Applications Invited for Regular Grant Programme 2026-27

Applications Invited for Regular Grant Programme 2026-27

Organization: World Cancer Research Fund

Apply By: 13 Nov 2026

Grant Amount: 500000 Pound

About the Organization

World Cancer Research Fund examines how diet, weight and physical activity affect your risk of developing and surviving cancer. As part of an international network of charities, we have been funding life-saving research, influencing global public health policy and educating the public since 1982.

About the Grant

The Regular Grant Programme supports innovative and original research into the role of diet, nutrition, body composition and physical activity in cancer prevention or cancer survivorship. For the 2026-27 call, sleep is also included as a primary exposure. From autumn 2026, WCRF International manages grants on behalf of the whole WCRF network: WCRF UK, Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds (Netherlands) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (US). Research priority areas (2026-27) Applications must focus on at least one of these six areas. They may span more than one if scientifically justified, and the main alignment must be clear. Alignment with a priority area does not replace the usual requirements for scientific quality, fit with WCRF's remit, feasibility and impact. - Integrative oncology: diet, physical activity, body composition, sleep, prehabilitation and other supportive-care interventions alongside conventional treatment, in childhood and adulthood. Outcomes include treatment tolerance and toxicity, quality of life, physical function, symptom control, recurrence and longer-term health. Loosely defined complementary therapies without a clear link to WCRF's remit or a strong scientific rationale are out of scope. - Lifestyle and weight-loss medications: how diet, physical activity and behavioural support combine with weight-loss medications (including GLP-1-related medicines) across prevention, treatment and survivorship. This covers cancer-specific benefits and risks, the timing, duration and discontinuation of medication, separating drug effects from weight loss and lifestyle effects, and inequalities in access. - Early-onset cancers: explaining rising incidence of cancers diagnosed at 18-50 years, and whether their modifiable risk factors and biology differ from later-life cancers. - Early-life exposures: how modifiable exposures from preconception through adolescence affect later cancer risk. Studies should define the exposure precisely, use robust methods for familial and socioeconomic confounding, and where possible combine epidemiology with biomarker or mechanistic evidence. - Ingested contaminants: contaminants in food and drinking water (endocrine-disrupting chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, micro- and nano-plastics) with a clear, evidence-based rationale for cancer relevance. Studies should consider cumulative exposure and mixtures, and credible biological or causal pathways. - Ultra-processed foods: whether and how ultra-processed food affects cancer risk and survivorship, going beyond broad classification systems to specific processing characteristics, additives or food structure. Exposure data must reflect contemporary products and consumption. Applications that don't account for changes in food formulation and consumption over time will not be considered. How to Apply

LOI stage closes: 13 November 2026, 5:00 PM GMT (UK time) (= 10:30 PM IST)

For more information, please check the link: Applications Invited for Regular Grant Programme 2026-27

Funding organisation: World Cancer Research Fund

Grant announcement listed on NGOBOX. Applications are made to the funding organisation — see the official announcement.