Our funding processes

1. Please submit your application using our online grants management system (Grant Tracker). Once you’ve registered with the system, you’ll be able to access the application forms for open grant rounds
2. Make sure you carefully read the guidance for the grant round you’re applying for. You can find these on our funding opportunities page
3. In your proposal, you must clearly demonstrate how your research project could lead to better treatments, improved diagnosis, or the prevention of breast cancer. For more information, read our research policies and grant conditions
4. If you have any questions about completing the application form, please email the research team

Response mode funding

Our response mode funding includes project, PhD, fellowship, and Improving Public Health, Equity and Wellbeing (IPHEW) grants.

Breast Cancer Now is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities and we follow their guidelines for best practice in peer review. We award grants based on their scientific value in relation to our objectives. When making decisions on grant awards, our key considerations are the quality of the application and applicants.

We assign research proposals to the scheme’s committee members with relevant scientific or clinical expertise. As an initial screening, committee members carry out a preliminary screening step by reviewing all applications. They identify applications that aren't competitive and applications that should move forward to the next stage of review. If we aren't going to take your application any further, we will let you know within 12 weeks of the application deadline, and send you feedback from the committee.

Long-term programme grant funding

Our long-term programme funding includes our research centre at the Institute of Cancer Research, the research unit at King’s College London, the Generations Study and the biobank.

Our long-term programmes are funded in a 5-year cycle. At the end of the funding cycle, we assemble an independent, international panel to assess the performance of each programme. The panel assessment will determine whether programmes receive another 5 years of funding. The panel will make funding recommendations to the Board of Trustees, who give the final approval for funding.

The panel also reviews the research proposals for the following 5 years.  At least 3 independent national and international expert scientists and clinicians will also peer review the research proposals.

During the funding cycle, we evaluate each programme annually to assess whether it’s achieving its objectives and to determine whether we will continue funding.

Following the application review process, we will notify applicants via e-mail about the outcome of their application. If your application is successful, we will issue a contract based on our research policies and grants conditions. Successful applicants will then be issued a contract based on our research policies and grants conditions, along with information for new grant holders about the management of their grant.