Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowship
About this scheme
Key information
Applications are considered from any area of our funding remit, including population, prevention and early detection/diagnosis research, but with the exception of any interventional clinical study/trial and drug discovery.
You should:
- Be based at a UK university or research institute during the fellowship
- Have obtained a higher degree (MD/PhD) in a cancer-relevant research area
- Have obtained your CCT and hold consultant status
- Have undertaken a significant period of postdoctoral research
- Be able to demonstrate that you meet the range of skills and experience as outlined in the 'establishing independence’ career stage in our Fellowships Competency Framework
You should not have a tenured academic post at a higher education institute or research institute.
We updated our guidelines for this scheme in November 2021. Please refer to the documents in the section 'How to apply to this scheme' for the latest guidance.
Funding support is provided for:
- Your salary at the appropriate honorary consultant grade
- Salaries and running expenses for up to two posts. You may choose from a postdoctoral researcher, a technician and/or a (non-clinical) PhD student.
- Associated running expenses
- Equipment costs up to £25,000
- Relocation costs up to £1,000 if you wish to take up your fellowship at a new host institution
- EMBO Lab Leadership for Group Leaders course: we encourage you to attend this course to gain crucial skills to run your own independent research group. Available as either an in-person (in Germany, please check with the Office for future limited UK spaces) or online course. Please see the EMBO website for more information, including costs.
Additional support
Our fellowships offer a range of benefits beyond funding, including access to networking and training opportunities, flexible working policies and an accelerated route through the Tier 1 visa system.
How to apply to this scheme
Application process
Applications for this scheme are considered twice a year, and the application process has three stages.
- Outline application: reviewed and shortlisted by the Research Careers Committee*.
- Full application: If shortlisted, you will be invited to submit a full application. This will be assessed by an Expert Review Panel and will include an interview.
- Committee Review: The Research Careers Committee meet to review the funding recommendations of the Expert Review Panels and make the final funding decision.
Timelines
|
Outline application deadline |
Full application deadline |
Expert Review Panel Interviews |
Committee Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2021 | 3 March 2022 | May 2022 | May 2022 |
| 30 March 2022 | 13 September 2022 | October/November 2022 | November 2022 |
| 4 October 2022 | 15 March 2023 | May 2023 | May 2023 |
*The Research Careers Committee is a new CRUK Committee that combined and replaced both our previous New Investigator Committee and Clinical Careers Committee. The Research Careers Committee covers both remits and reviews all associated schemes.
Before you begin your application
We updated our guidelines for this scheme in November 2021. Please refer to the following documents for the latest guidance.
You must read:
The Research Careers Committee will judge your proposal on:
- Scientific excellence: whether you have a strong scientific rationale to support the proposed research proposal.
- Cancer-relevance: the value of the proposed work in advancing the fundamental understanding of cancer or improving how cancer is diagnosed and/or treated.
- Your own track record and potential to produce outstanding results
- The strength of your research team and research environment
Applications are assessed by international, Expert Review Panels and funding decisions are made by the Research Careers Committee.
Cancer Research UK contact details
Please contact your Research Grants Manager if you have questions about your eligibility for this scheme or require any assistance with your application or active award
For London (except for QMUL and UCL), Oxford, Birmingham, Southampton, The South of England and Wales
Dr Victoria Walker, Research Grants Manager: fellowships@cancer.org.uk
For London (QMUL and UCL only), Cambridge, Manchester, The North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Dr Catherine Cremona, Research Grants Manager: fellowships@cancer.org.uk
Please contact Dr Marjolein (Lein) Schaap, Research Programme Manager, if you would like to hear more about the support we offer e.g. CRUK Fellow meetings, activities and training, and to share any potential challenges you might face: fellowships@cancer.org.uk
Please refer to the 'How to apply to this scheme tab' for further details and dates for the Spring 2022 funding round.
More career development opportunities for researchers
We offer a range of fellowships, bursaries and other support to help outstanding scientists and clinicians develop their independent research careers.
Dr Sean Lim
Sean tells us about her successful progression from Clinician Scientist Fellow to Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellow.