Developing new technologies, methodologies, and tools to address urgent unmet clinical needs in cancer healthcare and to solve intractable cancer problems is the key focus of the CRUK Convergence Science Centre. The Development Fund aims to promote novel research at the convergence of engineering, physical and data sciences with biological and clinical research. Awards of up to £50K for a 12-month period are available to support the development of preliminary data required to build a more substantive project that could attract investment from external sources. The Centre will offer support in identifying collaborators and positioning your project (please see below). 

Applications will be accepted in any area of cancer-related tools, technologies and methodologies spanning prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment as outlined in the Centre’s priority list (see Development Fund Guidelines_November 2022). Applicants must clearly articulate the clinical and/or biological question that will be addressed and the need for novel engineering and physical sciences (EPS) approaches to address them. Applications must utilise a convergence science approach. Convergence science is a unique approach to solve vexing research problems, especially those focusing on societal needs, or in the case of cancer research, unmet clinical needs. The focus of the CRUK Convergence Science Centre is to merge EPS and cancer research expertise to develop new technologies, methodologies and tools that directly put cancer patient wellbeing at the centre of their design. Priority will be given to the development of innovative cancer technologies, methodologies, and tools. Cross-institutional applications between the ICR and Imperial are highly recommended but not mandatory.

Do you need support to find collaborators or position your project?

To support researchers in discovering whether their project ideas fit within the remit of this call and find collaborators, the Centre offers advice in the form of consultations that are freely available by completing this request form. Please note that this service is only advisory and is only meant to help build convergence collaborations and projects - it is independent from our funding decision pipeline. To offer the best support to our community, we strongly advise researchers to submit their request by the 1st of December 2022. Consultation requests submitted beyond this date will still be processed but there may not be enough time for project development

The application deadline for proposals is the 3^rd of February 2023.

Full guidelines and an application form can be found here Development Fund Guidelines_November 2022.