MS Society Data Discovery Awards

MS Society Data Discovery Awards

Supports United Kingdom multiple sclerosis prevention research with data-discovery grants in risk and healthcare.

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

The MS Society Data Discovery Awards are an annual grant mechanism of the Multiple Sclerosis Society UK for exploratory, data-driven MS research with a clear data science emphasis. Awards fund up to GBP 100,000 over a maximum two-year project period. The 2026 round opened in October 2025, with a deadline of 12 noon on 10 February 2026 and outcomes expected in August 2026. The 2026 round carried a highlighted thematic focus on MS risk reduction and prevention, though the scheme remains open to other data-science approaches relevant to MS. Applications are strongly encouraged to use the UK MS Register, a longitudinal dataset now comprising over 50,000 participants with MS. Laboratory-based approaches are explicitly out of scope, and applications relating to pharmacological interventions for MS will not be funded.

Eligibility follows the standard MS Society pattern: principal investigators must be based at a recognized UK university or NHS institution. Both junior and established researchers may apply in the lead role. The data science emphasis requirement is mandatory — a project with only incidental data analysis alongside primarily experimental laboratory work would not qualify. The MS Society updated this scheme for the 2025 award cycle; prior to the update, the 2024 success rate was recorded at 100% (2 of 2 funded), which does not reflect typical competition levels under the current scheme design. Applications are submitted and reviewed through the Symplectic Grant Tracker platform, with dual review by expert researchers and lay reviewers from the MS Society Research Network.

The Data Discovery Awards round opens approximately annually in the first quarter of the year; the next round is expected to open around March 2027 under the post-transition schedule. Applicants working with large MS datasets, registry data, electronic health records, or linked data sources should prioritise this scheme over the Project Awards when their work does not involve bench or clinical trial methods. Teams considering use of the UK MS Register should contact the Register team in advance to confirm data access pathways, as the MS Society explicitly recommends this resource in the scheme guidance for 2026.