Dr. Josef Steiner
The Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Research Foundation

APPLICATION GUIDELINES 2023

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The Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Foundation announces that it is accepting applications for the 2023 Cancer Research Award. The award consists of financial support amounting to maximally CHF 1'000'000.- over four years for a cancer-related research project. In addition, a personal prize of CHF 50'000.- is awarded to the successful principal investigator. The award and price will be presented to the successful candidate in October 2023 during a public ceremony at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

The award of the Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Foundation is intended to support an outstanding project by an innovative investigator early in his/her career (generally 40 or less). Projects in both basic cancer research and clinical investigations with focus on translational work are eligible. The award money may be used for salaries of project co-investigators or staff, equipment and any other costs related to the project. The funds cannot be used to support the salary of the principal investigator. The applicant must provide evidence of his professional affiliation and current position as well as of the availability of the infrastructure needed to carry out the proposed project.

The award money is provided in four annual installments. The Foundation releases the last three payments conditional upon submission of a yearly progress report. Representatives of the Foundation may visit the research group once during the four-year award period. Under no circumstances can the support be extended beyond four years. The support of the Foundation has to be acknowledged in all publications related to the funded project.

Evaluation Procedure: The evaluation follows a 3-stage procedure:

  1. Candidates submit a project outline using the official application forms. The application and additionally requested documents must be combined into a single PDF file (no scans) and be submitted to the President of the Foundation, Prof. Dr. S. Rohr, by e-mail (stephan.rohr@unibe.ch).
    Deadline for the submission of the project outline: April 15th, 2022.
  2. Submitted project outlines will be pre-evaluated by the Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation. The applicants of the best four to six submissions will be invited to submit a detailed research project. The successful candidates will be notified about submitting a detailed research project not later than July 1st, 2022.
    Deadline for the submission of the detailed research project: September 1st, 2022.
  3. The detailed research projects will be evaluated by the Scientific Advisory Board and external referees. Moreover, the short-listed candidates will be invited for a presentation of their proposal and an interview. The final decision on the successful applicant will be based on the recommendation of the Scientific Advisory Board to the Council of the Foundation.
    Presentations by the successful candidates and interviews will take place in January, 2023, in Bern, Switzerland.

The Prize Winner will be notified by the Foundation not later than January 31st, 2023. The research work can be start between March and December 2023.

The Prize will be awarded during an official ceremony at the University of Bern in October 2023.