Identifying areas of research interest for alternative methods - supporting the Government's strategy

Overview

UKRI Research Councils, Innovate UK and the NC3Rs are working together to deliver the Government’s Replacing Animals in Science strategy. One of the strategy’s deliverables is the publication of a list of Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) for alternative methods, to coalesce UK scientists around these areas and to incentivise partnerships between research organisations, CROs and industry. ‘Alternative methods’ (sometimes called alternative strategies) is a catch-all term, meaning “scientific methods and testing strategies which do not use protected animals, or which (compared to existing scientific methods and testing strategies) use fewer protected animals”. These include in vitro and in silico models.

To help identify ARIs, we are inviting input from members of the research and innovation community. If you would like to propose a research area in which the development or adoption of alternative methods would have significant impact, please complete the form below. Areas identified through this scoping exercise will be discussed at an in-person meeting in Central London on 6^th October. If you are interested in attending the meeting, please indicate this in Question 11. Only those who have completed the form will be able to attend the meeting. Please note that places at the meeting are limited and participants will be selected to ensure broad representation across research areas. Those selected to attend will be notified by email by 5^th September. 

If a large number of EOIs are received and a shortlisting process is required, submissions will be assessed against a range of criteria. This will include factors such as the scale of current animal use, unmet clinical or research need, feasibility of developing or adopting alternative methods and potential scientific, societal and economic impact.

Please note the Expression of Interest should only be completed by researchers, model developers and innovators (from academia and industry) who are actively involved in research that involves non-animal and/or in vivo models.

Your information will not be used/shared for any other purpose without your specific consent. UKRI reserves the right to publish and share anonymized aggregated information with stakeholders. The UKRI privacy notice can be found here: https://www.ukri.org/about-us/privacy-notice/