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NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) are frequently confused with NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) — both are long-term, regionally sited NIHR infrastructure awards rather than project grants — but they fund a genuinely different stage and type of research. Where a BRC funds early-stage experimental medicine at a single NHS-university site, an ARC funds applied health and care research addressing the needs of local populations and health systems, organised across a defined UK region rather than a single host institution.
What an ARC is and what changed in 2026
NIHR Applied Research Collaborations deliver applied health and care research that addresses the needs of local populations and health and care systems, while remaining scalable across the country. ARCs are local partnerships involving NHS providers, universities, charities, local authorities, Health Innovation Networks, and other system partners — a deliberately wider partner base than a BRC’s NHS-trust-plus-university structure. As of the current funding round, eleven ARCs have been awarded a total of £170 million over five years, running from 1 April 2026. This is a change from the previous funding cycle, which supported a larger network of around 15 ARCs; research administrators who worked with the earlier structure should confirm current regional coverage before assuming a prior ARC boundary or partnership still applies.
What the current ARC funding is meant to deliver
The 2026 ARC award round sets out six explicit aims for the eleven funded collaborations:
- Identify, develop, and deliver high-quality applied health, public health, and social care research that tackles the UK’s healthcare challenges, particularly in under-represented areas;
- Provide greater resource and expertise to support implementation of effective interventions and models of care into practice, working closely with system partners;
- Provide enhanced health economic expertise so the economic impact of evidence is better understood to support efficiency and growth decisions;
- Collaborate with commercial companies to evaluate and implement new NHS treatments and technologies, supporting UK economic growth;
- Speed up the implementation of research findings through knowledge mobilisation; and
- Address health inequalities by embedding inclusive approaches across all projects.
This aim set is itself a useful signal of how ARCs differ from a standard research grant: implementation, health economics, and knowledge mobilisation are named funding priorities in their own right, not secondary outputs of a study designed primarily to answer a scientific question.
The eleven current ARCs and their regional focus
Each ARC covers a defined region and sets its own research themes within the national aims above. The current network covers East of England, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Kent Surrey and Sussex, London, North East and North Cumbria, South West, North West Coast, Thames Valley, Wessex, and Yorkshire and Humber. Themes vary by region — for example, ARC Greater Manchester’s themes include strengthening communities and work, health and productivity, while ARC North West Coast’s include population health and prevention alongside a digital-focused “Analogue2Digital” workstream — reflecting each ARC’s mandate to address the specific health and care challenges of its own population rather than a single national research agenda.
How ARCs relate to Integrated Care Systems and Health Innovation Networks
ARCs are structured to work closely with the NHS’s regional planning and innovation infrastructure. Since March 2024, ARCs have paired with their local Health Innovation Networks on projects addressing significant local health-system issues, testing and evaluating approaches within their local Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). For a research administrator, this means an ARC is often the most direct NIHR-funded route into a regional implementation or health-economics collaboration with ICS partners — a connection that neither a standard NIHR project grant nor a BRC is specifically structured to provide.
Frequently asked questions
How is an ARC different from an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre?
An ARC funds applied health and care research — implementation, health economics, knowledge mobilisation, and addressing local population needs — across a defined region and a wide partner base. A BRC funds early-stage experimental medicine research infrastructure at a single NHS-trust-and-university site. They are complementary parts of NIHR’s infrastructure portfolio, not alternative names for the same funding.
How many ARCs are there, and how much funding do they receive?
As of the current round (from 1 April 2026), eleven ARCs have been awarded a total of £170 million over five years. This followed an earlier structure of around 15 ARCs; the exact number and regional boundaries have changed between funding cycles, so confirm the current network before referencing a specific ARC’s coverage.
Can an individual researcher apply directly to an ARC for project funding?
ARC funding itself is awarded to the regional partnership, not to individual investigators as a standing open call. Researchers typically engage with their local ARC through its own funding opportunities, studentships, or collaborative projects, which vary by region — check the specific ARC’s own site for current opportunities.
