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2020 CRACK IT Challenges Competition now open – Invitation to Tender


14 September 2020

UK and EU-based applicants are invited to tender for the 2020 CRACK IT Challenges. The aim of the competition is to develop technologies with potential 3Rs* benefits into new products and methodologies for the biosciences research community. The Challenges are detailed in the Challenge briefs.

The 2020 CRACK IT Challenges competition consists of five Challenges: three Two Phase Challenges and two Single Phase Challenges. All Challenges have been developed jointly by the NC3Rs and Sponsors. The 2020 CRACK IT Challenges competition is funded by the NC3Rs with co-funding from Dstl, EPSRC and Unilever. In-kind contributions are provided by the Sponsors. There are 11 Sponsors: AstraZeneca, Agenda Vets, Bayer AG, CRUK Manchester Institute - University of Manchester, Dstl, GSK, Mary Lyon Centre, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Novartis Pharma AG, The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre (University College London) and Unilever.

The five 2020 Challenges are:

Each of the Two Phase Challenges offers up to £1 million funding and a research contract for up to three years. Each of the Single Phase Challenges offers up to £0.1 million funding and a research contract for up to 1.5 years. The specific budget and duration of each Challenge can be found in the Challenge briefs.

More details on the Challenges, the competition and how to apply can be found on the NC3Rs Innovation platform.

This Invitation to Tender should be read in conjunction with other documents associated with this competition. The Guide for Participants provides further details on the competition and includes the rules applying to Sponsors and applicants.

Open date: 14 September 2020

Close dates: 12.00pm (noon) GMT 5 November 2020 (Two Phase Challenges, Phase 1)

                      12.00pm (noon) GMT 12 November 2020 (Single Phase Challenges)

* The 3Rs: the replacement, refinement and reduction of the use of animals in research and testing.