The 5-year Translational Program Grant will provide the evidence to drive rapid improvements in cancer prevention, treatment and subsequently survival and quality of life for cancer patients in NSW.
Key information
- Status: Open
- Grant amount: Up to $3,750,000
- Application opened: 29 May 2025
- Application closes: 3 July 2025, 12:00 pm
Program objective
The Translational Program Grants (TPG) are prestigious awards aimed at supporting multi-disciplinary approaches to cancer research that will rapidly translate research discoveries into clinical programs and policy.
The objectives of the TPGs are to:
- Support high achieving research teams who have the ability and capacity to rapidly translate biological discovery, or known effective treatments, to clinical practice within five years.
- Invest in programs with a logical progression and pipeline of research that will produce significant outcomes, and which could not be achieved by pursuing the components as separate projects.
- Support programs that develop novel methods and create new knowledge and translation in important areas of cancer research and control at an internationally competitive level.
- Strengthen cancer research collaborations, networks and/or consortia to provide greater translational cancer research depth e.g. by attracting researchers from interstate and overseas to the program team.
- Foster collaborative use of specialised facilities or expertise that had not previously been harnessed.
- Encourage collaborations between Universities, Local Health Districts and Medical Research Institutes.
- Fund programs that span at least two phases of the Model of Translational Research.
This program is funded and administered by Cancer Institute NSW.
Eligibility
- Chief Investigator - Each TPG application will have one named Chief Investigator with a minimum 0.2 FTE towards the activities of the program. The Chief Investigator must be employed at a university, hospital or medial research institution within NSW for the duration of the grant and may not draw salary from TPG funding. The Chief Investigator may indicate if they are a member of a NSW Translation Centre on the TPG application form, however, membership is not a pre-requisite for applying.
- Co-Investigators - Applications must list up to nine co-investigators. Researchers may be named as a Co-Investigator across multiple applications. Co-Investigators may not draw salary from TPG funding.
- Located in NSW - The Chief Investigator and Administering Institution must be located in NSW. Co-Investigators may be based interstate or overseas, however all project funds must be spent within NSW.
- Research Administering Institution Endorsement - Applications must nominate a single Research Administering Institution who will be responsible for the management of the grant and will enter into a funding agreement with the Funder. The Research Administering Institution and their nominated institutional contact must be registered with the Cancer Institute NSW. Please refer to the list of Research Registered Administering Institutions.
Use of Funds
All funding provided by the Cancer Institute NSW must be used to achieve the objectives and outcomes of the project as detailed in the approved application.
Funding is split into salary costs and project costs:
Salary costs
Salary funding may be used to cover the costs of team members (e.g., Fellows, PhD Students, Research Assistants, etc.). The Chief Investigator and Co-Investigators may not draw salary from this Translational Program Grant.
Project costs
Examples of project costs include laboratory consumables, biospecimen storage, testing, software licences/subscriptions, administrative costs (e.g., ethics approval, publication costs), procuring equipment directly associated with the project, conference registration costs.
Funds awarded cannot be used for any purposes associated with basic (e.g. desk, stationery, phone etc.) or overhead infrastructure costs (i.e. institutional overheads of administrative levies). Funds should not be used to support research conducted outside of NSW.
What your application needs to include
All applications to be submitted via the Grants Management System.
Stage 1: Expression of Interest (submissions due 12pm, 3 July 2025)
The purpose of the EOI is to provide high level details about the proposed program of translational research, the Chief Investigator, Co-Investigator(s) and the budget summary. In addition to the EOI form, all submissions must include:
- Letter of endorsement from the Administering Institution
- Curriculum Vitae of the Chief Investigator (max 4 pages)
- Curriculum Vitae of the Co-Investigators (max 4 pages per Investigator)
The successful EOIs will be notified and invited to submit a full application. Applicants who are not shortlisted will also be notified.
Stage 2: Full Application (by invitation only - submissions due 12pm, 1 October 2025)
The full application should build on the information provided in the EOI to provide a more detailed research plan and budget justification. The following additional information will be required:
- Consumer Review Form
- Program Logic and Risk Management Plan
- Aboriginal Health Impact Statement (to be submitted as an attachment if the Aboriginal community is a targeted focus population of the proposed research)
Applicants will also have the opportunity to address any feedback from the reviewed EOI.
NOTE: Applicants may be invited to present their proposal to the Grants Review Committee.
Prepare your application with this checklist
All applications to be submitted via the Grants Management System.
Translational Program Grant Guidelines:
File
CINSW TPG guidelines 29 may 2025 (PDF 275.35KB)Supporting documents
Letter of endorsement from the Administering Institution -
File
CINSW TPG AI Endorsement Letter template (DOCX 24.13KB)- Curriculum Vitae of the Chief Investigator (max 4 pages) - no template
- Curriculum Vitae of the Co-Investigators (max 4 pages per Investigator) - no template
- Consumer Review Form - template coming soon
- Program Logic and Risk Management Plan - no template
- Aboriginal Health Impact Statement (to be submitted as an attachment if the Aboriginal community is a targeted focus population of the proposed research)
Frequently Asked Questions:
File
CINSW TPG FAQ 2025 (PDF 78.88KB)
Address the assessment criteria
The Stage 1 (EOI) application is assessed on scientific review. Assessment of Stage 2 (full application) consists of both scientific and consumer review.
The assessments will be combined using a weighting of scientific (80%) and consumer (20%) and provided to the Grants Review Committee in order to finalise the rankings of the full applications.
The scientific assessment for the TPG is identical for Stage 1 (EOI) and Stage 2 (full application). However, the level of detail for Stage 1 is expected to be a high-level summary, while Stage 2 will consist of more detailed research, translation and sustainability plans. Applications will be assessed against the following selection criteria based on the weighting below:
Significance (25%)
The excellence of the research proposal, based on the rationale, design, methodology, and the anticipated outcomes. The engagement of consumers during the course of the project. The proposal should also provide a clear process for monitoring the progress of the research including key milestones and outcome indicators. The anticipated value-add and impact of the proposed research to increase research capacity and improve cancer outcomes and/or clinical practices in NSW. The potential for this proposed research to bring innovative approaches to cancer research.
Translation (25%)
The strength of the approach to research translation to improve clinical outcomes, including strategies to ensure the research findings crosses at least two phases of the translational research pipeline of the Model of Translational Research. Demonstrated establishment of strategic partnerships and stakeholder engagement strategies to ensure timely and effective research translation.
Sustainability (25%)
The strength of the approach to ensure research sustainability including developing pathways for scaling up research findings and increasing the State’s capacity in translational research through workforce training, capacity building and recruitment opportunities. This plan should also include articulation of communication and dissemination strategies for key research findings.
Team Track Record (25%)
Demonstration of relevant professional qualifications, skills, knowledge, experience and resources of the named Investigators as individuals and as a research team to deliver the research program. The strength of previous successes in the proposed area of research. Evidence of existing cash and in-kind leveraged support for this program to be provided and the ability to attract future leverage national or international funding, including industry support and how this will be utilised to enhance the program of research.
Start the application
All applications to be submitted via the Grants Management System.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: The Grants Review Committee will put forward recommendations for awarding of the grant to the Cancer Institute NSW Chief Executive Officer/Chief Cancer Officer and Cancer Institute NSW Board for consideration. The Cancer Institute NSW Board will approve the awarding and funding of the Translational Program Grants.
The Institute utilises an independent Grants Review Committee composed of external members.
The Grants Review Committee will score and rank applications based on an assessment of merit against the stated assessment criteria. Applications targeting one or more focus populations as noted in the NSW Cancer Plan may be prioritised when determining the final rankings.