Early Detection and Diagnosis Project Award

Overview

This award funds exceptional science to drive transformational change in how and when early cancers and pre-cancerous states are detected and diagnosed.

Key information Timelines

Applications for this scheme are considered twice a year. Upcoming deadline: 18 June 2026

Funding period

up to 4 years

Funding amount

up to £500k

Who is eligible?

Our core eligibility criteria are outlined below.

We strongly encourage that you contact us for an informal and confidential discussion of your proposal prior to submitting your application. We’ll advise on your eligibility and provide guidance on submitting your application.

Email early.detection@cancer.org.uk

The applicant

You can apply for this award if you’re a scientist, clinician or healthcare worker who:

is based at a UK university, medical school, hospital or research institute (including our institutes)

in most cases, is fully funded by the host institution for the duration of the award

Career stage

We welcome researchers from all career stages to apply. In cases where an early career researcher is lead or joint lead applicant, we would strongly recommend including at least one established researcher as co-applicant for mentorship.

We outline how we define career stages in our competency framework.

Read the framework

Collaborations

We encourage applications from research teams, which can be located across different institutions in the UK. Supporting roles from international and commercial organisations may also be included as co-investigators and collaborators.

The host institution

Your host institution must approve your application before the submission deadline, so please ensure you are in contact with your institution’s administrative staff in advance.

You must ensure that your host institution will provide sufficient space and access to resources to undertake the proposed research.

If you receive core funding from one of our institutes (including the Francis Crick Institute), you may apply as a joint lead applicant with a researcher based outside our institutes. However, you should explain why you require extra support in addition to the funding you receive from the institute.

You will need to distinguish your core funded research from the research in your proposal and demonstrate your ability to manage both programmes of work. If this applies to you, you must contact us before submitting your application.

Other funding bodies

You can submit applications for the same project to different funding bodies, including us. However, if successful, you may only accept one award. If applicable, please notify us and disclose this in your application under 'Other Funding'.

We may consider joint funding with other organisations. If you’re interested, please discuss this with us and the other potential funder before applying.

Flexible working arrangements

Career breaks (due to personal circumstances), part-time working and changes in discipline will be taken into consideration by our panels and committees to make appropriate adjustments when assessing your record of outputs, research achievements and career progression.

You can apply on a part-time or flexible working basis if this fits with the needs of your host institution and they approve your request.

If you’d like to apply on a part-time basis, please contact us before starting your application to discuss your proposed parameters for the award and how to include the part-time request in your application.

Learn about our flexible research career support

What is suitable for this scheme?

Our Early Detection and Diagnosis Project Award supports exceptional science from discovery through to translational research. Projects should aim to detect and diagnose consequential pre-cancerous changes and cancer at the earliest possible point of intervention, reducing the burden of late-stage disease.

Applications must demonstrate early detection/diagnosis relevance, consider a line-of-sight to clinical or population impact and clearly articulate the cancer-related question you’re focusing on.

You can apply for a Project Award in any number or combination of areas relevant to cancer early detection and diagnosis. Examples of areas in remit that we will consider include:

the discovery and validation of signatures for the detection of early cancer/pre-cancer including the development of the technologies to enable this

development and validation of tests and other interventions to enable early detection and diagnosis

clinical trials of early detection and diagnosis technologies and approaches

early detection and diagnosis health systems

clinician behaviour and decision support

understanding and intervening in public behaviour to enhance early detection and diagnosis

health economics of early detection and diagnosis research

For more information on our strategic priorities, explore the following resources.

Read our research strategy

Read our statement of intent

Read our early detection and diagnosis of cancer roadmap

Spotlight call: reducing inequalities in cancer early detection and diagnosis

We're committed to addressing critical gaps in cancer research through our spotlight calls, which highlight key areas of need where dedicated research efforts could accelerate progress.

With our new spotlight call, we encourage applications to develop novel approaches to reduce existing known inequalities in cancer detection and diagnosis or explore and address less well understood mechanisms driving inequalities.

Applicants can apply for funding to address the spotlight call through this award. All applications will be considered alongside the full pool of the award's proposals, with primary evaluation based on scientific quality and relevance to early detection and diagnosis. However, applications of comparable quality may be prioritized if they address a strategic need in tackling inequalities.

The spotlight call will span multiple funding rounds, with the decision on when to end the call made by us and the Early Detection and Diagnosis Research Committee, based on the coverage of awarded projects.

Learn more about the spotlight call

What isn't suitable for this scheme?

research focussing on late-stage disease and/or metastasis (except early detection of cancer recurrence)

research without line-of-sight to impact in early detection

infrastructure support to our clinical trials units or centres

Some programme concepts may straddle the remits of more than one funding committee. If you are unsure which funding committee is most suited to your research proposal, please contact us and we can provide a recommendation.

You can also search our funding schemes to explore other opportunities.

View all available funding

How are applications reviewed? Panels and committees

Applications are considered twice a year by the Early Detection and Diagnosis Research Committee, assisted by our Expert Review Panels and Patient and Public Review Panel. The review process involves the following steps:

After contacting us for an informal and confidential discussion of your proposal, you can submit an application on Flexi-Grant.

Your application will be peer-reviewed by our Expert Review Panel. You will have the opportunity to provide a written response to their comments ahead of the panel meeting. They will consider your application alongside their comments and your response to the comments before making a recommendation.

Your application will also be reviewed by our Patient and Public Review Panel regardless of the level of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) within the proposal. The panel will mainly focus on the lay summary, PPI plans including associated costings and study population, if applicable, and the proposed clinical/population impact of the work.

Recommendations from both panels will be considered by the Early Detection and Diagnosis Research Committee who make final funding decisions.

Learn more about how we make funding decisions

Assessment criteria

The Early Detection and Diagnosis Research Committee and Expert Review Panel will review your proposal based on relevance to our strategy, statement of intent and a set of standard criteria.

You can find more information on the criteria by which applications are reviewed on our committee pages.

The five-year rolling success rate (financial year 2020-2025) from application to funding for this scheme is 26%.

Learn more about the committee

Observing funding panels and committees

We offer early- to mid-career researchers the opportunity to observe panel and committee meetings across our funding remit and prioritise giving this opportunity to researchers from underrepresented groups.

Find out more about eligibility and how to apply

Feedback

We will provide feedback on your application, but all funding decisions are final. Committee members cannot discuss their decisions with applicants, so please do not approach them directly.

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