Expressions of interest for Medical Bioinformatics – building capability, capacity and infrastructure
The UK has some of the world’s best and most complete medical research and healthcare data including large scale genomic information, complex phenotype data and electronic health records. As the need for large scale data analysis and computational approaches to advance medical research grows, MRC is announcing an investment of £50m to support medical bioinformatics. We need to complement our existing strengths in bioinformatics and our rapidly developing capabilities in health-records based research by building new ways of linking across data and applying new approaches to medical challenges.
Scope
Key areas for funding will include:
- Improving informatics and computational approaches to understanding mechanisms of human disease – from the cellular level through to the whole disease phenotype
- Research linkage between basic genomic information, complex phenotypes, and clinical data sets
- Analytical capabilities tailored to medical research and in particular the challenge of integration across differing degrees of resolution, dynamic scales and heterogeneity of data, and interpretation of very large and rich data sets including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, imaging, population health sciences etc.
Applications should align with, and if possible link to existing initiatives and investments, including the EBI, ELIXIR, the new e-Health Informatics Research Centres and other Funders investments including those of the Department of Health.
Up to £35m capital (for spend in 2014/15) and £15m resource will be available. We expect to provide funding for staff, projects and capability development for up to six, five-year strategic awards. Fellowship funding is also available for recruitment of research leaders of the future in bioinformatics and computational biology. Some capital-only awards may also be made.
Aims
The aims of this initiative are to:
- Help develop stronger research foci in medical bioinformatics, building flexibly on the capabilities already in place in Universities and centres of excellence;
- Support career opportunities for computational scientists, technologists, and programme leaders in medical bioinformatics;
- Develop new infrastructure and tools and increase coordination and sharing of capabilities.
We expect to support a group of strategic awards which are innovative and diverse, but which will coordinate effectively and will contribute to medical research in the UK across institutions, academia, the NHS and industry.
How to apply
We seek Expressions of Interest for innovative multidisciplinary approaches which build UK Medical Bioinformatics capability. Links with NHS and industry, including pharma, biotechnology, and informatics companies are particularly encouraged. MRC particularly welcomes consortium bids and expects strong co-ordination within and across institutions.
Expressions of Interest should set out, in no more than 5-pages:
- Applicant and host institution(s) existing research capability and strategic plans for medical bioinformatics including training, collaborations, partnerships, key areas of research application and methods/ technology development.
- A development strategy which describes important areas for medical bioinformatics development including justification as to why the applicant and institution are best placed to develop specific areas; and how plans coordinate with others nationally and internationally (where appropriate).
- Implementation proposals – including a description of how the institution(s) is supporting informatics careers and training generally; and how complex and interdisciplinary activities will be organised and led. For those applying for fellowship funds an institutional commitment to fund the last 2 years of the fellowship(s)is required.
- Resource and capital budgets. Estimated figures to the nearest £100karerequired across the key cost headings. Please complete and include the costing template provided as an additional 1-page Annex to your Expression of Interest.
Support available
Up to £35m capital (for spend in 2014/15) and £15m resourcewill be available for:
- Post-doctoral and subsequent career appointments for both research scientists and computational (including mathematical / statistical) scientists – including new positions, improved support for existing positions, placements, and training costs.
- New prestigious ‘Medical BioinformaticsFellowships’ (5-7years) for exceptionalpost-doctoral research scientists or early career computational scientists who can demonstrate exceptional capability as potential research leaders of the future.Requests do not need to be authored by a prospective fellow but plans for recruitment and or the skills to be recruited should be explicitly addressed in the application.
- The development of new analytic infrastructure,including technology, software and quantitative methods methodology & tool development– including support for coordination and resource sharing.
- Essential data handling, data access, processing, storage, technical upgrades and accommodation or refurbishment.
- Pump-priming research funding to apply new tools to important biomedical/health questions. Applications normally considered through project and programme funding or methodology applications will not be considered under this call.
There will be no support for PhD studentships through this Initiative. MRC is working in partnership to support PhD skills provision via the EPSRC call for centres for doctoral training in New Mathematics in Biology and Medicine. Applicants may also wish to consider leveraging existing MRC studentship investment to support their strategy for medical bioinformatics.
Assessment
A Steering Group will evaluate the Expressions of Interest for importance, quality, and feasibility and will also consider the need for a balanced portfolio of funding. The Steering Group may limit the number of applications led by institutions or ask groups with similar interests to coordinate.
Given the limited time available for preparation of Expressions of Interest it is recognised that full details, particularly for collaborative/consortia proposals may not be available at the time of submission. Applicants should endeavour to provide a clear and realistic overview of their plans.
Applicants wishing to submit a full application must first submit an Expression of Interest.
Eligibility
This call is open to all research institutions which fulfil RCUK criteria for Research Council funding, including MRC and other research council units and institutes.
Alignment with MRC Special Training Fellowships in Biomedical Informatics
Applications to the existing MRC Special Training Fellowships in Biomedical Informatics scheme will be considered alongside this initiative; including being assessed by the same Assessment Panel in Oct/Nov 2013. MRC expects Institutions submitting an application to Medical Bioinformatics strategic initiative to incorporate plans for supporting individual fellows within their bids. However, it is recognised that in exceptional cases an individual may not align with an Institution’s proposal e.g. if a “capital only” bid is proposed.
Applicants considering submitting an individual Special Training Fellowship application must confirm if their Institution is preparing a bid to the Medical Bioinformatics strategic initiative. If yes, individuals and Institutions will be expected to clearly justify why the proposed fellowship award is distinct but complementary to the strategic initiative bid.
Further guidance on how to submit an individual fellowship application is available via the Fellowship webpage. Please note that individual fellowship applicants are NOT expected to submit an Expression of Interest.
Deadlines
Applicants will be informed of the Expressions of Interest Steering Group’s recommendations during the week following the meeting. Please note that invited applicants will have approximately 6 weeks to prepare and submit their full proposals. It is recommended that applicants continue to develop their plans whilst Expressions of Interest applications are being considered.
Submitting your Expression of Interest
Please submit your 5 page Expression of Interest, plus 1 page costs Annex as a Word document to:
Contact and guidance
All questions relating to the objectives of the call and the application process should be discussed with:
Dr Rhoswyn Walker, Programme Manager
Telephone: 0207 395 2228
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