Breakthrough T1D UK Small Grant Awards

Introduction

Breakthrough T1D UK Small Grant Awards offer competitive funding to support excellent proposals which meet the following:

• supports the development of early career researchers (basic scientists, clinicians or healthcare professionals including allied health professionals)
• supports new research or innovation with a clear impact pathway that has the potential to deliver significant contribution to the understanding or management of type 1 diabetes
• leads on to further research or clinical practice change
• gathers critical data and resources to make novel research ideas more competitive for larger follow-on funding in the field of type 1 diabetes
• takes into consideration the views and needs of individuals living with type 1 diabetes

Applications need to broadly address Breakthrough T1D’s international research strategy, variances may be considered for projects addressing UK-specific challenges.

Breakthrough T1D UK Small Grant Awards are not intended to top-up an existing grant but sub-studies will be considered if strongly justified.

Call overview

Funder: Breakthrough T1D UK

Deadline: The next call for applications will open on 5 January 2026

Funding: up to £20,000 for basic research and £30,000 for clinical research

Project length: up to 12 months

Notification: Monday 22 June 2026 (subject to changes)

Earliest start date: Monday 3 August 2026

Latest start date: 4 January 2027

Eligibility criteria

Breakthrough T1D UK Small Grant Awards are open to basic scientists (awarded a PhD no more than 10 years before the deadline date), clinicians, healthcare professionals (including allied health professionals) at an early stage of their research career. Applicants may have received previous funding but must not have received any grant worth more than £100,000 as principal investigator, excluding personal fellowships. Allowance will be made for applicants whose career has been subject to mitigating circumstances or interruptions for family or personal reasons.

The principal investigators must be affiliated with UK academic or medical institutions and have a contract of employment which extends beyond the termination date of the award.

The research must be carried out in the UK.

These awards are open for clinical and basic research with equal priority. Preference will be given to collaborative research that can be shown to enhance the potential success of the proposed project.

How to apply?

Applications must be submitted on the Breakthrough T1D UK Small Grant Awards application form 2026. Please ensure that you read the guidelines 2026 and Terms & Conditions 2026 before submitting your proposal.

How will the application be assessed?

The programme involves a one-step assessment process. All applications will be assessed by the Breakthrough T1D Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) to ascertain the merit and potential beneficial outcome of the projects. The SAC includes lived experience members with a connection to type 1 diabetes, healthcare professionals and researchers in equal numbers. It is important to write a clear non-scientific (lay) summary – the assessments of the SAC members with a personnel connection to type 1 diabetes carry the same weight as those of the healthcare professionals and researchers.

The following criteria will be considered during the assessment of the applications:

• Relevance of the project is to individuals living with type 1, their views and their needs
• Clarity of the project question, scientific merit and involvement activities
• Equity, diversity and inclusion considerations
• Applicant’s suitability and track record
• Impact of the project on the applicant’s career
• How the project will be taken forward
• The project’s value for money

Output of the study

A written report will be requested three months after the end of the project including plans to seek further funding / develop the findings from the project. A follow up report will also be requested 18 months after the end of the project including final results, publication(s) resulting from the research, outcomes of applications for future funding or future development and impact on career and personal development.

Patient and Public Involvement

We believe that involving people affected by medical conditions strengthens the quality and relevance of medical research and individuals living with type 1 diabetes are at the heart of what we do at Breakthrough T1D. Therefore, the views and needs of individuals living with type 1 diabetes must be taken in to account as well as how the project may be of benefit to the widest range of people living with, or with a connection to, type 1 diabetes. There are helpful resources on Breakthrough T1D UK’s participation, engagement and involvement page.

Please contact the Breakthrough T1D UK Research Team early at grants@breakthrought1d.org.uk if you need help with involvement.

Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

Diverse and inclusive research is essential for generating more generalisable results and improving healthcare for all individuals living with type 1 diabetes. Please consider EDI in your proposal including any limitations and how you would propose to address these. For example, see the MESSAGE policy framework for sex and gender considerations and the statement of intent for ‘Integrating older age into health and care research’.

Clinical studies

Breakthrough T1D UK is an NIHR RDN Non-commercial Partner. This means the clinical studies that we fund may be eligible to access the NIHR Study Support Service which is provided by the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) within the NHS, and the wider public health and social care environment, across England.

What previous projects have been supported by small grant awards?

2025 saw the funding of projects on the development of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and the body image challenges faced by young women with T1D. The four projects funded in 2024 range from predicting and preventing hypoglycaemia to investigating the protective nature of mesenchymal stromal cell secreted products. You can also read about the three research projects awarded in 2022, or one of the first project that we awarded back in 2021.

Success Rate

Currently 32.5%

Who can I contact if I have questions?

For any enquiries relating to your proposal please contact Breakthrough T1D UK Research Team, at grants@breakthrought1d.org.uk.