Transformational Research Awards

This is a two-stage scheme where all applicants are asked to first submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). These EOIs are reviewed and shortlisted by the assembled expert research funding committee for this scheme. Shortlisted EOI applicants are then invited to submit a full application.

Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) opens: Thursday 23rd April 2026

Deadline for EOI submissions: 3pm on Thursday 4th June 2026

Applicants notified of EOI outcomes: July 2026

Deadline for submission of invited full applications: November 2026

Applicants notified of outcomes: March 2027

Grants will typically be awarded for up to five years and for a maximum of £1.5m.

This scheme is designed to support ambitious, high-quality projects that drive research forward towards patient benefit so Blood Cancer UK would expect applicants to typically request a grant of at least £500,000, with non-clinical applications typically requesting £750,000-£1,000,000 and clinical applications typically requesting from £1.0-1.5 million.

We encourage applications across all forms of blood cancer and have a core funding pot of up to £3 million to fund the scheme this year.

In addition we strongly encourage applications in the field of Myeloma for which further ring-fenced funding is available from the Matthew Wilson Multiple Myeloma Fund for the highest quality fundable application.

This scheme is designed to support:

• Advanced/late-stage translational and pre-clinical research. This includes the late-stage translational development, pre-clinical refinement and testing of one or more specific interventions designed to improve the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment of blood cancer with the aim of moving the intervention along the developmental pathway towards early phase clinical studies or trials after this award.
• Clinical and experimental medicine (including clinical studies or trials).
• Research to accelerate the uptake of new treatments and other interventions into the NHS.

Applications for smaller-scale discovery science, translational, or clinical projects should be submitted to the charity’s annual Project Grants scheme.

All applicants for the charity’s Transformational Research Awards scheme, including those applying for funding for advanced/late-stage translational or pre-clinical research, must clearly outline the specific transformational change they are aiming to make progress towards through their proposed research and how this change could be transformational for the blood cancer/precursor population(s) of interest.

All applicants must also clearly describe how the proposed research will accelerate progress towards the desired change for people with or at risk of developing blood cancer, including:

• the progress towards the identified transformational change for people with or at risk of blood cancer that will be made during the research itself.
• the immediate next steps that would be required (e.g., a phase I clinical trial).
• the overall pathway to clinical uptake into the NHS or wider UK health system and to real-world impact for patients.

Blood Cancer UK expects meaningful Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) to be embedded in all research funded through this scheme. The proposed research should also be inclusive by design and clinical research should have an inclusive recruitment strategy in place to ensure people are recruited who are representative of the disease group/subgroups under investigation.

For more information on the full remit and eligibility criteria, head to page 2 in the application guidance document.

All applications must be submitted via the new Blood Cancer UK Grants Portal. The form will be live from Thursday 30th April. Guidance on using the new portal will be provided. The full question set can be found in the guidance document below so you can begin preparing your application. 

No applications will be accepted after the deadline. Applicants must submit their application ahead of this deadline leaving sufficient time for the required signatories to approve the application.

All expressions of interest submitted for this call will be reviewed by members of our expert research funding committees.

More information on the assessment criteria can be found on page 6 of the application guidance document.

Please make sure to read the application guidance document in full to ensure you have understood all the requirements for this funding scheme.

Grants will be awarded in line with Blood Cancer UK’s Grant Terms and Conditions.

If you have any queries regarding Transformational Research Awards, please contact [email protected].