Clinical Research Funding Scheme

Clinical Research Funding Scheme is sponsored by Cancer Research UK. This modular scheme provides support for high-quality clinical research, associated translational research, and collection of samples and data. It supports interventional trials of cancer treatment with the aim of improving outcomes for patients.

Clinical Research Funding Scheme | Cancer Research UK Clinical Research Funding Scheme This modular scheme provides support for high-quality clinical research, associated translational research, and collection of samples and data. We encourage bold and creative applications. Applications are reviewed twice per year.

Upcoming application deadlines: (full) 3 December 2026 Typically, up to 10 years but longer durations can be considered if justified (project dependent) Flexible; module dependent Our core eligibility criteria are outlined below. Note that this scheme operates a closed round to ensure only eligible applications are submitted.

You must contact us ideally one month but at least two weeks before the deadline for an informal and confidential discussion of your proposal prior to submitting your application. We’ll advise on your eligibility and provide guidance on submitting your application. Email clinicalresearch@cancer.

org. uk You can apply for our Clinical Research Funding Scheme if you are based at a UK university, medical school, hospital, UKCRC registered clinical trials unit or research institution. The proposal must be investigator-led.

All applications must have a UKCRC registered clinical trials unit co-ordinating the clinical trial/study, or an associated clinical trial/study.

If appropriately justified, we may allow exceptions for: small-scale and/or non-complex, non-interventional studies certain biomarker assay validation studies using samples from patients receiving standard of care Explore the UKCRC clinical trials units This scheme is open to researchers at any career stage, from early to established. Each module has specific guidance for applicant eligibility.

This scheme is open to early-career researchers (defined by the Develop Independence section of our competency framework) who have had limited involvement in research as co-investigators and collaborators. We encourage applications which include early-career researchers, specifically individuals who are nearing the completion of, or have recently graduated from, a clinical trials fellowship or clinician scientist fellowship.

We outline how we define career stages in our competency framework. What is suitable for this scheme? This modular scheme supports high-quality, biologically rich trials and studies using innovative and adaptive designs that seek to maximise what we can learn from every participant.

We encourage bold and creative applications. This scheme has three interconnected modules: Clinical Trial, Experimental Medicine, and Sample Collection. We strongly encourage applicants to apply for all three modules together as an integrated package.

New clinical trial research proposals should take advantage of the opportunity to embed Experimental Medicine studies that will inform our mechanistic understanding of the disease, and its treatment, where possible. We expect most clinical trial proposals to have a Sample Collection module and Experimental Medicine module integrated, where possible, to enable the delivery of our strategy.

early phase proof of concept trials trials that optimise/repurpose treatments while minimising adverse effects trials that promote innovative methodologies Examples of opportunities to generate mechanistic insights include: why an intervention is or is not effective, including cancer recurrence how tumours evolve to be resistant to therapies how toxicities can be better predicted and managed how combinations of therapies can be optimised to tumour biology (eg precision and stratified medicine approaches) trials with clinical decision-making biomarkers which can progress towards biomarker registration for routine use These investigations may be underpinned by research into how cancer evolves, develops resistance, evades the immune system and progresses.

We also will support proposals investigating the primary effects of cancer on whole-body physiology, where there is a clear impact on patient outcome, such as cachexia. We will consider standalone or mixed module applications, where justified. Additional modules can be layered on throughout the lifetime of a grant.

Read our research strategy Read our statement of intent Where possible, recruitment should be representative of the target patient population and we expect study teams to identify and reduce barriers for underserved populations to access research.

All proposals should outline the activities planned to ensure the trial/study is designed with diversity and inclusion in mind, and how inclusion will be accounted for in the way the trial is designed and delivered. We encourage proposals that focus on areas of strategic priority such as cancers of unmet need, children's and young people's cancers or rare cancers.

We will continue to support trials that look to refine current treatments, including trials of radiotherapy and surgery, which are less likely to be funded by industry or other bodies. We particularly value the generation of high-quality omics data within prospective randomised controlled trials.

Explore our work in cancers of unmet need Explore our work in children’s and young people’s cancers You can apply for endorsement of an academically sponsored clinical trial where the direct research costs have been secured elsewhere, typically through an industry partner and core funding from a clinical trials unit. Endorsements do not provide any additional direct funding but allow you to brand the trial as a Cancer Research UK trial.

Within a clinical trial endorsement proposal, funding can be requested for associated experimental medicine and/or sample collection modules. Industry-sponsored trials cannot be reviewed under this scheme. If the trial uses core funds from one of our core-funded clinical trials units, the endorsement will enable the trial to be included in the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) portfolio via the automatically eligible route.

It will also enable the Department of Health and Social Care to cover any Research Part B costs that aren’t supported by industry. To be eligible for the Research Part B costs to be met, you will need to make clear to the NIHR RDN portfolio adoption team how our clinical trials units core-funding is also being used to support the trial alongside industry funding.

Frequently asked questions You can review our frequently asked questions for additional clarification on any questions you might have. Explore our clinical research funding scheme FAQ ( PDF , 1. 01 MB ) Clinical research statement of intent and funding webinar Watch the recording from our clinical funding webinar to learn more about the opportunities available within this funding scheme.

Spotlight call: tackling gastrointestinal cancers of unmet need through clinical research We're committed to addressing critical gaps in cancer research through our spotlight calls, which highlight key areas of need where dedicated research efforts could accelerate progress.

With our new spotlight call, we encourage applications to develop applications that address clinical and translational questions in pancreatic, liver, oesophageal and gastric cancers. Applicants can apply for funding to address the spotlight call through this award. All applications will be considered alongside the full pool of Clinical Research Committee proposals.

Primary evaluation will be based on the clinical and scientific quality, including the expected patient impact of the research. However, applications of comparable quality may be prioritised if they are of strategic importance in tackling cancers of unmet need.

The spotlight call will span multiple funding rounds, with the decision on when to end the call made by us and the Clinical Research Committee, based on the coverage of awarded projects. Learn more about the spotlight call What isn't suitable for this scheme? You should not apply for this scheme if your proposal does not fit the remit of the Clinical Research Committee.

This includes: population based studies, clinical trials and associated translational research aimed at understanding the epidemiology of cancer, cancer risk, incidence rates, overall changes in cancer survival, preventative interventions and screening clinical and translational research that aims to investigate how and when early cancers and pre-cancerous states are diagnosed, including investigations into biomarkers for early detection or risk stratification for screening genome-wide association studies for the identification of genetic predisposition/risk biomarkers biomarker discovery proposals that are not integrated within a clinical trial or a well-designed observational study pre-clinical studies utilising cell lines or animal models to investigate biological mechanisms pre-clinical research for drug development development of an imaging technology that requires administration of unlicensed/experimental reagents (ie PET probes or contrast agents) to patients in first-in-human studies translation of your funded research into a commercial opportunity that brings patient benefit industry-sponsored trials If you are unsure which funding committee is most suited to your research proposal, please contact us and we can provide a recommendation.

You can also search our funding schemes to explore other opportunities. View all available funding How are applications reviewed? Applications for all modules of this scheme are reviewed two times a year by our Clinical Research Committee and its Expert Review Panels.

The review process involves three steps. Submit an expression of interest to our grants team. We'll confirm if you’re eligible and the application is in remit.

We’ll also provide advice on the application process, including outline and full stage.

You may choose to bypass the outline stage where one of the following applies: standalone Sample Collection applications standalone Experimental Medicine applications that are <£250k in total Experimental Medicine applications that have been reviewed as part of a Clinical Trial outline proposal by the Clinical Research Committee within two years of the associated trial grant start date Clinical Trial applications that do not intend to submit an Experimental Medicine proposal and are either <£500k or led internationally standalone Clinical Trial endorsement applications the study follows seamlessly on from a feasibility study we’ve previously funded costed amendment or extension to an existing study we already support Submit your outline application through Flexi-Grant If you’ve been approved to apply, we’ll send you a link to start your application in our online grants management system, Flexi-Grant.

The committee will review your outline application and make a recommendation whether to invite you to submit a full application. Whether successful or not, all applicants receive feedback. The outline stage is a valuable opportunity to receive this feedback from the Clinical Research Committee and enhance the quality of your proposal.

Submit your full application through Flexi-Grant If your outline application is shortlisted, your full application will be reviewed in the subsequent funding round, unless you choose to defer. Your full application will be sent to our Expert Review Panel to be discussed.

They will provide written comments in advance of the panel, and you will have an opportunity to respond to these comments either in writing or through an interview at the Expert Review Panel meeting, if your study is particularly complex. The panel will provide a recommendation to the Clinical Research Committee based on the scientific quality of your application.

The Clinical Research Committee makes the final funding decision, taking into consideration recommendations from the Expert Review Panel and the alignment of your application with our strategic priorities. The Clinical Research Committee and Expert Review Panel will review your proposal based on relevance to our strategy, statement of intent and a set of standard criteria.

More information on the criteria by which applications are reviewed is on our committee pages. Learn more about the committee Observing funding panels and committees We offer early- to mid-career researchers the opportunity to observe panel and committee meetings across our funding remit and prioritise giving this opportunity to researchers from underrepresented groups.

Find out more about eligibility and how to apply We will provide feedback on your application, but all funding decisions are final. Committee members cannot discuss their decisions with applicants, so please do not approach them directly. This allows our committee members to keep the Code of Practice for Funding Committees, which keeps our review process fair and protects applicants, committee members and external reviewers.

Our review process is extremely important to us, so we reserve the right to decline applications from anyone who compromises its integrity. We do not accept resubmissions, unless recommended by the committee. What are the key timelines?

We consider applications for this award twice a year. This scheme requires an initial outline submission followed by a full application. If your outline application is shortlisted, your full application will be reviewed in the subsequent funding round, unless you choose to defer.

For instance, if you submit an outline application in spring, you will be invited to submit a full application for review in the autumn. This is a caption table example Outline application deadline Full application deadline See specific details for each module under ‘How do I apply’. You can find general detail on what funds can be requested in our costs and salary guidance.

Support for long-term patient follow-up We will consider support for long-term patient follow-up within applications to the Clinical Research Scheme where there are clear and defined research questions. In these instances, you must explain in your application why these questions cannot be addressed within the primary endpoint timeframe and how the research will add overall value to the study.

Examples where this may be appropriate include investigations into later occurring oncological events such as recurrences/relapse, long-term known/expected side effects/toxicities and secondary malignancies. We recognise in some circumstances it may not be possible to include accurate costs for long-term follow up when you submit your full application.

In this instance, we recommend detailing estimate costs for long-term follow up in your full application. If costs turn out to be underestimated you will need to submit a costed amendment application for review 12 months before the end of the grant, or if costs are overestimated, we will reconcile underspend on this budget line.

If you are unable to detail estimate costs at the time of full application, we still recommend detailing your plan and justification for long-term follow up and intention to submit a costed amendment or extension application for these costs 12 months before the end of the grant.

population-level epidemiological studies focused on secondary physical effects of cancer treatment PhD students or fellowships industry sponsored trials research Part B costs (for studies taking place in the NHS, we will fund Research Part A costs in line with AcoRD guidance) NHS Treatment or Service Support Costs genomic testing that would normally be provided by the NHS explorative pre-clinical studies eg to determine drug candidate selection or early drug development regulatory (GLP) toxicology international trials (costs for UK participation are eligible, but not the costs of delivering the trial internationally) Research Delivery Network In partnership with your local R&D office, we encourage you to involve the Research Delivery Network in discussions as early as possible when planning your study to fully benefit from their support Collaboration with the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer You can apply to us for funding for the coordination of a UK-led intergroup study in mainland Europe by the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) headquarters.

The study should be coordinated by a UKCRC registered Clinical Trials Unit with the EORTC headquarters supporting agreed components of the EU coordination of the study. For further details please see our EORTC coordination costs guidelines. Read the EORTC costs guidelines ( PDF , 1.

96 MB ) Costs on integrated proposals The costs added to the cost table for each application within Flexi-Grant should be specific to the module you’re applying for. This means that an integrated proposal consisting of multiple modules will have the costs split across multiple applications to facilitate management of individual components of the award.

For proposals integrating several modules, we encourage applicants to think carefully about the phasing in of costs. Typically, we would expect the Experimental Medicine research costs to commence after the expected date of the first site opening, with an appropriate number of samples collected.

Alternatively, for biomarker-driven trial proposals, it may be appropriate to phase in the clinical trial costs upon completion of certain milestones within the Experimental Medicine research, eg where an assay validation must be completed prior to biomarker implementation within a trial. Extensions and amendments We will consider no-cost extension requests on a case-by-case basis.

Under exceptional circumstances, you can apply for a costed extension where additional funding is required to complete a study funded by the Clinical Research Committee. Where there is a significant change to the study design, sample size or study drug, an amendment must be submitted for review by the committee.

Where necessary, you can apply for a costed amendment where you are making a change to an existing study funded by the Clinical Research Committee which requires additional funding. We do not typically accept costed extension applications for the Biomarker Project Awards (one of our historic funding schemes).

Note that if you apply for an additional module(s), this should not be submitted as an amendment application but should go through the standard application process. Timelines for requesting an extension or amendment No-cost extensions are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. No-cost amendments will follow the outline application deadline.

Costed extensions and costed amendments will follow the full application deadline. Please contact us if you need an extension or amendment. Excess Treatment Costs and the SoECAT Excess Treatment Costs (ETCs) Excess Treatment Costs occur when the costs of a drug or treatment are higher in a research study than in routine care.

For non-commercial research studies, these ETCs are the responsibility of the NHS and are paid for by service commissioners. There are 12 NIHR Regional Research Delivery Networks (RRDNs) which help manage the ETC process on behalf of their local Clinical Commissioning Groups and in collaboration with NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning function.

High Excess Treatment Costs (hETCs) Where the total (study-level) ETCs are higher than £1m, or where the average ETCs are higher than £20K per patient across all patients recruited to a study, there will be a further review by the Department of Health and Social Care, Specialised Commissioning and NHS England to ensure this research represents value to the NHS.

This process will take place after the Clinical Research Committee have stated their intention to support the study. As part of this process, we may need to share reviews of the study with the appropriate contact at the DHSC. We will ask permission from reviewers to share comments in these circumstances.

It may take up to six weeks for a decision to be made by DHSC about high cost ETCs. If you are applying for Health Research Authority approval for clinical research studies taking place in England, you will need to complete a form known as a ‘Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Template (SoECAT)’ as part of your funding application.

This template is designed to capture the different activities and costs associated with clinical research and attribute them accordingly. We require a SoECAT for all full applications (including endorsement applications). To submit a SoECAT, you must download the form from the NIHR Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS).

Your SoECAT must be signed off by an AcoRD specialist, who will confirm that the activity and cost attribution is accurate. This must be done prior to submitting your application to us. We strongly recommend you engage with your LCRN and the online SoECAT and its guidance as early as possible during the application process.

The final step is to submit a completed Funder Export file from the online validated SoECAT as part of your application in Flexi-Grant. In certain circumstances, a completed Funder Export from the online SoECAT will not be required. Confirmation of this should be provided in your application form.

Read NIHR’s guidance on SoECAT As this scheme is made up of three interconnected modules, each module has its own specific requirements. The first step for all modules is to contact us and submit an expression of interest. Please contact us ideally one month but at least two weeks before the submission deadline.

Relevant policies and guidance We recommend you also read additional guidance such as our costs guidance, grant conditions, and other policies to understand any other requirements before applying. Read our research policies and guidance Applying through our grants management system If your proposal is in remit and you are eligible to apply, we will send you a link(s) to apply via Flexi-Grant.

Before starting the application, the lead applicant(s) for each module must use the links provided to open the application forms. Full applications must be approved online by your host institution. Learn more about Flexi-Grant For integrated proposals there will be multiple application forms, although the information in these will be distinct and limited to essential questions only.

Each question has guidance which will indicate whether the response should be module specific or for the entire integrated proposal. In addition, there will be a single research proposal document for your entire integrated proposal to ensure cohesiveness.

There can be different study teams in integrated proposals including different lead and joint lead applicants, so please be sure only the correct lead applicant for each module opens the relevant application form. Once all forms have been opened, you must complete the Clinical Trial application form first, if applicable.

Where the lead applicant differs across modules within an integrated proposal, we expect all lead applicants to be a part of the study team for all integrated modules, either as a joint lead applicant or co-investigator role. Contract framework support We recognise that integrated proposals can be logistically complex, with multiple centres contributing to the delivery of the study.

Through our translational arm, Cancer Research Horizons, we can support you in creating the contractual framework needed to enable the delivery of significantly complex studies. This can speed up contractual set-up between the collaborating parties and ensure the trials run smoothly. Cancer Research Horizons will contact research groups that are eligible for this support after submission of the outline application.

If you have any questions on how to contractually coordinate the setup of these grants, or how to access Cancer Research Horizons support, then please contact us. Applications should include the following information. Lead applicant(s) must be an established clinician, scientist or profession allied to medicine in a UK university, medical school, hospital, clinical trials unit or research institution.

lead applicant(s) must be in a post which is fully funded for the duration of the award. Named statistician(s) must be included as co-investigator(s) or joint lead applicant(s) with appropriate expertise for each component of the application. If the clinical trial involves biomarker research, we expect the named statistician(s) to have both biomarker and trial-specific expertise.

We encourage a named methodologist as a co-investigator or joint lead applicant, where appropriate, particularly in highly complex trials. We encourage early career researchers to join as joint lead applicant(s) or co-investigator(s), as appropriate. The application should demonstrate support from their group leader, mentor, or supervisor.

The Clinical Trial scheme supports interventional trials of cancer treatment (including systemic treatment, radiotherapy and surgery), with the aim of improving outcomes for patients.

You can apply for funding or endorsement of a Clinical Trial module in any one of the following areas: pilot/feasibility studies phase 1a/2 dose finding trials testing safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy (including novel combinations of therapies and radiotherapy, and novel indications) phase 1b/2 or phase 2 trials testing the viability of larger trials, including the ability to recruit and/or to explore tolerability or efficacy of treatments window of opportunity studies phase 2/3 or phase 3 trials to investigate the efficacy, effectiveness and tolerability of interventions with the aim of improving survival, or tolerability and patient outcomes surgical trials from stage 1-3 in accordance with the IDEAL framework Studies of cancer treatment approaches that aim to achieve equivalence of survival whilst reducing toxicity or optimising treatment delivery, such as non-inferiority trials, are welcomed where the potential for a significant impact on patient outcomes can be demonstrated.

Standalone feasibility and/or pilot studies are in remit, in addition to pilot/feasibility studies that are integrated within the design of a larger clinical trial. Integrated Clinical Trial Module Clinical Trial applications should ordinarily include a Sample Collection module, and we will prioritise Clinical Trial proposals that also have an Experimental Medicine module integrated within the trial design.

Standalone Clinical Trial Module We will consider proposals that do not include an Experimental Medicine module and, more rarely, a Sample Collection module, where one of the following criteria are met: 1. There are limited opportunities for translational research and where the value of the trial alone can be demonstrated.

For these proposals, we expect to see justification for why it isn’t possible to collect samples and/or integrate any translational research into the study design, highlighting the value that the clinical trial will bring to patients.

We strongly encourage sample collection within your trial even if you are not intending to work with the samples, where it can be demonstrated that these provide a valuable resource for the wider cancer research community. 2. The Experimental Medicine research is not yet developed at the time of the Clinical Trial application.

We will consider a subsequent application to the Experimental Medicine module, preferably within two years of the Clinical Trial grant start date. If your subsequent Experimental Medicine application is delayed beyond two years, you may be required to submit another outline application.

If planning to submit these applications separately, you will be asked to justify why the Experimental Medicine module cannot be integrated into the initial Clinical Trial proposal and outline your future Experimental Medicine research plans in the Clinical Trial application. 3. The Experimental Medicine research is funded elsewhere.

We encourage integrated proposals to this funding scheme and welcome opportunities to co-fund with other funding bodies.

If funding has already been obtained, you will be asked to provide details of the funded Experimental Medicine research in the Clinical Trial application SWATs – Study Within A Trial We encourage SWATs to be embedded into trial applications so we can collectively generate a body of evidence to help overcome common trial challenges more effectively.

SWATs are research sub-studies embedded within a larger clinical trial and are designed to test and evaluate trial processes. This can optimise the value gained from the host trial by systematically addressing common trial challenges. Many research practices, including recruitment and retention strategies, lack substantial evidence to guide decision making and can have a large impact on the success or failure of a trial.

Replication across different contexts is key, so building a SWAT into a trial doesn’t mean that you must start from scratch.

Our areas of interest include: equality, diversity and inclusivity: for example, investigations into the effectiveness of various activities to improve the recruitment of patients from underserved backgrounds or reducing inequalities in access to cancer interventions methodology: for example, investigations into innovative statistical/methodological approaches or decentralisation of clinical trials patient and public involvement (PPI): for example, investigations into how different PPI approaches promote recruitment quality of life: for example, investigations into complementary therapies or patient reported outcomes measures sustainability: for example, investigations into how to reduce the carbon footprint for a given clinical trial/study, or more widely We encourage early career researchers with appropriate expertise to lead these sub-studies, including clinical trials units staff or research nurses, to support career progression.

The results of these sub-studies should be published. Please see the SWAT repository for information on existing SWATs that you can replicate within your trial. In addition to these resources, the Trial Forge SWAT Centre at the University of York has set up a Trial Forge SWAT Network to support researchers in the UK and elsewhere in doing SWATs.

Explore the Trial Forge SWAT Network There are no cost limits for this module, but the costs requested should reflect the scale and complexity of your trial. Typically, we see costs of approximately £50k to £200k per year. These are guide costs and larger amounts will be considered with appropriate justification, particularly for trials with complex and adaptive designs and/or where there is inclusion of SWATs.

Experimental Medicine Module Applications should include the following information. Lead applicant(s) must have both clinical and scientific expertise.

This could be: one individual with clinical-academic training, such as a clinician scientist a collaboration between a clinician and scientist, in which case we would expect two or more joint lead applicants a non-clinically trained scientist working at the interface of clinical research. ie a strong translational research focus Applicants not meeting these criteria must provide strong justification.

There may be a small number of exceptions, such as a bioinformatician being the lead applicant for a data-driven approach. We do not mandate a clinician as the lead or joint lead applicant on Experimental Medicine applications that are integrated within a clinical trial, if the lead applicant of the associated clinical trial is on the study team for the Experimental Medicine application to ensure appropriate linkage and oversight.

For non-clinically trained scientists, there must be a clinical lead or joint lead applicant(s) for clinical study proposals recruiting patients. For larger, programme-style applications, the lead applicant must be an established researcher at an eligible UK institution whose post is fully funded for the duration of the award.

Early career researchers can apply as lead applicants on smaller project-style applications, or joint lead applicants on larger, programme-style applications. A named statistician(s) must be included as co-investigator(s) or joint lead applicant(s) with appropriate expertise for each component of the application.

If your proposal involves biomarker research and is associated with a clinical trial, we expect the named statistician(s) to have both biomarker and trial-specific expertise. There may be rare and justified circumstances where involvement of a statistician is not required, and the statistical expertise of the study team can be demonstrated to ensure methods are robust.

This includes examples such as small and/or non-complex non-interventional clinical studies or certain biomarker assay validation studies using samples from patients receiving standard or care. A pathologist should be included as co-investigator for studies involving tissue analyses.

The Experimental Medicine module supports translational research associated with a clinical trial, or clinical study, which aims to enhance our understanding of biological mechanisms to improve treatment strategies for patients. Applications can range from small, project-style proposals to large, programme-style research proposals.

We will prioritise proposals integrated within a funding or endorsement application for a trial or well-designed clinical study (including observational), as well as those that retrospectively use data/samples from at least one study we fund or endorse.

However, where strongly justified, we will also consider applications associated with trials or well-designed clinical studies funded elsewhere, or retrospectively using data/samples from such studies. The following activities are considered eligible for support where the above criteria are met: