Transformational Impact Awards
Introduction
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Our Transformational Impact Awards support large-scale research investments covering high-quality discovery science, through to translational and clinical research. These awards will deliver research which cannot be achieved through our other funding schemes (namely our Research Innovation Awards), with the ambition to significantly expand our understanding of the disease, maximise the scale and speed of progress in prostate cancer research and crucially deliver a positive impact on the lives of men with prostate cancer. This may be by:
- directly delivering evidence that leads to practice change and patient benefit;
- significantly accelerating the progression towards that patient benefit;
- delivering a transformational step change in our understanding of the disease
Remit and eligibility
This scheme is designed to support individual clinical studies, as well as programmes of research (preclinical, clinical or a combination) consisting of highly interconnected workstreams that offer added benefit when delivered collectively. Smaller-scale proposals for more focused, stand-alone research projects will be more suited to our Research Innovation Awards.
Budget
We anticipate that proposals will be around £1.5m in value and up to 5 years in duration. Proposals up to the value of £2m will still be accepted, however if you wish to apply for more than £1.5m you must discuss your study with us in advance of the submission deadline. Proposals under £750k are likely to be better suited to our Research Innovation Awards scheme.
Leadership and collaboration
Proposals must be led by a designated Lead Applicant who is an established researcher with a strong track record in their field, and who holds a tenured or tenure-track academic appointment, or for clinical applicants they should hold an honorary academic contract, at a recognised academic institution in the UK. Up to 4 additional ‘senior’ Joint Lead Applicants can also be named on the proposal, where each person will play an active role in the management and delivery of the proposed study. These individuals can be based in the UK or internationally. We are very much open to bringing new expertise and ideas into the prostate cancer field and academics not currently working on prostate cancer are welcome to apply to this scheme.
Career Development and Mentorship
We're keen to see these awards provide training and development opportunities for early career researchers. Proposals must include at least one experienced Early Career Researcher as a named Joint Lead Applicant on the grant, who will play an active role in the delivery of the programme/study and who will be responsible for a particular element(s) of it (NB/ this is in addition to the 4 ‘senior’ Joint Lead Applicants mentioned above). We define an experienced Early Career Researcher as someone who has (at 1 January 2025) between 5-10 years post-doctoral experience if a non-clinical researcher, or 0-5 years post-doctoral experience if a clinical researcher. Also, where it supports the delivery of the proposed research, we encourage the inclusion of PhD Studentships or Clinical Fellows working towards a PhD qualification.
Research Themes
All proposals must be in line with our Research Strategy and be focussed towards tackling one or more of the research themes summarised below. Full details on each theme can be found in the guidance notes.
As new diagnostic approaches emerge, they will inevitably require refinement and validation in additional and larger patient cohorts. By complementing and leveraging other efforts and resources in this space, we wish to progress these novel diagnostic approaches to the point where they are ready for large-scale prospective clinical validation.
Through a better understanding of the biology of high-risk localised prostate cancer, and how it may evade treatment, we can start to bring more tailored therapeutic approaches into the localised disease setting to more effectively treat these men.
We need better informed and personalised treatment decision making for men with localised disease, as well as further trials investigating novel primary therapeutic approaches which reduce the likelihood of recurrence and the occurrence of side effects.
Many men see their cancer return after primary treatment and so we need more effective ways to detect treatment resistance and localised recurrence early, a better understanding of why this happens, and more effective approaches to treating localised recurrence.
Programmatic funding is needed to revolutionise our understanding of metastatic prostate cancer in order to make transformational steps towards more targeted and effective treatments for advanced disease.
Supporting translational and clinical research to enhance the treatment of hormone sensitive metastatic disease, further delaying (or even preventing) the progression to the castration-resistant disease state.
Supporting translational and clinical research to enhance the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, delaying further disease progression and giving men valuable extra time with their loved ones.
Expanding our understanding of how treatment resistance occurs and investigating approaches to more effectively detect resistance and disease progression early.
Public and Patient Involvement
If you would like support to involve people affected by prostate cancer in your research, we can put you in contact with members of our Patient Representative Network.
Application and assessment process
LAUNCH: Call opens for applications 18 June 2024.
DEADLINE: Applicants must submit their application and ensure that all online declarations and approvals have been completed by the relevant parties before 1pm on 25 September 2024.
PEER REVIEW: Submitted applications will then be subject to external peer review (in line with AMRC guidance). The peer reviewers' comments will be sent to the applicants (anonymously) in early December 2024 via our online system. Applicants will be given the opportunity to submit a response to the reviewers' comments.
SHORTLISTING: Applications will then be considered by our Scientific Advisory Board in mid-January 2025, who will decide which applicant groups will be invited for interview.
INTERVIEWS: Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview with our Scientific Advisory Board. Interviews will take place on the afternoons of 19 and 20 February 2025 via video conference. Further details of the interview process will be provided to the shortlisted applicants, but please keep these dates free in case you are invited to interview.
NOTIFICATION: Applicants will be notified as to the outcome of their submission via email in March 2025. We appreciate your patience during this time.
Applications must be made using our online Grants Management System (CC Grant Tracker). Once registered with the system, you will have access to the application forms.
All awards made will be in line with our terms and conditions (please note - these terms may be subject to change).
Further details will be available in the accompanying guidance notes.
To keep up to date with the latest information on this call, connect with us on Twitter @ProstateUKProfs
Contact us
If you have any questions or would like to discuss an application with the Research team, please email [email protected].
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Meet our recent Awardees
Read more about the projects we're funding through this scheme below.
Finding out how prostate cancer hijacks the lymph nodes to spread around the body
Read more
Researchers: Professor Hing Leung, Professor Stephen Pennington, Dr Ke Yuan and Dr Ed Roberts
How does treating the prostate affect cancer that has already spread beyond it?
Read more
Researchers: Professor Charlotte Bevan, Professor Hashim Ahmed, Dr Damien Leach
Application success rates
- 2022/23: 33% success rate, 6 applications received
- 2023/24: 56% success rate, 9 applications received
Frequently Asked Questions
Thinking about or already started applying to one of our funding schemes? Here are some frequently asked questions to assist you with your queries
