Long-term funding available for clinically qualified applicants focusing on dementia research alongside new award to advance therapeutic interventions for dementia.

Alzheimer’s Research UK is a UK charity dedicated to funding world-class research to find preventions, treatments and a cure for dementia.

Alzheimer’s Research UK provides Clinical Research Fellowships for clinically qualified applicants focusing on dementia research. Two types of fellowship are offered:

• Doctoral Clinical Fellowships, for clinicians with limited research experience and who do not hold a PhD. The aim is to help clinicians study towards a higher research degree (typically a PhD but independent research programmes are also permitted) to provide them with the research track record, experience, and skills necessary to compete for advanced fellowships, either through Alzheimer’s Research UK or elsewhere.
• Advanced Clinical Fellowships, for clinicians who already hold a PhD and/or have delivered previous dementia research projects. The aim is to support clinical and translational research projects that align with Alzheimer’s Research UK’s strategy, focusing on treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of dementia.

Applicants must be based at a UK research institution, a university or hospital department, or a research council-funded institute; however, the application may also include researchers or institutions from outside the UK.

Fellows are required to have secured a supervisor(s), a senior established investigator(s) in the institution where the fellowship is to be held; however, some Advanced Clinical Fellows may not require a formal supervisor(s), in which case a mentor(s) to support the fellow with their project and clinical-academic career is required.

The maximum value of the award is £400,000 over four years (full-time) for Doctoral fellowships and £750,000 over five years for Advanced fellowships.

Applications for either award should be submitted by 15 October 2026.

In addition, Alzheimer’s Research UK has launched the Clinical Research Award for ambitious investigator-led studies that advance therapeutic interventions for dementia and strengthen the clinical research pipeline.

Awards will support high-quality experimental and clinical research that generates the biological and clinical evidence needed to progress promising therapies toward larger-scale trials and real-world impact. The scheme focuses on developing both treatments and preventative interventions for dementia, including innovative ‘interception’ approaches to stop progression in individuals at increased risk of dementia.

Applicants may request support for investigator-led Experimental Medicine Studies (including phase 1b/2a clinical trials) and added value sub-studies across all phases of clinical trial. Phase 2b trials may be considered depending on expected duration. This flexible structure allows researchers to design projects that address specific scientific and clinical needs, from establishing or utilising valuable biological resources to delivering early-phase investigator-led clinical trials.

Projects must be academically investigator-led and applied for by a UK-based Lead or Joint Lead Applicant, although proposals involving international Joint Lead Applicants or international and/or industry Co-Investigators and Collaborators are welcomed and encouraged.

There is no a specific value or duration limit for the award, this will be evaluated based on the requirements for each study. Applicants are invited to contact Alzheimer’s Research UK to discuss their ideas as early as possible and set out the appropriate duration of their proposal.

Expressions of Interest (EOI) are accepted year-round with selected candidates invited to submit full applications.