Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Grant Scheme

The OCRF is dedicated to funding innovative and promising ovarian cancer research with the aim of everyone, everywhere, being free from the threat of ovarian cancer.

OCRF funds research aligned with at least one of their four key research priorities, which were determined by researchers, clinicians, and consumers as a part of the OCRF’s 2020 State of the Nation audit. By addressing these priorities, proposals should aim to improve the long-term survival rate of ovarian cancer sufferers as the ultimate aim.

Research Priorities

• Four research priorities underpin OCRF investment in medical research, as follows:
  • Discovering new and effective treatment/s
    • Improving treatment options for quality of life and to increase survival rates. This may include, but is not limited to, exploration of novel targets, drug screening, investigation of combination therapies and/or enhancing the understanding of disease mechanisms.
  • Managing recurrence
    • Addressing the management of recurrent disease, in addition to strategies focused on prevention, delay or mitigation of recurrence for improved quality of life and survival.
  • Early detection
    • Investigating and developing equitable, non-invasive, and reliable early detection and screening approaches and methods.
  • Prevention
    • Better understanding of disease manifestation and prevalence through investigation of genetic risk and appropriate family profiling.

Funding Information

• General
  • The OCRF offers grant funding for most aspects of research-related costs. As such, research proposals may include the salaries of research personnel and other personnel directly or proportionately involved in the project that are not otherwise funded. The costs of materials and minor equipment are also included.
  • Funding is offered from 1 July of the year subsequent to application, that is a successful application submitted in July 2024 will start to receive funding from the OCRF from 1 July 2025. This is due to the nature of the grants assessment process and annual fundraising calendar.
  • Whilst the OCRF aims to fully fund successful research proposals, there is a limit to the funds available for granting each year. The OCRF therefore reserves the right to ask applicants to review and revise their budgets where possible to do so and/or to offer reduced or part funding of projects. This will be discussed in a clear and timely manner with research teams and the administering institution.
  • In the event that funding for a research project is offered concomitantly by another funding body (for example, NHMRC or other private foundation), or post-award of funding from the OCRF, the applicant must notify the OCRF immediately. The OCRF retains the right to withdraw funding or to elect to top up the funds from the alternative funding agency rather than awarding the full amount requested for the grant in order to maximize the impact of their grant-making activity in Australia.
• Project costs
  • Project costs are not capped. However, budgets must be realistic and competitive. In estimating the related costs, Lead Cls should bear in mind that major projects absorb a substantial percentage of the OCRF’s annual funds available for distribution, therefore they will only be funded in exceptional circumstances. Researchers are encouraged to seek co-funding partners throughout the life of each project.
• Salaries
  • Applicants may apply for the salaries of any research staff they deem appropriate to ensure successful completion of the project. This may include early-, mid- and senior level career researchers, research assistants/officers, postdoctoral fellows, students, specialist personnel such as bioinformaticians etc et al.
  • Proposals must include salary information inclusive of details of the personnel’s current relationship to the Administering Institution, as follows:
    • current employee base salary or wage;
    • full-time equivalent fraction (FTE) to be allocated only to the OCRF-funded project;
    • on-costs applied by the Administering Institution’s model up to a maximum of 25%;
    • any other salary-related expenditure required to support individuals to participate fully and effectively in the project.
• Minor equipment and maintenance
  • Expenditure relating to minor equipment must be fully itemised and justified. Expenditure relating to consumables and other maintenance costs can be shown as an aggregate figure for items with individual costs less than or equal to $2000 and must be fully itemised for items with individual costs greater than $2000.
• Indirect/overhead
  • Grant funds cannot be used for indirect institutional overhead costs – often referred to as the ‘cost of research’ or ‘research levies’ – unless discussed with the OCRF Research Director in advance of submission.

Eligibility Criteria

• Administering Institution
  • The proposed project must be located, managed, and operated under the auspices of a tertiary institution, hospital or major research institute (MRI) located within Australia or New Zealand.
  • A single institution must be nominated as the Administering Institution.
  • The Administering Institution must have in place policies and procedure for the management of public funds, for the management of Intellectual Property, and for the proper conduct of research in relation to ethics and scientific conduct.
  • The Administering Institution will be provided a copy of the Funding Agreement upon awarding of the grant and must review and agree to perform the proposed project on the terms of that Funding Agreement for funding to be received.
• Chief and Associate Investigators
  • The Chief Investigators must demonstrate career excellence and a commitment to carry out research projects that aim to have a significant impact on ovarian cancer. Each application must nominate a Lead Chief Investigator (Lead CI) who takes the lead role in the conduct of the research project and is the investigator who takes responsibility for completion and lodgement of the application as well as the preparation of Progress and Final Reports should the grant be awarded.
  • A Lead Cl can nominate additional Chief Investigators on the application. All Chief Investigators must show a significant and material contribution to the project that justifies their appointment (and where relevant, their salary) in their role. A researcher that serves an advisory only function to the project should be nominated as an Associate Investigator rather than a Chief Investigator.
  • The Lead Cl may also nominate Associate Investigators who provide intellectual input into the research and whose participation warrants inclusion of their name on publications. Associate investigators are not able to draw a salary from the grant.
• At the time of application, Chief Investigators must have:
  • A strong and demonstrated track record of research excellence, skills and experience appropriate to Chief Investigator status;
  • A salary level commensurate with same;
  • Demonstrated understanding of OCRF’s expectations as set out in these Guidelines, and preparedness to sign the proposal (and later, contract) to indicate same.
• The Lead Chief Investigator and minimum of 50% of the nominated Chief Investigators must:
  • Reside in Australia or New Zealand (or intend to reside in Australia) throughout the funding period.
  • Be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, have resident status or have an appropriate visa to work in Australia or New Zealand for the entire duration of the funding period.
• In addition, the Lead CI must remain the same for the duration of the project funding period.
• Research type: They invite applications from investigators focused on both discovery and clinical laboratory- based research, including experimental methods such as (but not limited to) molecular biology, biochemistry, biomolecular analysis, omics studies, drug development and testing, functional assays, screening platforms and/or in vivo approaches.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Proposals involving epidemiology, psychosocial research, palliative care, allied health, health economics, or behavioural research are not currently considered to be eligible for OCRF funding.

For more information, visit Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.