To date we have committed over £7 million towards contracts in the academic and SME sectors to address the challenges put forward by companies such as AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and MRC.
What does a CRACK IT Challenge look like? Challenges are funded by the NC3Rs with in-kind contributions from challenge sponsors from the pharmaceutical, chemical and consumer product industries. In the past two years CRACK IT has awarded nine Challenges and one Mini Challenge, connecting SMEs, academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies to develop innovative products and address bioscience needs.
Awarded challenges include:
- Wireless recording of the electrophysiology of cognition in psychiatric disease models
- Rodent Big Brother: automated recording of rodent activity and temperature in the home cage
- BADIPS: Generating human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) to study bipolar affective disorder
Further information about these can be found at www.crackit.org.uk.
How to take part If you have an idea for a 3Rs
Challenge and can provide in-kind contributions such as data, compounds or equipment to help solve your challenge then please get in touch with the CRACK IT Team (crackitenquiries@nc3rs.org.uk or 020 7611 2233). Ideas from the academic and industrial sectors are welcome.
For further information on the role of challenge sponsors please see www.crackit.org.uk/sponsor
Challenges must be discussed with the CRACK IT team and subsequently submitted by 15 April 2013.
