Medical Research Scotland

Medical Research Scotland, Scotland’s largest independent medical research charity, drives health and wellbeing improvements by funding high-quality, innovative research in Scottish universities and institutions. Its core values emphasize scientific excellence, rigorous peer review, talent nurturing across career stages, and public education to inspire future researchers. Believing superior science unlocks disease understanding, better diagnostics, treatments, and medical technologies, they prioritize early-stage projects catalyzing major breakthroughs, career development, and Scotland’s research ecosystem through partnerships fostering impactful medical innovation.

They support broad medical and health sciences research spanning biology, chemistry, physics, and medical engineering, funding PhD studentships equipping early-career researchers with skills for disease mechanism studies, undergraduate vacation scholarships sparking research interest among students, early career researcher grants enabling pilot and proof-of-concept investigations into diagnostics, therapies, and technologies addressing complex health needs, chronic conditions, mental health disorders, disabilities, and innovative interventions. Daphne Jackson Fellowships aid scientists returning after career breaks to resume high-impact work on patient-centered advancements like novel treatments for autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, ADHD, physical disabilities, or age-related diseases. Educational outreach via nationwide school initiatives like Meet the Researcher Showcase engages young people, promoting STEM pathways, evidence-based discovery, and holistic health research ecosystems without disease-specific restrictions, aiming to generate foundational evidence for scalable therapies, preventative strategies, and global health gains.

Exclusions include core funding, unrestricted support, capital projects, emergency relief, indirect costs, or overheads, focusing solely on direct research expenses for early-stage, innovative science. Distinctive as a generalist funder nurturing talent from undergraduates to returners, they prioritize Scotland-based academic and clinical researchers driving patient care advancements, career sustainability, and public health innovation, valuing evidence-based, high-potential projects over established or incremental work, with no emphasis on direct service delivery, community programs, or non-research activities.