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This funding competition is now closed
The 2024 CRACK IT Challenges Competition is now open – Invitation to Tender
UK and European based applicants* are invited to tender for the 2024 CRACK IT Challenges. The aim of the competition is to develop technologies with potential 3Rs* benefits into new products and services for the biosciences sector. All documents associated with this competition can be downloaded from the Innovation Platform, these documents should be read in conjunction with this Invitation to Tender.
The 2024 CRACK IT Challenges competition consists of two Challenges: one Two Phase Challenge and one Single Phase Challenge. All Challenges have been developed jointly by the NC3Rs and Sponsors. The 2024 CRACK IT Challenges competition is funded by the NC3Rs. The Challenges are detailed in the Challenge briefs which can be found on the Innovation Platform website.
In-kind contributions are provided by the Sponsors to support delivery of the Challenge. There are six Sponsors: AstraZeneca, BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Corteva, Syngenta and the University of Gothenburg. In addition to these Sponsors the Wings of Challenges is also supported by two Partners who provide additional resources to Challenge winners, including access to a network of potential collaborators. The Partners are: The American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI).
The two 2024 Challenges are:
- Challenge 48 – Wings of Change: Developing NAMs to assess acute and chronic avian toxicity for chemical screening and environmental risk assessment (Two Phase Challenge).
- Challenge 49 – Rodent Shelter: Developing a shelter to refine rodent post-operative care (Single Phase Challenge)
The Wings of Change Two Phase Challenge offers up to £200k funding and a research contract for up to nine months, with the potential to secure further funding of £1.5M for an additional three years. The Single Phase Challenge Rodent Shelter offers up to £150k funding and a research contract for up to two 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:
- Challenge Brief, including key objectives and deliverables.
- Guide for Participants, including assessment criteria.
- Application Forms, including Terms and Conditions.
- Sample Contract.
- FAQs.
Briefing events were held for each of the Challenges for organisations interested in finding out more about the competition and a webinar to respond to potential applicants’ questions and can be found for Wings of Change and Rodent Shelter.
Networking groups for Wings of Change and Rodent Shelter on LinkedIn have been set up for potential applicants to form consortia with other organisations with complementary expertise.
Competition opens: Monday 23 September 2024
Application deadlines: Wings of Change and Rodent Shelter applications: Monday 4 November 2024, 12.00 (noon) GMT
Assessment: November 2024
Contact: crackitenquiries@nc3rs.org.uk
* The competition is open to any UK, European Union, European Economic Area and European Free Trade Association body public or private.
** The 3Rs are the replacement, refinement and reduction of the use of animals in research and testing. The NC3Rs works to pioneer better science through advancing the 3Rs in research.
NC3Rs CRACK IT Challenges are run using Contracts for Innovation. Innovate UK are the custodians of Contracts for Innovation and more information about the mechanism can be found here.