Parkinson's UK / MRC Jointly Funded Fellowships

Parkinson's UK / MRC Career Development Award

Funds joint Parkinson's United Kingdom and Medical Research Council career development fellowships for independent-ready researchers in the United Kingdom.

The Parkinson's UK / MRC Career Development Award is a jointly funded five-year fellowship for researchers at a career transition point toward independence in Parkinson's disease science. Parkinson's UK co-funds one slot per year within the Medical Research Council's standard Career Development Award scheme, administered by MRC through the UKRI portal. The MRC CDA carries no published funding ceiling — applicants may request what the work requires — and the fellowship duration is five years. The 2026 deadline for this Parkinson's UK-tagged slot is 15 September 2026, with an earlier MRC round deadline of 21 April 2026 also available.

Applications are submitted through the MRC's standard UKRI grants portal; the Parkinson's UK co-funding element requires applicants to include a Parkinson's UK joint funding form and a cover letter with their UKRI submission. Lead applicants must be based at a UK university, research institute, NHS Trust, or statutory social care organisation. The MRC manages all aspects of application review and award, with Parkinson's UK contributing funding for the Parkinson's-relevant slot. Research scope covers any area of Parkinson's disease science, consistent with MRC CDA thematic breadth.

Only one fellowship per year is co-funded by Parkinson's UK through this mechanism, making competition for the Parkinson's-specific slot considerably more intense than for MRC CDA slots generally. Applicants should contact the Parkinson's UK research grants team before applying to confirm the tagged slot has not already been committed in a given year. Strong candidates will present a compelling case for why the five-year fellowship period is the right vehicle for their specific Parkinson's research programme, with clear milestones and a pathway to independent group leadership by the end of the award.