Biology to Prevention Award

In partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has launched a new funding opportunity for UK-Canada Research teams working in primary prevention. Up to £1.2M per grant will be awarded to UK- and Canada-based teams.

This program is administered by CRUK. To learn more about the opportunity, please consult the call for applications. A brief description can be found below.

Program description

The Biology to Prevention Award supports projects harnessing biological and mechanistic insights to provide new targets and approaches for cancer primary prevention.

Competition timeline

Full applications due:

December 4, 2025*

Funding results:

Summer 2026

Funding start date:

Late summer 2026

*CCS aims to co-fund through 3 rounds of this opportunity, as funds allow

Funds available

CRUK will cover the admissible UK research costs (up to £600k).
CCS will cover the eligible Canada-based research costs (up to C$1M for direct research costs only).

Funding period:

Up to 5 years

Funding amount:

Flexible, from around £100k up to £600k (and up to C$1M for Canada-based costs)

Application process under the partnership

Applications for co-funding are expected to be true, and where possible equal, intellectual partnerships between established UK and Canada-based lead applicants.
The full application must be submitted by UK-based lead applicants through Flexi-Grant on behalf of the research team.

Step 1:

If you are interested in this partnership opportunity, please contact CRUK with a brief outline of the proposed research for an informal and confidential discussion to confirm the proposal is in remit. Once confirmed, CRUK will provide UK-based applicants with a private link to start an application on Flexi-Grant.

Contact CRUK: pprc@cancer.org.uk

Step 2:

The Canada-based joint lead applicant(s) should get in touch with CCS to complete a CCS costing template and get approval on the confirmed admissible costs. Any funding must be in accordance with Canadian Cancer Society’s funding policies.

CCS costing template (budget): CCS_Cost Template

View the Canadian Cancer Society’s funding policies here.

Contact CCS: research@cancer.ca

Step 3:

After the above steps are completed, UK-based applicants can continue their application according to the guidance on the call for applications. They must complete all required sections of the application and will be responsible for submitting the application by the submission deadline. Applications for co-funding must include a completed and approved (by CCS) CCS costing form to be considered eligible for funding.