Cancer Research UK (CRUK)


Background Information on the Cancer Research UK (CRUK)

Areas supported Basic Biology, Clinical Trials, Personal funding, Population Science, Public Health Policy and Translational Research
Types of funding Research Grants (Programme, Projects Grants, Career Establishment & Small Grants), Fellowships (Biomedical & Clinical), Large Equipment Scheme, Clinical Trials, Translational Awards, Postgraduate Training
Full details on CRUK website
Funding Guide See CRUK website
CRUK funding opportunities On the CRUK website
Current CRUK funding opportunities on ResearchProfessional.com. You will need to log in or click on Campus Access to view these.
CRUK Research Income at Oxford 2010/11: Oxford received £19.1M (fifth largest research funder of the University)
Applications and Award Activity at Oxford 2010/11: 38 applications submitted to the value of £12.7M. 59 new awards accepted worth £24.8M, including financial amendments to existing awards (University financial year Aug-Jul)
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Preparing your application

  • It is essential that you refer to the CRUK's general funding guidance and conditions and any specific guidance issued with the funding call or opportunity. Contact CRUKdirectly for further guidance.
  • If you are thinking of putting together a grant application, please get in touch with your Departmental Administrator, Research Officer or Research Facilitator as soon as possible (and at the very latest four weeks before the deadline), so that they can provide advice and assistance with the preparation of your proposal. The sooner you get in touch, the more they will be able to help.
  • Guidance is provided on CRUK's website on eligibility to apply for all schemes.
  • If the project involves collaboration, a signed letter of support for each collaborator must be submitted with the application. The application must also state the amount of hours each collaborator will be contributing to the project.
  • Any co-applicants  will also need to be registered with eGMS so that they can be selected by the PI under the supporting roles section of the form; they will then need to confirm their role and hours on the project before  the application can be submitted.

Further information

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Using the electronic Grants Management System (eGMS)

  • Applications for all CRUK schemes with a deadline of 2011 onwards must  be prepared and submitted via CRUK's eGMS system.
  • You will need to register for an eGMS account in order to create and submit an application (we advise that you do this as soon as possible).
  • eGMS is a web-based system which allows the creation and submission of electronic grant applications, post-award management and peer review.

Further Information

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Preparing a Case for Support

  • This is the part of the application where you will describe your proposed project and why you should be funded to carry it out.
  • Ensure that your case is well-structured and addresses the issues or questions raised in the call.
  • Familiarise yourself with the assessment criteria that will be used - and the weighting given to each.
  • When writing your proposal be aware of who will ultimately be reading and assessing it. This will not just be subject experts but also generalists sitting on review panels, as well as (in some cases) research users.
  • Use the advice and expertise of colleagues, especially those who have had successful proposals - it can be helpful to ask colleagues who are both expert and non-expert in your field to read and comment on your application.
  • As with all aspects of your application, don't overlook 'minor details'. The wrong font size or exceeding page limits will result in your application being returned by the funder - and sometimes not considered at all.
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Ethics

  • The eGMS forms require applicants to answer questions about any research proposed which involves human subjects or animals.

Further information

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Costing and Budgeting

  • Your Departmental Administrator, Research Officer or Research Facilitator will assist you to identify the costs of your project and also prepare a Resolve costing. Please contact them as soon as you are thinking about applying and at the very latest four weeks before the deadline. The Resolve costing will provide the financial information that you must include in the eGMS form and, since this is the form that indicates Departmental approval of the costs of a project, it has to be provided to Research Services before the application can be approved and submitted by the University to the funder.
  • Funding from CRUK constitutes eligible income for the purpose of HEFCE's Charity Support Funding.
  • Applications to CRUK should be costed on a full economic cost (FEC) basis and these costs need to be included in the application. However, CRUK will pay Directly Incurred costs only. CRUK will not pay either Directly Allocated or Indirect costs.
  • Ensure that all the figures in the main body of the application are the un-inflated figures taken from the Resolve costing prepared by your Departmental Administrator.
  • The financial details page of the application form clearly sets out the allowable items that can be requested under the headings of Running Expenses and Equipment costs.
  • For participating applicants, their CV must state the number of hours per week that will be worked by them on the project. These hours must match those that have been entered on the Resolve costing.

Further Information for researchers

Departmental administrators see guidance on Resolve costings

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Justification of Resources

  • All applications must include a completed section setting out the justification for the resources requested. This is an opportunity to explain in words why you require the resources detailed in your budget.

  • Note that this is not justifying the costs (money) sought, rather the resources required to undertake the project, such as equipment or number of staff but also the level (seniority) of proposed staff and the proportion of their time they will dedicate to the project.

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I'm ready to submit my applications - what should I do now?

  • Firstly check that your application is complete and includes all the information required by CRUK.

  • You should then submit the application via the eGMS system to Research Services.

  • Research Services reviews applications on behalf of the University and will liaise with you and/or your Departmental Administrator over any queries or changes that might be needed to the application.

  • Research Services submits the approved application to CRUK.

Further Information

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The application has been submitted - what next?

  • CRUK staff will check that you have provided all the information the funding committee needs to be able to make a decision. You will be contacted via email if there are any problems.

  • The application will be sent out for peer review, where applicable. If the funding scheme you are applying to permits you to review and respond to the peer review comments obtained on your application, you will be sent these via eGMS and you will be able to submit your response through the system.

  • Your application is taken to the relevant committee meeting for consideration.

  • The outcome of your application will be emailed to you. Feedback will be available via eGMS including your peer review comments, if you did not see these before the application was discussed at the committee meeting.

  • Do let your Departmental Administrator know the outcome of your application. Where it is to be funded they will liaise with you and Research Services regarding the acceptance of the award.

Further Information

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Managing your award

  • See Managing awards for the process at Oxford for accepting and managing awards.

  • All claims, invoices and financial statements to funders must go out from Research Accounts, never directly from Departments.

  • See also the CRUK's guidance on Managing a Grant including advice on starting a grant, finance and personnel, and end of grant.

  • Publications arising from research funded by CRUK should include an acknowledgement of CRUK support as set out in the CRUK Terms and Conditions and Policies.

  • CRUK's grant condition relating to open access of CRUK-funded outputs should also be noted. This requires that CRUK-funded researchers deposit an electronic copy of peer-reviewed, published papers arising from their Cancer Research UK funded work in the UKPMC database, as soon as possible and no later than 6 months after publication.

  • Arrangements for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from CRUK-funded research are handled in accordance with the technology transfer agreement in place between the University, CRUK and Isis Innovation. Further advice can be obtained from Research Services' IP Rights Management Team.

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Information on costing and budgeting for departmental administrators

Advice on preparing Resolve costings for Cancer Research UK applications

  • The 'Apply Inflation' tick boxes on the Financial Models page in Resolve should be un-ticked.

  • New from February 2009: After CRUK has established the level of award for the first instalment or for awards existing at February 2009 (the 2009/10 instalment) they will apply a single fixed indexation rate to the award for both salaries and running expenses, with the exception of fellowship and studentship salaries. The rate set will apply for the duration of the award.

  • CRUK will only pay the Directly Incurred costs on a research project. They will not pay any Directly Allocated costs (the costs of the Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator and Estates costs) or Indirect costs. These costs must be removed from the price by un-ticking the 'Apply?' boxes on the Price Template tab of the Summary page on Resolve.

  • When completing the AMRC FEC monitoring page on the eGMS form, all the figures in the FEC column should include inflation and you can obtain these inflated figures by ticking the 'Apply Inflation' tick boxes on the Financial Model page in Resolve and then referring to the FEC tab on the Summary page. Having obtained these figures remember to then un-tick the 'Apply Inflation' box . The figures shown in the Charity Contribution column of the eGMS FEC monitoring form will be the un-inflated figures.

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Documents

Related links

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