Apply for funding

We provide funding for impactful research projects that address important questions in the field of blood cancer and which align with our overarching strategic aims and priorities.

Each year, we run four grant schemes across the spectrum of discovery, translational and clinical research including fellowships to support early career researchers. An overview of our funding schemes is given below.

To help us reach our strategic aims we are committed to increasing the funding we have available for world quality research and maximising the support we provide for the vibrant community of exceptional blood cancer researchers working across the UK.

As part of this aim, we are pleased to announce the next call for applications for our Early Career Advancement Fellowships.

An Early Career Advancement Fellowship is designed to enable the most talented early career blood cancer researchers who have already obtained a PhD and undertaken further research as a postdoc or equivalent, to transition towards independence as a researcher.

Fellowships will be awarded for up to three years’ full time or five years’ part time and we expect the awards to be in the region of £400,000-£450,000. The maximum budget will be £450,000.  

We are aiming to fund four fellowships from our core budget for this round. In addition, we are pleased to announce our prestigious new Langmuir Fellowship, which will be specifically focused on myeloma. This has been made possible thanks to a generous gift from the Langmuir Family Foundation and will be awarded to the highest ranked applicant in the field of myeloma.

Applicants should be proposing to undertake a novel research project that is in line with our overarching strategic aim of bringing forward the day when no one dies either of blood cancer or the side effects of its treatments and with at least one of the three priority research themes from our new research strategy: Prevention, Early detection and predicting outcomes, and Treatment.

The fellowship should also provide the researcher with the leadership, career development and training opportunities needed for the applicant to reach the next stage in their career.

Fellows are permitted to undertake discovery or translational research, small scale clinical studies or research projects associated with ongoing clinical trials as part of a fellowship.

These Fellowships are not designed to directly support the design or delivery of clinical trials.

The fellowship candidate should be the lead applicant, but the application should include a named supervisor at the host institution who will be asked to provide a letter of support.

It is essential that all applicants read the full guidance document for this round before starting an application.

Applications open: Thursday 12th June 2025

Deadline for submission of applications: 3pm on Thursday September 25th 2025

Interviews: Early March 2026

Applicants notified of outcomes: Late March 2026

All applications must be submitted via the Blood Cancer UK Grant Tracker grants management system.

Please follow the instructions in the guidance document for this scheme which can be accessed from the link below, and the Guide to using Grant Tracker on our website when completing and submitting an application. The application can be stored and edited at any time prior to submission.

The application deadline is 3:00pm on the date advertised. No applications will be accepted after the deadline. Applicants must submit the application ahead of this deadline, leaving sufficient time for the required signatories to approve the application.

For any enquiries about completing the application form or submitting your application, please contact [email protected].

We are excited to launch this new clinical trial funding scheme through which we will support large-scale clinical trials that have significant potential to improve the survival for those affected by the hardest to treat blood cancers.

This scheme is open to applications for innovative, large-scale clinical trials testing multiple interventions that are adaptable in design (for example, multi-arm, multi-stage trials).

Applications must focus on the testing and development of at least one of the following:

• Novel treatments or treatment combinations;
• Improvements in treatment sequencing/scheduling;
• More personalised treatment approaches, for instance through use of/development of predictive or prognostic biomarkers.

All applications must also:

• Be inclusive by design and have an inclusive recruitment strategy in place to ensure patients recruited are representative of the disease group/subgroups under investigation.
• Have a clearly defined pathway to impact, aiming to achieve paradigm-shifting changes to current clinical practice or disease management for people living with the least survivable blood cancers.

Studies must be focused on patients with blood cancer who, with current clinical management, have a predicted 5-year survival of less than 50% at the point of diagnosis.

Grants will typically range from £4m to £8m, for up to seven years. The maximum that can be requested is £8m.

Applications for smaller-scale clinical trials in any type of blood cancer or precursor condition should be submitted to our annual Transformational Research Awards scheme.

This will be a two-stage scheme. To apply:

1. Submit an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) form below via email to the Research Team: by 26th June 2025
2. If your EOI is approved, your full application must be submitted on Grant Tracker: by 3pm, 1st October 2025
3. Notification of Interview: November 2025
4. Interviews will be held: February 2026
5. Outcomes will be communicated: ~ March 2026

Please refer closely to the guidelines during the development of your application.

All our schemes run annually. To be notified when our calls open, please contact the Research Team.

Project Grants

Project Grants support world class research proposals that aim to address vital questions in the field of blood cancer in line with our strategic aims and the priorities of people affected by blood cancer.

Maximum grant: £300,000

Duration: 3 years

Next call opens: October 2025

Innovative Pilot Grants

Innovative Pilot Grants support researchers with novel research ideas to develop the pilot data needed to secure further investment from our larger grant schemes, other medical research funders or from industry. This scheme allows us to fund innovative research ideas that could lead to the next big breakthroughs in blood cancer research.

Maximum grant: £30,000

Duration: 12 months

Next call opens: October 2025

Transformational Research Awards

Transformational Research Awards support advanced pre-clinical translational research, clinical studies or trials to develop and test new treatments, diagnostics or other technologies, or for the establishment of the evidence required for the uptake of improved treatments or technologies into the NHS. Research funded through this scheme should aim to accelerate progress towards a transformational step change in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or care for people affected by blood cancer.

Maximum grant: £1,000,000

Duration: 5 years

Next call opens: Spring 2026 (Expressions of Interest)

Early Career Fellowships

These clinical and non-clinical fellowships aim to help the most talented early career blood cancer researchers to make the next steps in their careers enabling their transition to independence. The scheme will increase the capacity in blood cancer research and support the development of the next generation of blood cancer research leaders.

Maximum grant: £350,000

Duration: 3 years

Next call opens: June 2025