New Independent Investigator Grant 2026

Rank Prize aims to support researchers at key points in their career.

The New Independent Investigator grant is designed to support researchers in the UK who have gained their first appointment to an independent research position.

The grant (up to £25,000) may be used to carry out pilot studies that help researchers to establish their research niche and that will enhance their competitiveness for future, larger grant applications. Please note that applicants should be in receipt of no greater than £250,000 of current grant funding at the time of the deadline.

Applicants should have a PhD (or equivalent) and be within two years of appointment to their first independent research position at the time of the deadline. Allowances will be made for career breaks and for caring responsibilities. We will consider applications from clinicians in an academic clinical post or supported by an appropriate fellowship. 

The award may be used to purchase equipment, for salary support for an assistant, for research consumables, for access to biobanks/datasets or for other research services. 

The deadline for applications is 23:59 on Monday 14 September 2026. Please note incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed by members of Rank Prize's Nutrition Committee on Wednesday 11 November 2026. These interviews will be held in person in London, so applicants must be available to attend on this date.

Please read the full Terms and Conditions before submitting an application.

If you have any questions or require assistance with your application please contact enquiries@rankprize.org. 

Please submit the following documents as one pdf file in the below order, with the file name surname_NII2026.  All documents should be in size 11 font with reasonable margins.

1. Plan of Investigation (2 pages max.)

2. CV, including details of any grant funding and career breaks (2 pages max.)

3. List of your publications

4. Signed letter on headed paper from your Head of Department or Director of your research organisation confirming that:

i) you meet the criteria given in points 2-6 of the Terms & Conditions

ii) in the event of the application being successful, full research facilities and support will be provided throughout the period of the research

iii) (if applicable) should the applicant be without a contract of
employment extending beyond the period of the proposed grant at the time of application, such a contract will be put in place if the proposal is successful. N.B. those applicants who may fall within this category should contact Rank Prize for confirmation of their eligibility prior to the submission of an application

5. Two letters of support from people who can judge you professionally, signed and on headed paper (1 page each max.)

By signing below you confirm that:

1. You meet the eligibility criteria

2. All information in your application and supporting document is true and correct to the best of your knowledge

3. If successful you will:
i) use the funding as detailed in this application and not for any other purpose
ii) acknowledge the support from Rank Prize in publications resulting from the funded research
iii) update Rank Prize's Nutrition Committee with details of any publications resulting from the funded research
iv) update Rank Prize's Nutrition Committee on your research progress if requested

Privacy Statement

The personal details that you have provided in this application will be treated securely and confidentially and will not be disclosed to any third-party organisations. Rank Prize will retain the information for the purposes of managing this scheme. 

Please email us at enquiries@rankprize.org if you have any concerns or queries about how we use your data.