Grants

This site is intended for healthcare professionals as a useful source of information on the diagnosis, treatment and support of patients with lupus and related connective tissue diseases.

Return to medical home page

Lupus UK is an established grant making charity, recognised by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) as a non-commercial partner funding research of clear value to the NHS as a result of open competition with high quality peer review.

• Lupus UK does not currently fund large-scale trials. The charity will look to support applications which focus on the following:

• Smaller pilot studies, which will lead to applications to major funders for large-scale research trials.

• Enabling grants for basic science support, which would enable larger projects by providing essential data for large grant applications.

• Medical meetings, which would facilitate improvements to the understanding of the causes, prevention and treatment of lupus, and its research.

Lupus UK is willing to work collaboratively with other charities where research interests overlap. Lupus UK will not fund individual institutions, long-term career posts, travel or open access publication costs.

The Lupus UK Grant Application Cover Sheet along with the Lupus UK Conditions of Grant can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. Applications should be submitted by email to [email protected]

Research Funding: Spring 2026 round

• Individual grants are capped at £35,000
• Applications must be received by Lupus UK before 1pm on Thursday 2nd April. The application and related documents, such as grant conditions, can be found in the list of downloads at the end of this page.
• The decision-making meeting will be held in mid-May 2026, and we will aim to advise all applicants of outcome by the end of May or early June.

This will be the only research grant round in 2026. In the second half of the year we will be making needed updates to our research grants paperwork and processes as we work towards full membership of the AMRC. We will make sure to update everyone via our grants mailing list and our website/social media with any new forms and processes in good time for applications in 2027, alongside the dates of future rounds.

If you would like to be advised when future funding rounds are open and receive reminders about deadlines for submission, please subscribe to our mailing list by completing the contact form below:

Lupus UK Grant Application Form (PDF File) (Doc)

Lupus UK Conditions of Grant (PDF File)

About the Lupus UK Scientific & Medical Advisory Panel (PDF File)

Scientific & Medical Advisory Panel Members March 2025 (PDF File)

Lupus UK Grant Scoring System (PDF File)

Lupus UK Research Strategy (PDF File)

Conflict of Interest Policy and Procedure (PDF File)