Latest news from the NC3Rs: February 2022

Our website has recently undergone a major refresh, as well as a system upgrade. We have taken this opportunity to really think about how we present our information and resources, and we hope this has resulted in a site that is easy to navigate, helping you find the most relevant 3Rs information for your role or your project.

Is your research making a big difference to the 3Rs?

This year's International 3Rs Prize is now open for applications from anyone who has published an outstanding paper with demonstrable 3Rs impacts in the last three years. This globally recognised award is sponsored by GSK and consists of a £28k prize grant and a £2k personal award.

To be considered for this year’s award, complete and submit the short application form describing your work, its 3Rs and scientific impacts, and how you would use the prize grant. We welcome submissions of papers where the main purpose of the research was to achieve a 3Rs impact, as well as those where the 3Rs impacts were a secondary benefit.

If so, we would like to learn about your experiences of implementing the 3Rs and non-animal approaches within the quality control and batch/lot release testing of biological products. Please take 30 minutes to fill in our survey on the 3Rs impacts you have achieved, barriers you have experienced and any future opportunities. Your responses will inform our wider programme of work on reviewing animal use requirements in WHO guidelines on biologicals testing.

Does your organisation have a great idea to drive innovation in research and development and have a real-world impact on the 3Rs? If you are interested in submitting it for this year’s CRACK IT Challenges funding competition, the deadline to do so is fast approaching.

As a CRACK IT Challenge Sponsor, your organisation will set a scientific challenge to develop a product that solves an unmet need in bioscience using 3Rs approaches, providing co-funding or in-kind support. In return, you will be able to provide end-user input and receive early access to the new technologies developed through your Challenge.

Our funding schemes aim to support the scientific community to develop, validate and apply 3Rs methods, tools and technologies. In our latest report, we present data from the 2021 researchfish submission in conjunction with data from our portfolio to highlight the outcomes and impacts arising from NC3Rs response-mode funding.

We are pleased to announce we have awarded four new Training Fellowships, a commitment of over £0.5M, to support promising 3Rs-minded early career researchers. Our Training Fellowship scheme was launched in 2016 and has now supported over 20 Fellows to establish their research careers and acquire skills relevant to the 3Rs.

Wednesday 23–Thursday 24 February

In collaboration with the British Toxicology Society and the Health and Safety Executive’s Chemicals Regulation Division, we are hosting a two-day virtual workshop to raise awareness of new approach methodologies (NAMs). The workshop will explore how regulatory application and acceptance of these tools can be increased by overcoming the most significant barriers to their implementation. The workshop will be relevant for academic, regulatory and industry scientists with an interest in the development and application of NAMs.

Have a burning question about the design of your next study? The next virtual demonstrations of our Experimental Design Assistant (EDA) tool will take place on Wednesday 30 March and Thursday 26 May with limited spaces allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. During the sessions Dr Esther Pearl (NC3Rs) will show how the EDA can help researchers at any level design robust in vivo experiments that are more likely to give reproducible results, followed by a Q&A session.

We are hosting a series of regional workshops for biologicals manufacturers, regulators and other relevant stakeholders to share their perspective on how wider application of the 3Rs could impact the quality control and batch release testing of biologicals globally. The outputs from these workshops will inform recommendations we make to the WHO on implementing the 3Rs in their guidelines. Two workshops are currently scheduled for Europe and Asia, with additional workshops being developed for Africa and Pan-America.

A new and improved dietary treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy has recently been approved for use in patients, and it all started with a 3Rs method developed by molecular cell biologist Professor Robin Williams at Royal Holloway University of London. In this blog post we catch up with Robin to learn more about this success and how it began with an NC3Rs Project grant in 2009.

Wednesday 23 February, 11am–4:15pm (GMT)

The use of fish in research and testing is rapidly increasing globally, and there is now widening recognition of the need to minimise harms and improve welfare. This free online event, led by the RSPCA, will bring together experts to share cutting-edge knowledge and approaches to refining fish use, showing how this enhances both animal welfare and translatability.

FRAME are currently recruiting volunteers for a new Scientific Advisory Panel to support their work on replacement and reduction. This opportunity is open to both experienced academics and early career researchers – the minimum requirement is a PhD and authorship on a published paper in a relevant area, and expertise in a range of scientific disciplines is welcome. The role will include reviewing grant application proposals, proofreading reports, and providing advice or guidance on scientific queries.