Peer review and advice service

We work with research funding bodies to embed the 3Rs in their policies and practice. This includes reviewing research proposals and developing guidelines. These activities help to ensure that animal welfare standards are genuinely high and exceed the legal minima, and overseas work is conducted to standards equivalent to those in the UK.

We review grant applications for 28 funding organisations, including members of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), where these propose to use the following species:

• Non-human primates
• Dogs
• Cats
• Equines 
• Pigs (BBSRC and a minority of other funders only).

Other research proposals that raise special concerns can also be referred to the NC3Rs on a case-by-case basis. 

We advise on opportunities to implement the 3Rs, raise specific animal welfare concerns, highlight where good practice is not being adopted, and monitor implementation of specific policies and guidance. This advice is used during decisions on funding and when drafting the terms and conditions of grant awards.

Working with funders, we have published guidelines to promote high standards in the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of animal research. Compliance with the principles in each of the following guidelines is a condition of receiving funds for animal research:

• Responsibility in the Use of Animals in Bioscience Research
• Non-Human Primate Accommodation, Care and Use
• ARRIVE guidelines

Examples of the 3Rs impacts that our review and guidelines have achieved can be found in Table 2 of the NC3Rs Evaluation Framework report.

All researchers funded by the MRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, NERC, NC3Rs, Defra, Wellcome Trust and other AMRC charities, who use animals, are required to implement the guidance ‘Responsibility in the Use of Animals in Bioscience Research’ as a condition of grant funding. A key principle (page 14) is the expectation that research conducted overseas should be carried out to welfare standards consistent with those in the UK.

For studies using non-human primates, cats, dogs or equines, this is assessed during an NC3Rs review of research proposals. 

For studies involving other species, applicants are recommended to complete the following checklist as appropriate, and include it in their application, for consideration by the funder’s review panel:

• Rodents
• Rabbits
• Sheep
• Goats
• Pigs
• Cattle
• Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis
• Zebrafish

Download the checklists

For animal research overseas, some research councils require a signed statement from both the UK and overseas principal investigators – see the MRC and BBSRC websites for details.

There is a wealth of information available on the NC3Rs website to support you in applying the 3Rs and meeting funders’ expectations in this regard. Some key resources are given below.

• Responsibility in the Use of Animals in Bioscience Research
• Non-Human Primate Accommodation, Care and Use
• The ARRIVE guidelines
• The Experimental Design Assistant (EDA)
• 3Rs resources area of the NC3Rs website