WCRF Regular Grant Programme

Research Areas

• Applications to the Regular Grant Programme must fall into either the Cancer Prevention or the Cancer Survivors Research Area.
• For the Cancer Prevention Research Area, they accept research into the links relating diet, nutrition (including body composition) and physical activity to the causation or primary prevention of cancer. The Cancer Survivors Research Area focuses on individuals who have received a cancer diagnosis.
• Applications under each of the Research Areas should address one of the Research Themes.

Research Themes

• There are two Research Themes that apply to both research Areas, and one that applies only to the Cancer Survivors Research Area.
• The Mechanisms Research Theme applies to both Research Areas, and covers molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms that help explain the biological connection between relevant exposures and cancer development or progression. This type of research must be coherent with existing laboratory, epidemiological and clinical evidence.
• The Host Factors Research Theme applies to both Research Areas and covers factors that might explain the variability between people in their susceptibility to cancer or the biological abnormalities predisposing to it. It also applies to the variability in outcomes after a cancer diagnosis, including in response to treatment. Variation in susceptibility to cancer or in its progression is likely to be influenced by host factors. These might be fixed, such as age, gender, ethnicity and genetic variation, or potentially modifiable, such as hormonal, immunological, metabolic and epigenetic influences.

Regular Grant Programme Schemes

The Regular Grant Programme comprises two main grant types:

• Pilot and feasibility grants
  • Pilot and Feasibility Grants (PFGs) are intended as startup funds for preliminary research to allow researchers to collect preliminary data or test study parameters to take them to a stage where an application for an IIG would be appropriate. PFGs could also study behavioural change in cancer survivors.
  • Level of funding: up to £60,000.
  • Duration of funding: up to 2 years.
• Investigator Initiated Grants
  • The aim of this grant funding scheme is to support innovative and original research into the link of diet, nutrition and physical activity in either Cancer Prevention or Cancer Survivors.
  • Level of funding: up to £350,000 (no more than £100,000 for any 1 year).
  • Duration of funding: up to 4 years.

Grant Budgets

• PhD student stipend
  • Up to £2,000 per year charged by the host institution towards PhD fees can be added to the budget.
• Open access publication
  • The maximum allowance for Open Access publication is £6,000 for IIGs and £3,000 for PFGs.
• Travel to conferences
  • The maximum allowance for travel is £3,000 for IIGs and £1,500 for PFGs over the duration of the grant period.
• Equipment
  • Please note that only equipment essential for the study will be considered. Items costing more than £700 must be itemised.

Eligibility Criteria

• Grant applications are open to a Principal Investigator based at a research institution from any country outside the Americas (North America, Central America including the Caribbean, and South America).
• World Cancer Research Fund International encourages international collaborations. Please note that although the Principal Investigator of an application cannot be from an institution based in the Americas, co-applicants and collaborators can be based in those countries, and a portion of the research work can be carried out at their institutions.
• Applications with the Principal Investigator based in a low- and middle-income country are also encouraged, such as for high quality studies that explore relevant exposure-outcome links in under-researched regions or population. Applicants should ensure the relevant expertise has been secured, for example through appropriate international collaborations.
• Institutions
  • The Regular Grant Programme accepts applications from universities, medical schools, hospitals, research institutes and other academic centres. Research for commercial organisations is not eligible.
  • A maximum of five applications will be accepted from one institution in any one grant cycle; it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigators and the host institution to coordinate the number of applications submitted.
• Personnel
  • The Lead Applicant must be the Principal Investigator who will lead the research and be responsible for delivering the project.
  • The Principal Investigator must hold a senior established research position (not a PhD student) at the host institution.
  • Only one application per Principal Investigator per grant cycle is permitted.
  • Only one person can act as the Principal Investigator, though an applicant can be a Principal Investigator for one application and a co-applicant in one or more other applications (up to a maximum of four).

For more information, visit WCRF International.