£20,000 prize available for research with 3Rs impact

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is seeking nominations for its 2011 3Rs prize, which has a total value of £20,000.

This annual award is given for a piece of primary research published in any peer reviewed journal in the last three years (between September 2008 and September 2011) that significantly advances, or has the potential to advance, one or more of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction or Refinement). It is open to UK-based researchers in academia or industry.

The prize is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and consists of an £18,000 grant and a £2,000 personal award.

The deadline for applications is 25 November 2011 and the prize is awarded in January at a high-profile ceremony in London.

Research with potential to advance the 3Rs can come from many scientific disciplines; hence NC3Rs welcomes nominations from any peer-reviewed journal.

Past winners have included papers from Nature Methods, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Cellular Microbiology and Parasitology. Examples of topics covered include new ways of handling laboratory mice to reduce stress; a method for developing embryonic stem cells that could reduce the numbers of animals required for the creation of genetically altered mice used to study diabetes; and the use of retinal tissue culture to replace the need for experiments on live animals in developing glaucoma treatments.

Read more about the prize and the nomination process.

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