Award Programs

No. The V Foundation does not accept or review unsolicited proposals.

The V Foundation requests and reviews proposals from nonprofit research institutions in the U.S. or Canada that are doing exceptional cancer research work. At minimum, the list includes the 70+ NCI-Designated cancer centers in the U.S. However, this may also include other research institutions that could be added in response to specific grant-making initiatives. The V Foundation annually reviews the list of institutions that receive the Request for Application. Each institution is asked to nominate one V Foundation applicant from their research institution for each annual grant cycle. All applications are submitted through an online portal.

V Scholar Award: The V Scholar Award is a two-year grant of $100,000 per year. Beginning in 2023, this grant budget will increase to $200,000 per year over three years. It is for junior faculty to help leverage their independent research careers and enable them to be more competitive for larger (e.g., NIH R01) grants. The V Scholar Award supports young tenure-track faculty early in their cancer research careers by funding projects that are either laboratory-based fundamental research or translational research.

Translational Award: The Translational Award is a three-year grant of $200,000 per year. Beginning in 2023, this grant budget will increase to $200,000 per year for four years. These grants support “bench to bedside” research whose endpoint is often planning or initiation of a clinical trial. Translational projects should move a novel strategy from the laboratory to a human clinical trial or use specimens from a clinical trial to develop biomarkers or mechanisms. One Principal Investigator must be designated to apply for this team grant and be responsible for all aspects of the grant.

All-Star Grant
The All-Star Grant is a re-investment in previous V Scholars or Translational grant recipients who are invited to apply for a $1,000,000 grant payable over 5 years. Any type of cancer research is permitted. We are looking for the most innovative ideas to improve the cancer landscape for patients. This grant also includes salary support for a mentored post-doctoral fellow, which supports the next generation of cancer researchers.

Designated Grant: This grant type supports basic or translational research at research institutions and may support outstanding research outside of our standing list of NCI-Designated cancer centers. These are special calls for applications that arise out of donor interest, fundraising events or special funding partnerships with other nonprofit or corporate research funders. The size and duration of these grants vary widely depending on the initiative, but to trigger a stand-alone grant opportunity, $3,000,000 must be raised. These opportunities change from year to year and are dependent on special fundraising initiatives with donors, sponsors or collaborating foundations to support cancer research.

Mission Grant: Mission grants are a smaller grant type (under $100,000 per year). They are made to support projects that are within the mission of the V Foundation but are not usually for the direct support of a research project. For instance, the V Foundation has provided educational grants for clinical trial outreach to create new educational materials, understand barriers to enrollment and support patient navigators that give patients information about clinical trials that may apply to them. These are not research grants per se, but are supportive of research and cancer treatment.

Indirect costs are not supported within the V Scholar or Mission grant mechanisms. For Translational, Designated and All-star grants, a limit of 10% indirect costs are allowed within the total grant budget.

For each group of incoming research applications within a program type, we assemble a panel of reviewers that include our Scientific Advisory Committee and, as needed for specific expertise, Ad Hoc reviewers. We have confidentiality and conflict of interest policies that protect applicants and help ensure unbiased review. After each reviewer submits their initial scores and comments based on the review criteria for that grant type, the panel meets to discuss, debate and create a final list of ranked grants, indicating which grants are eligible for funding. Based on the available funding, grants are offered to applicants in rank order of the recommendation.

We provide an optional text box which we encourage each reviewer to use to provide specific constructive feedback to applicants.

Grants programs are announced and awarded on a rolling basis throughout the year with most awarded by the end of our fiscal year on September 30th.

Each grant recipient is required to submit annual progress reports on what they achieved with the funding along with annual financial reports detailing how funds were expended. Reports are required for subsequent payments on multi-year grants. Failure to complete all reports can result in the institution being declined from submitting future applicants for consideration. Annual reports are reviewed by the V Foundation’s Research and Grants staff.