Cancer Cell Research Science Adobestock 96172433

Transformational Impact Awards

Introduction

Call closed. Deadline for applications : 14 September 2023

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.

Pound Sign Men Icons Black

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.

Group Of Men Icons 3 Black

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 between 5-10 years post-doctoral experience if a non-clinical researcher, or up to 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.

*** NEW RESEARCH THEME FOR 2023/24 ***

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. 

Summary of changes since the last round

  • Introduction of an interview stage for shortlisted applicants.
  • Additional research theme added, focussing around advancing novel diagnostic approaches to the point where they are ready for large-scale clinical validation.
  • Amended eligibility for the experienced Early Career Researcher Joint Lead Applicant post. Recognising the distinct career paths for clinical and non-clinical researchers, we have stipulated different eligibility criteria to fulfil this specific role. To be eligible for this role you must have between 5-10 years post-doctoral experience if a non-clinical researcher, or up to 5 years post-doctoral experience if a clinical researcher.
  • Move towards a more narrative-based CV for all Lead/Joint Lead Applicants to allow you to highlight key successes beyond just traditional research outputs.
  • Requirement for clinical proposals to provide further information on their recruitment strategy, specifically in relation to recruiting Black men, to ensure a diverse and representative patient cohort participating in the study.

Public and Patient Involvement

We encourage applicants to actively involve patients and the public to help shape and deliver their research project from conception to the dissemination of results. The involvement of people affected by prostate cancer can lead to better quality applications and improved outcomes of research, thus resulting in applications that are more likely to receive funding. 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.

Find out more

Application and assessment process

LAUNCH: Call opens for applications 8 June 2023.

DEADLINE: Applicants must submit their application and ensure that all online declarations and approvals have been completed by the relevant parties before 1pm on 14 September 2023.

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 w/c 27 November 2023 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 2024, 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 19 and 23 February 2024 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 2024. We appreciate your patience during this time.

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

Application success rates

  • 2022/23: 33% success rate, 6 applications received

Interested?

You can also download a template of the application form here.

Guidance Notes

Before you apply

Funds must be in accordance with our Finance Guidance.

Finance Guidance

Our recent Awardees

Read more about the projects we're funding through this scheme below.

Studying the lymph nodes to explain how prostate cancer progresses - Read more

Contact us

If you have any questions or would like to discuss an application with the Research team, please email [email protected].

For all the latest news about funding calls, events and much more straight to your inbox- sign up to our newsletter

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

Frequently Asked Questions