Latest news from the NC3Rs: February 2025

Have you published a paper in the past three years that could have, or is already having, a major 3Rs impact? Whether the 3Rs were the primary focus of your work or a secondary benefit you could be eligible for the 3Rs Prize. Sponsored by GSK and consisting of a £2k personal award and a £28k prize grant to further the 3Rs impact of the winning research, this prestigious annual award is now live. Wherever you are in the world, and whatever your field of research, scientists in academia or industry are encouraged to apply.

Eight teams have begun their BBSRC-NC3Rs ICURe Explore market exploration programme to commercialise their bioscience technology with 3Rs potential. During the 12-week programme teams will engage with potential customers, regulators and supply chains and learn how to maximise the 3Rs impact of their work. Find out more about the 3Rs technologies and hear from some of the awardees as they kick-started their commercialisation journey.

The use of animals in research is considered to have a significant environmental impact but some replacement approaches may conflict with sustainability principles – for example, increased single use plastics and the energy demands of computational projects. Supported by an Advisory Group of experts in research sustainability, funding policy and animal facility management, we have launched a project to assess the environmental impact of animal facilities, identify opportunities to reduce carbon emissions and build the evidence base to compare the sustainability of different approaches. 

Building on a successful proof-of-concept phase, a team led by Dr Torsten Mayr at PyroScience AT GmbH is continuing work on the SensOoChip mega CRACK IT Challenge to remove barriers to the wider use of organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technologies to replace animals in research and safety testing. This funding will support the integration of sensors into a connected heart and liver OoC system for real-time multiparametric monitoring and incorporate in silico approaches to analyse and model data.

Wednesdays 13.00 – 14.20 (GMT)/14.00 – 15.20 (CET)
Join us on Wednesday afternoons for the next month to learn more about non-animal approaches in the top four highest areas of animal use for basic research in the UK and Europe. Organised by The Togeth3R Consortium of European 3Rs Centres the series will showcase the efforts across Europe to deliver better science and replace animal models. This series is drawing a lot of interest and events are likely be oversubscribed – register now to secure your place.

Wednesday 5 March 16.00 – 18.00 (GMT)
Our Experimental Design Assistant (EDA) tool helps researchers at any level design robust in vivo experiments. During this interactive session Dr Esther Pearl (NC3Rs Programme Manager for Experimental Design) will give a live demonstration of the EDA before answering your questions and providing personalised feedback as you design your own experiment.