Apply for funding
We provide funding for impactful research projects to address important questions in the field of blood cancer.
Funding schemes
To be notified when our calls open, please contact the Research Team.
Transformational Research Awards
We are excited to announce the launch of our new Transformational Research Awards.
Blood Cancer UKs five-year strategy is focused on bringing forward the day when no one dies of blood cancer or its treatments.
Our strategy includes a commitment to significantly increase our research funding over the next five years. We will also continue to ensure we are making this increased investment in the areas where it can have the biggest impact for people affected by blood cancer.
In line with this strategy, our new Transformational Research Awards aim to support larger-scale research projects or programmes that have significant potential to be transformative for people with blood cancer. Each year, the scheme may be focused on specified areas of interest within the field of blood cancer that are in line with our strategic aims.
2024 Awards
This year, we are inviting applications for high-quality, ambitious, and innovative research that aims to make substantial progress towards a transformational step change for people with any form of blood cancer.
This scheme is designed to support advanced pre-clinical translational research, clinical studies or trials, or the establishment of the evidence required for the uptake of improved treatments or technologies into the NHS.
We encourage applications that focus on progressing:
- The development, testing or clinical uptake of better and kinder treatments.
- The development, testing or implementation of novel diagnostics, imaging, or other technologies.
- Improvements to current clinical practice, disease management or quality of life for people living with blood cancer.
Successful applications will clearly define how the proposed research will accelerate progress towards the desired step change in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or care for people with blood cancer.
Grants will be awarded for up to five years and will typically be for a maximum of £1,000,000.
We may consider applications that are over this funding threshold where there is very strong justification for doing so, however any such requests must be discussed with the Blood Cancer UK Research team before applying.
Applications for smaller-scale discovery science or translational research projects of up to three years and £300,000 should be submitted to our annual Project Grants scheme that is next opening in October 2024.
This year we have a maximum total Transformational Research Award budget of £3,000,000 and we are aiming to fund three awards.
One of these awards has been made possible by a generous donation of ring-fenced funding from the Matthew Wilson Multiple Myeloma Fund (MWMMF). This donation will fund the highest-ranked, fundable application that aims to make a transformational step change for people with multiple myeloma.
Application process
This will be a two-stage scheme starting with an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) stage. The deadline for EOIs is 3pm on Thursday 18th April 2024. No expressions of interest will be accepted after the deadline.
All Expressions of Interest must be submitted via the Blood Cancer UK Grant Tracker grants management system.
Grant Tracker is used for submission, peer review, award, and monitoring of all grant applications. Please follow our Grant Tracker guidance instructions to complete and submit an application. The application can be stored and edited at any time prior to submission.
Please also refer closely to the detailed guidance document for this scheme during the development of your application.
EOIs for this scheme will be reviewed and shortlisted by our Clinical Trials Review Committee and a subset of our Research Funding Committee to ensure the assembled committee covers the breadth of applications we may receive into this scheme. The committee will also include people affected by blood cancer who are experts by experience.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of shortlisting in early June 2024.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a full application with a deadline in early September 2024.
Outcomes of full submissions will be communicated in December 2024.
Get in touch
If you have any questions about this scheme, or if you would like to discuss your application before submission, please contact the Research Team.
Early Career Researcher funding schemes
Our support for Early Career Researchers continues. We fund in partnership with the Medical Research Council and support both clinical and non-clinical Early Career Researchers.
Clinician Scientist Fellowship
The Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinician Scientist Fellowship aims to support the move to independent investigator in a medical research field.
The research can focus on any area of MRC’s remit to improve human health.
Applicants must:
- Be a registered healthcare professional.
- Have a PhD or equivalent.
- Show evidence of career progression.
- Show clear plans for developing as a leader in their specialist area of research.
The applicant's research plans must not overlap with those of their current group leader or proposed sponsor.
There is no limit on the amount of funding an applicant can apply for.
The next deadline is 3 April 2024.
Career Development Award
The Medical Research Council (MRC) Career Development Award aims to support the move to independent investigator in a medical research field.
The research can focus on any area of MRC’s remit to improve human health.
Applicants must:
- Have a PhD or equivalent.
- Show evidence of career progression.
- Show clear plans for developing as a leader in their specialist area of research.
The applicant's research plans must not overlap with those of their current group leader or proposed sponsor.
There’s no limit on the amount of funding you can apply for.
The next deadline is 17 April 2024.
Future deadlines: 11 September 2024.
Please note:
For both MRC application schemes, please complete a Joint Funding Fellowship Form and tick Blood Cancer as the Joint funder. This should be uploaded and submitted on Je-S with the rest of your application.
Criteria and assessment
Applicants should have some postdoctoral research experience, or equivalent, and be scientists, clinicians or healthcare professionals employed by a UK university, medical school, hospital or other recognised academic research organisation.
Main applicants should have a permanent or long-term rolling contract, with their salary paid by the host organisation for the duration of the award.
Senior postdoctoral researchers who are leading a project can be the Main Applicant and include a request for their salary support, but must also include a Co-applicant with tenure based at their host organisation or have a guarantee from their Head of Department that they will be provided with space and facilities for the duration of an award.
Blood Cancer UK is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), publicly committing that we will consider all research outputs and look at a broader range of qualitative measures of impact.
Our grant application forms will ask for information on research outputs, which may include (but are not limited to) peer-reviewed original research articles, preprints, datasets, software, research materials and inventions, patents and commercial activities, changes to policy and practice.
We will also ask our advisory committees to focus on the content and quality of publications when reviewing applications, rather than their number or the impact factors of the journals in which they were published.
Our Research Strategy sets out our research priorities.
Applications to the above schemes are considered by the relevant advisory panel and/or the Research Funding Committee.