Project Grants in Child Health: Applications are invited across the breadth of Action’s remit to prevent and treat disease and disability by funding vital medical research in hospitals or research institutions across the UK. This call includes the opportunity to apply for co-funded awards for translational research with Borne, Cystic Fibrosis Trust and The Waterloo Foundation.

Applications open: December 2025

Outline application deadline: 17 February 2026, 5pm

Full applications invited: April 2026              

Full application deadline: 9 June 2026        

Decision: Late November 2026

Awards: December 2026/January 2027

Project Grants in Ataxia-Telangiectasia: Action Medical Research and Action for A-T invite applications for translational medical research projects that have the potential to treat or enable medical interventions for Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T) in childhood.

Applications open: 15 December 2025

Outline deadline: 28 January 2026, 5pm

Full applications invited: Early February 2026

Full application deadline:17 March 2026

Decision: July 2026

Awards: From August 2026

Funding type: Project grant, up to 36 months duration

Number of awards: Up to 10 awards

Open: December 2024

Outline applications deadline: 11 February 2025 5pm

Decision: November 2025

Award: December 2025/January 2026

This is an open competition round across our full remit. 

As part of this round, there are also opportunities for potential joint awards with Borne, Cystic Fibrosis Trust and DEBRA

 Call opened:  December 2023

Outline deadline:  Tuesday 27 February by 5pm

Full application deadline:  June 2024

Full outcome expected:  by the end of 2024

Joint translational funding from Action Medical Research and LifeArc

Action Medical Research and LifeArc want to improve the lives of children suffering from rare disease and are working together to co-fund translational, rare disease research projects. Co-funding aims to accelerate promising, cutting-edge medical research that could have a significant impact on the treatment of infants, children and young people (CYP) with any of the >7000 heterogeneous conditions collectively called ‘rare disease’.

Remit

The joint fund will be used to support biomedical research projects from across the UK that have moved beyond a basic understanding of rare disease mechanisms into the development of an intervention (therapeutic, diagnostic, or device).

Call opened:  Early May 2023

Outline deadline:  Wednesday 14 June 2023 by 5pm

Full application deadline:  November 2023

Full outcome expected:  Summer 2024

Action Medical Research and LifeArc want to improve the lives of children suffering from rare disease and are working together to co-fund translational, rare disease research projects. Co-funding aims to accelerate promising, cutting-edge medical research that could have a significant impact on the treatment of infants, children and young people (CYP) with any of the >7000 heterogeneous conditions collectively called ‘rare disease’.

Remit

The joint fund was used to support biomedical research projects from across the UK that have moved beyond a basic understanding of rare disease mechanism into the development of an intervention (therapeutic, diagnostic, or device).

Call opened: 12 May 2022

Full outcomes: Summer 2023

This was an open competition round across our full remit. 

As part of this round, there were also opportunities for potential joint awards with Borne.

Please scroll further down for information on the joint award opportunities including the call with Borne. There was a separate outline form for this part of the call.

Call opened: January 2022

Outline deadline: Tuesday 22 March 2022 by 5pm

Full application deadline: July 2022

Full outcome: November 2022 to January 2023