OASIS Hub member on optical imaging
The Oasis Hub is delighted to launch our inaugural Pump Priming Funding Call, focused on proposals for projects with a value of up to £80,000 (inclusive of VAT) and of a duration of 6 to 12 months.
Eligilibility
For this first call, lead applicants (principal investigators) must be an academic from one of the OASIS Hub or Spoke institutions; these are UCL, Imperial, Cambridge, Kent, Nottingham, Exeter, QMUL, and Bristol.
Individuals may submit one application as the lead applicant per funding call, but there is no limit on the number of applications submitted per organisation.
Scope
Projects must align with the OASIS aim of developing new minimally invasive imaging devices and analysis tools for diagnosis and surgery. Example topics include (but are not limited to):
Computational methods
Data standardisation and annotation
Phantoms and validation strategies
Novel data generation
Novel imaging methods, devices and integration projects
Novel application areas
We expect that funded activities will benefit the OASIS Hub and the national community working in this area.
Requested Resources
Eligible Costs
Staff salaries, including associated overheads
Travel and subsistence, specifically related to the requested project
Other direct costs (materials, consumables, facility fees, etc)
Ineligible Costs
Any costs related to studentships
Capital or infrastructure equipment
Other indirect or estates costs
All costing will follow the UKRI rules for full economic costing (fEC).
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)
OASIS are committed to championing PPIE, thus ensuring co-creation and co-delivery of activities to evolve technologies that are fit for purpose. We have additional funds available on request to support public engagement work.
We encourage projects to consider PPIE in their proposals and to discuss your plans in advance with Simon Watt, the OASIS Hub Public Engagement Manager.
Reporting
Successful applicants will need to submit a final report and present at a Hub Day or an Investigators Meeting.
Review Process
A minimum of two members of our Hub Investigators Board will review each application and score it against the application form sections. These are:
Novelty and Strategic Fit
Multi-disciplinarity, Collaboration and Future Community Benefits
Clinical Translation and Innovation
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement
Justification of Resources and Any Related Funding
Submission
Applicants will need to complete the OASIS Pump Priming Funds Application Form and submit it to oasishub@ucl.ac.uk by 23:00, Tuesday 24 March 2026.
For more details regarding the application and eligibility, please see our guidance document.
Contact
If you have any inquiries, please email Dr Su-Lin Lee at oasishub@ucl.ac.uk.
About us
The OASIS Hub is an EPSRC-funded six-year programme led by UCL, working closely with the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, that aims to develop new low-cost, portable devices to identify and visualise cancer using optical, acoustic and photoacoustic imaging.
The hub brings together partners from across academia, industry and the NHS to accelerate the development and clinical use of these technologies. It will pave the way for clinical trials and establish new datasets with the aim of making effective and less invasive interventions available to everyone in the UK.