Cancer Research UK and AACR Launch Transatlantic Fellowships

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have announced the launch of the AACR-Cancer Research UK Transatlantic Fellowship, a four-year postdoctoral fellowship programme to support promising early stage postdoctoral researchers to pursue their projects both in the UK and the US.

Funds will allow fellows to embark on research projects conducted at the best research environments in either the UK or the US and will present a unique opportunity to forge international collaborations that will help these early career investigators to establish their independent research careers.

Research projects may focus on any (or more than one) of the following research areas provided the research is cancer-relevant: basic biological research, preclinical studies, imaging, radiotherapy research, engineering & physical sciences applied to cancer, population research, early detection research and drug discovery. CRUK is particularly interested in proposals coming from any area of its funding remit, and encourages proposals addressing cancers of unmet need (eg brain, lung, oesophageal and pancreatic cancer) and early detection to apply for this funding scheme.

Applicants should be scientists or clinician-scientists who:

Are AACR members.

Have recently been awarded a doctoral degree (PhD, MD, MD/PhD) in a related field either in the US or the UK; or

Are in the final year of their doctoral studies. Applicants must have their degree conferred (have completed their PhD viva) by the start of the grant term. Grant terms can start between February 1, 2020 and April 1, 2020; or

Have recently graduated in either the US or UK and have already started a postdoctoral position in the visiting country within six-months of the opening of the scheme (ie a recent US doctoral graduate who has already started a postdoctoral position in the UK within six months of the opening of the scheme and will be intending to be hosted in the UK, or vice versa.)

If an applicant does not have a PhD from the US or the UK, they should have been in the home country (either the UK or US) for at least six months at the moment of application and be willing to spend the majority of the fellowship in the visiting country (that is, not remain in the country they are currently residing in). Applicants should also be committed to pursue their scientific career in either the UK or in the US following completion of the fellowship.

US to UK applicants will receive $400,000 in total. UK to US applicants will receive £300,000 in total. Grants will start on 1 February 2020 and last for four years.

Online applications, initially in the form of letters of intent, must be made by the 25 July 2019 deadline.

More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.