Our funding process is designed to identify and support cancer research with the greatest potential for patient benefit. From submission to decision, we follow a rigorous, fair, and transparent process to ensure funding aligns with our strategy and research priorities. Contact us with any questions about our peer review or funding decisions.
Email usPeer review forms the basis of our funding decisions. Depending on the funding you’ve applied for, this can include assessment by an expert review panel, or an interview.
Final funding decisions are made by our funding committees or the relevant review board.
Explore our guide to assessing grant applicationsOur funding committees oversee the peer review process and align decisions with our research strategy. Each committee has a specific remit.
This committee focusses on supporting career development for early and mid-career researchers.
This committee funds basic discovery and early translational research.
This committee funds research into ways detect and diagnose cancer at the earliest possible point.
This committee funds research on cancer primary prevention and population studies across all cancer types and stages to improve understanding of cancer risk, incidence, and outcomes.
This committee funds investigator-led clinical research and studies supporting or enabling clinical trials.
We provide overall guidance and requirements for our committees, Expert Review Panels and independent peer reviewers. Each committee may also have additional criteria or standards specific to their funding remit.
Our code of practice applies to anyone reviewing or advising on funding applications, to ensure that review is carried out objectively, impartially and reflects the highest standards of governance.
Read our code of practice(PDF, 213 KB)
We set out the key responsibilities and membership requirements for our funding committees and expert review panels in our general terms of reference documents.
Read our terms of reference for funding committees(PDF, 190 KB)
Read our terms of reference for expert review panels(PDF, 102 KB)
If you are a member of a funding committee, expert review panel or other peer reviewer, you must declare any conflicts of interest that would affect your review of a grant application.
Read our conflicts of interest policy
As a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), we follow their high standards and recommended peer review principles.
We also follow the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). This means that when we evaluate researchers and their ability to carry out proposed research, we look at the value and impact of all their work.
When we do look at research publications, we focus more on the content and its impact in the field rather than the publication metrics or where it was published.
Learn more about AMRC's peer review principles
Our peer reviewers play a vital role in shaping our funding decisions.
These expert reviewers are external, independent, leading scientists, clinicians, health policy specialists and patient representatives. We invite them to sit on our panels and committees and regularly call for new members to join to ensure we have the appropriate and relevant expertise to review the applications submitted to us.
Learn more about our expert peer review process
Our funding committees are overseen by the Scientific Executive Board, who are responsible for developing and implementing our scientific strategy.
In exceptional circumstances, the board also consider approaches for funding in areas of high strategic priority that do not easily fall within the scope or scale of our funding committees and schemes. If you would like to discuss opportunities like this, please contact us via the email above.
Find out more about the Scientific Executive Board
We offer early- to mid-career researchers the opportunity to observe panel and committee meetings across our funding remit. Anyone can apply but we offer priority places to individuals from underrepresented groups.
Find out more about eligibility and how to apply
Our strategy shapes how we'll discover more about the mechanisms of how cancer develops and progresses to unlock new and better ways to prevent, detect and treat it.
We fund individual projects and fellowships, large-scale team science programmes, multidisciplinary collaborations and international consortia.
