Gambling Harms Research Grants
Supports United Kingdom teams tackling gambling-related harms, funding interdisciplinary studies and practical interventions through UKRI cross-council grants.
The Gambling Harms Research Grants 2026 is a cross-council funding call administered jointly by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as lead, alongside ESRC and MRC, drawing on UKRI's cross-cutting pooled funding. The call seeks interdisciplinary, team-based research addressing any question that deepens understanding or supports solutions for the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. Individual applications are not in scope; the programme explicitly requires diverse teams that include people with lived experience of gambling harms alongside academic researchers.
The maximum award is £2,000,000 at full economic cost over up to three years, with UKRI funding 80% of FEC and the lead institution covering the remaining 20%. The opportunity enters a pre-announcement phase on 21 September 2026, with an expression of interest deadline of 17 July 2026 at 4pm and a full application deadline of 8 December 2026 at 4pm. The project lead must be at a UK institution with standard UKRI eligibility — higher education providers, UKRI institutes, independent research organisations, or public-sector research establishments. Co-leads from charities, government departments, and international organisations are permitted under standard UKRI policies. Crucially, applications from organisations holding a Gambling Commission licence subject to the statutory research levy are prohibited.
The interdisciplinary framing — spanning arts and humanities, social science, and medical research — means consortia that can credibly integrate qualitative, quantitative, and clinical perspectives are strongly positioned. The two-stage process (expression of interest followed by full application) allows the UKRI panel to focus detailed assessment on the strongest concepts. Teams should clearly articulate how lived experience holders are embedded in the research design rather than treated as advisory additions, as this is an explicit programme requirement.
Research deepening understanding of or developing solutions for preventing and treating gambling-related harms. Interdisciplinary approaches welcomed.
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