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Our CRACK IT Challenges open innovation funding competition connects industry, academics and SMEs to develop and commercialise 3Rs tools and technologies. Previous Challenges have delivered 21 products and services to improve research and deliver 3Rs impacts across the life science sector. As we open the call for 2025 CRACK IT Challenge ideas, we sat down with the Chair of our CRACK IT Advisory Panel, Professor Mike Capaldi, to discuss innovation and the 3Rs.
We started by asking Mike what CRACK IT offers Challenge Sponsors. “CRACK IT has consistently demonstrated that by bringing together key stakeholders around specific scientific questions, we can deliver real impacts on both science and the 3Rs,” Mike says. “Sponsors are the backbone of the Challenges; their expertise and commitment drive innovation in each project”
Sponsors shape Challenges from the very beginning by submitting an idea to the open call to address an area of unmet need. They are engaged throughout the project lifetime, working with the NC3Rs to define the aims and deliverables and providing in-kind contributions to support the development of a new 3Rs technology. CRACK IT has worked with 47 Sponsor organisations from across the bioscience sector including the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, research charities and academia. Teams working to solve the Challenge collaborate directly with Sponsors to develop new commercial applications for their research that are fit-for-purpose and meet market demand. Meanwhile, Sponsors have the opportunity to shape a tool, product or service that tackles a scientific challenge their sector is facing and gain early access to the technology.
“It’s not just another grant,” Mike explains. “CRACK IT supports innovators to take the opportunity to apply their technologies and approaches to address a key scientific question and deliver real value.”
The 2025 open call invites experts from across the scientific community to propose Challenge ideas that have the potential to deliver real-world 3Rs impacts. Mike highlights the multidisciplinary nature of the competition: “This aspect encourages scientists with different expertise to come together and develop technologies and approaches relevant to key 3Rs issues affecting the community.”
Find out more about Sponsoring a CRACK IT Challenge.
For the 2025 open call we are looking for ambitious Challenges that harness the potential of scientific advances to deliver 3Rs benefits. Two of our biggest Challenges to date, Virtual Second Species and SensOoChip, are driving innovation to replace animal use in toxicity assessment through machine learning in silico models and microphysiological systems respectively. “Emerging areas of science such as the rapid advancements in complex in vitro models and artificial intelligence are exciting areas that have the potential to revolutionise how we assess the safety of products and reduce our reliance on animals. Sponsors can work with us to identify key bottlenecks where these kinds of technologies can make a real difference.”
Post-Challenge, contractors have access to our Business Growth Scheme, which provides further funding and support to maximise their business strategy for near-market ready 3Rs products and services. As Dean of Innovation and Business at Newcastle University, Mike is well aware of the need to bridge the gap between product development and commercialisation “These Challenges are meeting the need for investment to deliver impactful solutions at scale.”
We are looking forward to exploring new ideas and opportunities for innovation in our 2025 competition and connecting more Sponsors and innovators with our Advisory Panel to improve R&D in the life sciences and deliver 3Rs impacts. As the 2025 Challenge process begins, Mike sees even greater potential for the programme: “We are at an exciting time,” he notes. “With the right investment, we can take CRACK IT to the next level and achieve even more impacts on science and the 3Rs”.
Find out more about our previous Challenges or email the CRACK IT team with your questions and Challenge ideas: crackitenquires@nc3rs.org.uk.