the public involvement sections required in the application, as Diabetes UK's Grants Advisory Panel reviews lay summaries. Early-career researchers without tenure should consider the Diabetes UK Small Grants scheme instead.