Funding Opportunities

ACED PhD Studentships

Call for PhD Principal Supervisors

ACED will soon be inviting applications for CRUK ACED funded PhD studentships. Studentships will be available at each UK ACED Centre to begin in autumn 2026. Following selection and recruitment, successful ACED PhD students at each Centre will be responsible for selecting the principal supervisor of their choice from a list of approved ACED Member PhD Supervisors.

If you wish to be included as a Manchester ACED PhD supervisor, please complete this brief ACED PhD Supervisor expression of interest form no later than Friday 29th August 2025.

To be considered you must meet the eligibility criteria for a University of Manchester Lead PhD Supervisor (please see University of Manchester Requirements for further details)

Each studentship will be up to 4 years in duration and provides funding for tuition fees, student stipend and running expenses. The first year of the studentship will involve the PhD student working with their Principal Supervisor to co-develop the PhD project and select a suitable Co-Supervisor from another ACED Member Centre. Co-Supervisors are intended to provide expertise in a different field to the Principal Supervisor in a complementary discipline based on the needs of the project.

Throughout the first year, ACED students from across all Centres are encouraged to undertake practical training through rotations in different research groups across their own or other ACED Centres. ACED PhD Student, Lucie Gourmet, has recorded a short video describing the rotations she undertook during her first year. As a cohort, all ACED students are required to undertake a virtual training programme, covering a variety of areas of research relevant to early detection. This will be equivalent to 30 one-hour training sessions spread across the first year and culminating in the annual Early Detection Summer School.

If you wish to be added to the list of approved ACED PhD Supervisors for consideration, please complete the ACED PhD Supervisor Expression of Interest form no later than Friday 29th August 2025.

If you have any questions please contact Martin Bone, martin.bone@manchester.ac.uk

ACED Early Career Pathway Awards

ACED Early Career Pathway Awards act as a springboard for early-career researchers towards establishing research independence. They provide funding to enhance their training opportunities and develop exciting collaborative research with the potential to drive forward a transformational change in cancer early detection.

This award aims to help early career researchers expand their multidisciplinary skills, provide opportunities to obtain mentorship from researchers in the field, and to obtain preliminary data for future independent fellowship applications.

Funding is available for up to two years full time (or part time equivalent) for the applicant’s salary plus training and research expenses up to a maximum of £210,000 GBP / $270,000 USD.

Applicants must be based at an ACED Member Centre during the tenure of the award. Applicants must have two Co-Mentors from different ACED Member Centres; spending time at another ACED Centre is strongly recommended. Applicants are strongly encouraged to develop their multidisciplinary skills by selecting Co-Mentors in complementary but distinct research areas to widen the Applicant’s skillset.

Applicants are advised to read the guidelines below in the first instance. Applications will be considered in any research area(s) with a focus on early detection of primary cancer.

To request an application form you must complete a brief “Expression of Interest” form no later than Friday 11th July 2025. Click here to submit an Expression of Interest (https://forms.office.com/e/RZKM8GDNW1) For further information please contact ACED@cancer.org.uk

The deadline for completed full applications is Monday 1st September 2025.

Applications require financial approval from the appropriate Research Support Teams / Heads of Department following normal funding application processes.

Funding decisions will be announced by the end of December 2025.

ACED Skills Exchange and Development Travel Awards

These awards enable ACED researchers and PhD students to visit another ACED Member Centre(s) for knowledge exchange to learn or impart a key skill or technique, and to sow the seeds of future collaborations. Funding up to £40,000 GBP or $50,000 USD is available to cover a visit of up to 4 months to include travel, accommodation, applicable university and visa fees and necessary research expenses. Salary costs are not covered by this award.

Applications will be accepted from Alliance researchers regardless of career stage including PhD students. Applications for PhD students must be made on their behalf by their principal PhD Supervisor / Advisor.

Applicants must be a researcher at an ACED Member Centre and a current ACED member. ACED researchers may also apply for virtual opportunities to include costs for running training or request funding for related training/career development opportunities. It is the applicant’s responsibility to approach a potential Alliance Member Centre to identify and secure suitable learning and development opportunities.

Applicants are advised to read the guidelines and application form. Applications will be considered in any research area(s) listed in the ACED scientific strategy with a focus on early detection of primary cancer.

Completed applications must be submitted to Martin Bone martin.bone@manchester.ac.uk in MS Word format. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis while the scheme is open.

Funding decisions will be made at quarterly meetings of the Alliance Executive Board.

If you have any questions, please contact Martin Bone (martin.bone@manchester.ac.uk), Manchester ACED Programme Manager.

Contact us

For further information on projects and funding calls, please contact the ACED Manchester team:

Martin Bone, ACED Programme Manager
E: martin.bone@manchester.ac.uk

Stephanie Ng, ACED Project Manager
E: stephanie.ng@manchester.ac.uk

Kate Mavrou, ACED Project Manager
E: kate.mavrou@manchester.ac.uk