For researchers

Last updated Monday 27 April

Covid-19 will have an undeniable impact on research in cancer across the UK, and we know that the past few weeks have been challenging for prostate cancer researchers, as will the weeks and perhaps months to come.

We want to stay in communication with you as much as possible so we can fully understand disruptions to your research. Keeping us informed will help us do everything we can to support you and our other researchers, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team if you have any concerns, questions or issues relating to your Prostate Cancer UK-funded research. 

We are continuing to closely monitor the situation and reviewing how our research commitments and our future plans will be affected by this pandemic. We are, of course, anticipating an inevitable drop in our research activity in the short-term, due to the current lock-down and physical distancing measures that mean our researchers are temporarily without access to their laboratories and have had to put lab-based experiments on hold.

As from the 1 May, we have asked Principle Investigators to put their projects into abeyance wherever possible, and use the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to reduce the salary-related costs that are continuing to be incurred on their grants at a time when activity is at a standstill. These measures will give us the best possible chance of emerging from this crisis in a state that enables us to support you to complete the work we have funded, and to resume funding new research as soon as possible. Read our FAQs for more information.

We are in the process of understanding the longer-term impact of the current situation on both our fundraising and our research programme. Until that time, we are putting all new research decisions on hold, but will try to maintain our commitments to ongoing research as far as possible.

We are, as ever, completely committed to funding research to help us stop prostate cancer limiting men’s lives, and are doing everything we can to ensure as little disruption to our research programme as possible as the national situation unfolds. We will update this page as and when our plans develop over the coming weeks.

We're the UK's leading charity dedicated to prostate cancer research. It's our mission to fund the highest quality research, and the most promising individuals, to transform treatment, diagnosis and prevention of prostate cancer. 

But our grant funding is just the start. We're dedicated to supporting the prostate cancer research community, who are making the breakthroughs that are changing men's lives. We can help strengthen your applications by putting you in touch with our Patient Network, support your trial recruitment, and keep you up to date with the latest opportunities in the field, to make sure your research will have the biggest impact possible for men affected by prostate cancer.

New funding opportunity - Major Awards in Curative Treatments

In Summer 2020 we will be launching a new strategic initiative to fund research which can improve outcomes for men treated in the curative setting, in partnership with Movember.

This can be research that helps men select the most appropriate treatment for them, research aimed at increasing the effectiveness of initial treatment in terms of cancer control, or research focused on reducing side effects from initial treatment.

Annual research networking day

Our flagship Making Progress Day brings together early career prostate cancer researchers for networking, training and development opportunities.

This event is aimed at early career researchers working within the field of prostate cancer research. The 2020 Making Progress Day will take place on Friday 4 December (rescheduled from Friday 9 June). Registration is now open.