How we award research grants

Cancer Council NSW is committed to funding high quality cancer research that is made possible by the support of the people of NSW. Cancer Council NSW is driven by the imperative to fund research that is both of significant scientific merit, and of value to the community we serve and represent.

As one of the largest non-government funders of cancer research in Australia, Cancer Council NSW funds world-class research that reduces the impact of cancer. As a charity with limited funding, research experts, cancer patients, survivors and carers help us decide what research to fund. We receive many more excellent and worthy applications than we can fund at this time. In order to decide which research we will fund, we assess both the scientific merit of a project and its potential impact on the community.

Research grant selection process

1. Researchers submit their funding applications (research proposals).
2. These proposals are assessed by independent panels of expert scientists. The panels assign each proposal a score, based on the quality of the science, the significance and innovative aspects of the research, and the expertise of the research team.
3. In the next stage, only proposals deemed to be among Australia’s best are assessed by our Consumer Review Panel. The Panel is a group of specially trained cancer survivors, carers and family members who judge each proposal according to its value to the community. This panel gives each proposal a score based on its likely benefits and impact which are addressed separately to the main scientific proposal.
4. The scores assigned to each proposal by the scientific and consumer panels are combined to create a final ranking. We lead Australian cancer charities by giving the cancer community a voice in all our research funding decisions.
5. The Cancer Research Committee, a committee of cancer research leaders, oversees this process to ensure rigorous transparency, governance and the best use of community donations.
6. The Cancer Council NSW Board awards grants.