MRC Gambling Harms Research Grants

MRC Gambling Harms Research Grants

Supports studies on gambling-related harms to inform prevention, treatment, and safer community outcomes.

The Medical Research Council (MRC), alongside the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), is jointly funding a cross-council programme of interdisciplinary research into gambling-related harms. The programme sits within UKRI's broader public health research strategy and is delivered through the UKRI Funding Service. Research must be independent of the gambling industry; organisations holding a gambling licence subject to the statutory levy cannot host an award.

Each project can request up to £2 million at full economic cost (fEC), with UKRI funding 80% of fEC. Projects run for up to three years. International, charity, and government co-investigators are allowed, but their combined costs must not exceed 30% of total project costs. Teams must include diverse disciplinary expertise and the lived experience of gambling harms. Applications follow a two-stage process: expressions of interest (EoI) must be submitted via the UKRI Engagement Hub by 17 July 2026, with full applications invited and due by 8 December 2026. Awards are expected to be announced in July 2027.

The programme is open to UK universities and eligible research organisations; for-profit and individual applicants are excluded. Strong applications will demonstrate genuine cross-disciplinary methodology — spanning biological, psychological, social, and regulatory dimensions of gambling — and explicit independence from industry influence. Teams are encouraged to embed lived-experience contributors from the outset rather than treating them as advisory add-ons. Given the co-funding structure, proposals that can speak to AHRC's interest in cultural and commercial design practices, or ESRC's interest in behavioural and policy levers, alongside MRC's clinical remit, are best positioned to succeed.