Deadline: 7 October 2019

The World Cancer Research Fund International is seeking proposals from anywhere in the world except the Americas (North America, Central America including the Caribbean, and South America) for its Research Grant Programme.

The aim of this grant programme is to fund research that helps elucidate the role of diet, nutrition (including body composition) and physical activity in cancer.

Research Themes

This year, they will be focusing on two main themes:

• identifying the mechanisms that underpin the effects of diet, nutrition and physical activity on cancer
• addressing the host factors that influence an individual’s susceptibility to cancer development or progression

For cancer survivors, they also encourage broader research into evidence for impact of diet, nutrition (including body composition), physical activity and outcomes after cancer diagnosis, as robust evidence on this is still lacking.

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.

Funding Information

Investigator initiated grants are awarded to principal investigators with a maximum of £350,000 for up to four years, with a limit of £100,000 for any one year. Seed grants are for a maximum of £60,000 in total for up to two years.

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 from low- and middle-income countries are also encouraged, such as for high quality studies that explore relevant exposure-outcome links in under-researched regions or populations, but 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. Institutions are encouraged to contact them to discuss the prioritisation of their applications, if needed.

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).
• The Principal Investigator’s salary cannot be covered by the grant, wholly or partly.
• The grant may cover the salary or stipend of personnel (other than the Principal Investigator) involved in the project, including the stipend or salary of PhD students.
• If a PhD student is to be included in a research grant project, the following criteria must be met:
  • The host institution must be responsible for the progress and training of the PhD student and must ensure adequate supervision and assessment of the student’s progress and the research training provided.
  • The PhD student should be spending 100 per cent of their time on the WCRF funded project, on a full-time or part-time basis.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.wcrf.org/int/research-we-fund/grant-programmes