Grants-in-Aid funds high quality research into the causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We are committed to funding research projects tackling all cancer types to achieve our vision for a cancer-free future.
Applications will be assessed in a two-phase process consisting of an Expression of Interest and if shortlisted, applicants will be invited to submit a Full Application.
2023 Key Dates
| Applications: |
Closed |
| Applicants notified: |
November - December 2023 |
Please note: individual institutions may have earlier closing dates to allow for internal processing before submitting to Cancer Council Victoria by the specified deadline.
2023 Available funding
11 grants are available, for a maximum of $360,000 per grant across three years. Funding will be available across all cancer types this year.
Of the 11 available, there will be funding available for one project with a focus on addressing the specific needs of regional people affected by cancer, led by a regional research institution.
Eligibility
- Grants-in-Aid are awarded to research conducted in Victorian universities, hospitals and medical research institutes.
- Relevance to cancer is the fundamental criteria for eligibility for Grants-in-Aid funding. The primary focus of the project must relate to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, supportive care or treatment of cancer.
- The CIA must be an Australian citizen or graduate from overseas with permanent Australian resident status.
Selection criteria
The selection criteria are consistent for all application stages.
1. Impact and significance to cancer
2. Quality/Excellence of research including design and methodology
3. Team track record, collaborative capacity and feasibility
Grant selection process
We consider eligible Grants-in-Aid applications through a two-stage competitive process (Expression of Interest and Full Application). Cancer Council Victoria's Standing Research Subcommittee will assess each application against the selection criteria.
Important documents
By applying for this grant:
- you and your Administering Organisation acknowledge that you have read Cancer Council Victoria’s standard funding agreement (which can be found below); and
- you and your Administering Organisation agree to these terms for the purpose of applying for, and if successful receiving, your grant from Cancer Council Victoria.
Frequently asked questions and answers
Does the budget from the EOI need to match the final budget in the Full Application?
No, amendments to the budget can occur between stages.
Do all CIs need to sign the application form? Or is it acceptable to provide an email with text indicating the CI has agreed to be apart of the project.
It is preferred that all CIs sign the application form. However , should this prove to be difficult we will also accept email correspondence.
Can an applicant submit more than one application as a CIA?
No. An applicant is only able to be listed as a CIA on one application.
Can an applicant be listed as a CI (B-J) on more than one application?
No. A CI is only able to be listed as CI (B-J) on one application.
Additional Information and queries
In accordance with the Guidelines “Salary requests for CIAs will be permitted provided the CIA’s PhD (or MBBS) was awarded < 13 years ago at the closing date for applications.”
This date refers to the closing date of full applications.
Is an applicant who is listed as a CI (B-J) on an existing grant ending after 31 December 2022 still eligible to apply?
Yes. An applicant who is listed as a CI (B-J) on an existing grant ending after 31 December 2022 is still eligible to apply
If an applicant is yet to be awarded their PhD does this mean they are ineligible to apply for this year's round?
Yes, applicants must be awarded their PhD or MBBS to apply for Grants-in-Aid
Are references able to be included within the Research Plan?
Yes, in-test citations (e.g., Heggerty, 2021) are able to be included within the Research Plan. The reference list is excluded.
Which title should be included within the online EOI application form?
Please use the full title/ project title for the online form.
Does the EOI application need any breakdown of the specific costs? Or can an applicant just include a total for each of the three categories (Salary support, Direct research costs, Equipment)?
Budget does not require item breakdown at EOI stage.
The EOI form allows a maximum of 2 pages for the Research Proposal.
Does this include all of section 2 (i.e. 2.1 Background/Context, 2.2 Aims/Objectives/Hypotheses, 2.3 Methods/Design, 2.4 Experimental Plan, 2.5 Key activities and major milestones, 2.6 Budget (excluding GST), and 2.7 Is the funding requested to be spent outside of Victoria?) or is it just including the sections listed in Appendix B of the guidelines (i.e. sections 2.1 – 2.5, with sections 2.6 – 2.7 not included in the 2-page limit)?
The 2-page limit for Research Proposal is inclusive 2.1-2.7
Grants-in-Aid recipients
Projects commencing in 2023
Professor Helen Abud, Dr Rebekah Engel, Professor Paul McMurrick, A/Prof Ralf Schittenhelm, Dr Caroline Lum, Dr Stuart Archer
Monash University
Uncovering novel mechanisms of treatment resistance in lethal bowel cancers (2023 - 2025)
A/Prof Arun Azad, Dr. Heidi Fettke, Prof. Michael Hofman, Dr. Tu Nguyen-Dumont
University of Melbourne
Analysing “liquid biopsies” to improve prostate cancer treatment (2023 - 2025)
Prof Phillip Darcy, A/Prof Paul Beavis
University of Melbourne
Enhancing function and persistence of CAR T cells for cancer therapy (2023 - 2025)
Dr. Nicholas Gherardin, Prof. Jamie Rossjohn
University of Melbourne
Understanding T cell receptor biology to inform next gen cell therapies (2023 - 2025)
Prof Martha Hickey, Dr Antonia Jones, Dr David Wrede, Dr Frances Petry
University of Melbourne
Salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy to prevent ovarian cancer (TUBA WISP II) (2023 - 2025)
Prof Axel Kallies, A/Prof Shahneen Sandhu
University of Melbourne
Improving cancer immunotherapy (2023 - 2025)
Dr Mitchell Lawrence, Prof Mark Frydenberg, Dr Susanne Ramm, Prof Anthony Joshua
Monash University
Using hormones to treat aggressive prostate cancer (2023 - 2025)
A/Prof Evelien Spelten,Prof Carlene Wilson, Dr Nienke Zomerdijk, Dr Eva Yuen, Dr Saskia Duijts
LaTrobe University
Supporting People with a Rare Cancer living in rural and remote communities (2023 - 2025)
A/Prof Renea Taylor, Prof Matthew Watt, A/Prof David Pook
Monash University
Targeting metabolism for prostate cancer therapy (2023 - 2025)
A/Prof Alison Trainer, Prof Sue Evans, Dr Maria Bechelli, A/Prof Stephanie Best, Dr Michael Bogwitz, Dr Ainsley Campbell,
Dr Rachel DelaHunty, Dr Marion Harris, A/Prof Yoland Antill
University of Melbourne
Extending the Cancer Registry role into the familial cancer testing process (2023 - 2024)
Dr Paul Yeh, Prof Jake Shortt, Dr Dineika Chandrananda
Monash University
ctDNA to monitor non-genomic evolution in Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (2023 - 2025)
Projects commencing in 2022
A/Prof Jeffrey Babon, Prof Warren Alexander, Dr Nadia kershaw, Dr Jason Brouwer
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
A new therapy for the treatment of Myeloproliferative Diseases (2022 -2024)
Prof Sarah-Jane Dawson, A/Prof Jessic Howell, Prof Alexander Thompson
University of Melbourne
Early Detection and Monitoring of Hepatocellular Carcinoma using Liquid Biopsies (2022 - 2024)
Prof Mark Dawson, Dr. Clare Gould, A/Prof Michael Dickinson, Dr Mary Ann Anderson, Prof Constantine Tam
University of Melbourne
Novel strategies to predict and monitor response to CAR T-cell therapy in DLBCL (2022 - 2024)
Dr. Omer Gilan
Monash University
Developing new combination therapies in acute leukaemia (2022 - 2024)
A/Prof Paul Gregorevic, A/Prof Sean McGee
University of Melbourne
Giving people the strength to fight cancer: Targeting muscle to enhance survival (2022 - 2024)
Dr Nicholas Hardcastle, Dr James Korte, A/Prof Sarah Everitt, A/Prof Tomas Kron, Dr Nikki Plumridge, Dr Susan Harden, Dr Kate Moodie, Prem Krishnan, Dr Elizabeth Pearson
University of Melbourne
Sitting up for Radiotherapy (2022 - 2024)
Dr Susan Harden, Prof Penelope Schofield, Prof John Zalcberg, A/Prof Rob Stirling, Mr Ewan MacFarlane
Monash University
Determining patterns of care and access to novel therapies for mesothelioma (2022 - 2024)
Prof Nicholas Huntington, Momeneh Foroutan, Dr Sebastian Scheer
Monash University
Enhancing Immunotherapy Response Rates (2022 - 2024)
A/Prof Thomas John, Prof Sean Grimmond, Dr Muhammad Alamgeer
University of Melbourne
A Precision Medicine program in Mesothelioma (2022 - 2024)
This project is funded through the generous support of the Lyall Watts Mesothelioma Research Fund.
Prof Ricky Johnstone, Dr Stephin Vervoort
University of Melbourne
New therapies for Multiple Myeloma (2022 - 2024)
Prof Laura Mackay
University of Melbourne
Targeting local immune cells to improve cancer treatments (2022 - 2024)
Prof Stephen Nutt, Dr Julie Tellier
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Targeting plasma cells to treat liver cancer (2022 - 2024)
Prof Joseph Trapani, Dr Laura Porter
University of Melbourne
Using anti-cancer drugs to stimulate an immune response to cancer (2022 - 2024)
Projects commenced in 2021
Dr Rishu Agarwal, Dr Philip Thompson, Prof Constantine Tam, Prof Sarah-Jane Dawson, Prof Mark Dawson
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Circulating tumour DNA and genomic markers of poor response to Ibrutinib-Venetoclax combination therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (2021 -2023)
A/Prof Ian Campbell, A/Prof Paul James, Dr Na Li
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Finding new genes that cause familial high grade serious ovarian cancer (2021 -2023)
A/Prof Prudence Francis, Prof Sherene Loi, Prof Sarah Jane Dawson
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Understanding response to neoadjuvant therapy in hormone receptor positive breast cancer; a correlative analysis of the ELIMINATE trial (2021 -2023)
A/Prof Marco Herold, Prof Tony Papenfuss
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Looking beyond the role of mutant DNMT3a in AML (2021- 2023)
Prof Brendan Jenkins, Dr Daniel Croagh, A/Prof Marina Pajic, Prof Yana Zavros
Hudson Institute of Medical Research
Uncovering the broad clinical utility of the innate immune pattern recognition receptor, Toll-like receptor 2, in pancreatic cancer (2021 -2023)
Dr Linh Nguyen, Prof John Hopper, Dr Gillian Dite, Dr Shuai Li, Prof Pam Bell, Mrs Gerda Evans, Prof Joohon Sung
University of Melbourne
Combining novel breast cancer risk factors to produce automated and accurate personalised breast cancer risk prediction at the time of mammographic screening (2021 -2023)
Prof Anthony Purcell, Prof Bruce Robinson
Monash University
Defining the antigenic landscape of malignant mesothelioma - new opportunities for immunotherapy (2021 -2023)
This project is funded through the generous support of the Lyall Watts Mesothelioma Research Fund.
A/Prof Erica Sloan, Dr Fiona Hegi-Johnson, Prof Robin Anderson, Prof Michael MacManus, Prof Scott Mueller
Monash University
Harnessing neural-immune communication to enhance the radiotherapy abscopal response (2021 -2023)
A/Prof Jeanne Tie, Prof Peter Gibbs, A/Prof Sue-Anne McLachlan, Dr Craig Underhill, Prof Niall Tebbutt, Prof Alexander Heriot, Dr Julie Chu, Prof Michael Jefford, Dr Tim Akhurst
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
RESOLUTE: Randomised phase II trial to evaluate the strategy of integrating local ablative therapy with first-line systemic treatment for unresectable oligometastatic Colorectal cancer (2021 -2023)
Dr Daniel Utzschneider, Prof Stephen Opat, Prof Constantine Tam, Prof Axel Kallies
Peter Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne
Characterization and targeting of T cells for the treatment of leukemia (2021 -2023)
Dr Ajithkumar Vasanthakumar, Dr Bhupinder Pal, Dr Simon Tsao, Prof Axel Kallies
Peter Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne
Targeting regulatory T cells in mammary adipose tissue to treat breast cancer (2021 -2023)
A/Prof Ilia Voskoboinik, Prof Joseph Trapani, Prof Constantine Tam
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
How to overcome tumour resistance to immunotherapy (2021 -2023)
Prof Ingrid Winship, Dr Khalid Mahmood, A/Prof Daniel Buchanan, Mr Peter Georgeson, Ms Emma Barrance, Ms Natalie Diepenhorst, Ms Julie Toner
University of Melbourne
What can tumour mutational signatures tell us about the cause of familial colorectal cancer? (2021 -2023)
Projects commenced in 2020
Dr Holly Barker, Dr Kristy Shield-Artin, Dr Cassandra Vandenberg and Dr Gayanie Ratnayake
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Identifying new treatment options for the rare and aggressive ovarian carcinosarcoma (2020 -2022)
Co-funded by the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation
Dr Paul Beavis, Prof Phillip Darcy, Prof Benjamin Solomon and Prof Sherene Loi
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Enhancing cell-based therapy of cancer (2020 -2022)
A/Prof Daniel Buchanan, Prof Mark Jenkins, Prof Ingrid Winship, Prof Finlay Macrae, Prof Alex Boussioutas and A/Prof Christophe Rosty
University of Melbourne
Why does colonoscopy fail to prevent cancer of the large bowel in people with Lynch syndrome? (2020 -2022)
Prof Suzanne Cory and Dr Gemma Kelly
The Walter and Eliza Hall institute of Medical Research
Testing a promising new therapeutic target (MNT) to improve treatment of diverse human lymphomas and other cancers driven by high levels of the oncoprotein MYC (2020 -2022)
Prof Paul Donnelly and A/Prof Carleen Cullinane
University of Melbourne
Diagnostic imaging and therapy of cancers with copper radiopharmaceuticals (2020 -2022)
Dr Debra Gook, A/Prof David Westerman and Prof Claus Anderson
The Royal Women’s Hospital
Eliminating leukemic cells from ovarian tissue for safe restoration of fertility (2020 - 2022)
Dr Ian Majewski and Dr Peter Valk
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
How does the DNA damage that accumulates with age influence cancer risk? (2020 -2022)
Dr Delphine Merino, Dr Melissa Davis and Dr Belinda Yeo
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
Design new treatments for patients with aggressive breast cancer using sequencing and drug response prediction (2020 -2022)
Dr Ashley Ng, Dr Kira Behrens, Prof Warren Alexander, Dr Rebecca Feltham, Prof John Silke and Dr David Komander
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Drugging Undruggable Targets in Ph+ B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (2020 -2022)
Prof Richard Pearson
University of Melbourne
Combinatorial targeting of cellular “housekeeping” processes to treat cancer (2020 -2022)
Prof Andrew Perkins
Monash University
Towards a cure for myelofibrosis (2020 -2022)
Funded by the Victorian Government through the Victorian Cancer Agency
A/Prof Jake Shortt and Dr Lev Kats
Monash University
Determining the reasons why leukaemia and lymphoma become resistant to treatments that alter
the methylation of cancer DNA (2020 -2022)
Dr Lorey Smith and Dr Brendon Monahan
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Preventing Resistance to Targeted Therapy in Melanoma (2020 -2022)
Dr Florian Wiede
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Enhancing the immune system in combating liver cancer in obesity (2020 -2022)
Funded by the Victorian Government through the Victorian Cancer Agency
Projects commenced in 2019
Prof Robin Anderson, Prof Robert Parton
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
Dr Nicholas Clemons, Prof Wayne Phillips, Dr Gang Chen, Dr Cuong Duong, A/Prof Sarah-Jane Dawson, Prof David Watson, Prof Reginald Lord, A/Prof David Wang
The University of Melbourne
Development of a simple blood test to guide treatment decisions for patients with oesophageal cancer (2019-2021)
Funded by the Victorian Government through the Victorian Cancer Agency
Dr James Dowty, A/Prof Daniel Buchanan, Prof Ingrid Winship, A/Prof Robert Waterland, Dr Jihoon Joo, Prof Mark Jenkins, Prof Melissa Southey
The University of Melbourne
Dr Moritz Eissmann, Prof Matthias Ernst, Prof Alex Boussioutas
La Trobe University
Testing antibodies inhibiting IL33-signalling against gastric cancer (2019-2021)
Funded by the Victorian Government through the Victorian Cancer Agency
A/Prof Thomas Gebhardt
The University of Melbourne
Dr Catherine Granger
The University of Melbourne
A randomised control trial to evaluate the effect of exercise and self-management on outcomes of people with operable lung cancer (2019-2021)
Funded by the Victorian Government through the Victorian Cancer Agency
Dr Lev Kats, Prof Ricky Johnstone
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Dr Simon Keam
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Prof John Mariadason
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
Prof Neil O'Brien-Simpson, A/Prof Andrea O'Connor, Prof Michael McCullough, Dr Jason Lenzo
The University of Melbourne
Dr Lorraine O'Reilly, Prof Andreas Strasser, A/Prof Nicholas Huntington
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
A/Prof Louise Purton, A/Prof Carl Walkley, Dr Meaghan Wall, Dr Helene Jousset
St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research
Prof Andrew Scott, A/Prof Hui Gan, Prof Weisan Chen
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
Prof Matthew J. Watt, Dr Renea A. Taylor, A/Prof Daniel Nomura
The University of Melbourne
Projects commenced in 2018
A/Prof Thomas John, Prof Andrew Scott, A/Prof Hui Gan
The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
New treatments for mesothelioma (2018-2020)
Projects commenced in 2017
Dr Peter Janes, Prof Andrew Scott, A/Prof Thomas John
Monash University (2017-2018); La Trobe University (2018-2019)
Targeted antibody therapy for malignant mesothelioma
Lyall Watts Mesothelioma Research Grant (2017-2019)
Projects commenced in 2016
A/Prof Kieran Harvey, Dr Nicola Waddell, A/Prof Kaylene Simpson
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
What causes mesothelioma and how can we treat it?
Lyall Watts Mesothelioma Research Grant (Sept 2016 - Aug 2019)
Further information
If you have any questions about this funding, please contact:
Research Governance Unit
grants@cancervic.org.au