The SU2C Nina Nicolai Pancreatic Cancer Innovation in Collaboration Award provides funding for creative, synergistic research collaborations to accelerate new treatments for pancreatic cancer. This award, established by Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) with support from the Nina Nicolai fund, offers USD 225,000 to foster a one-year pilot project uniting investigators from different institutions or disciplines. The emphasis is on novel partnerships – especially among members of the SU2C scientific community – that can spark innovative approaches to tough challenges in pancreatic cancer, such as early detection or therapeutic resistance.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Team Composition: The application must designate co-principal investigators from at least two distinct institutions (or distinct departments/fields). The collaboration should be newly formed for this project, encouraging investigators who have not worked together before.
- Early-Career Involvement: At least one co-PI should be an early-career investigator (e.g., postdoctoral fellow, clinical fellow, or junior faculty within ~7 years of training) to promote the development of young talent.
- Open to researchers worldwide, though typically at least one collaborator should be from an institution in the SU2C network (or otherwise qualified in pancreatic cancer research). All team members should have appropriate expertise to contribute to the project’s goals.
- Proposals must outline a genuinely collaborative project with clear roles for each co-investigator and a plan for how the partnership will yield synergistic insights beyond what individual efforts could achieve.
Funding Details:
- Award Amount: USD 225,000 total for a 1-year project period. This budget is typically shared between the collaborating investigators and should cover direct research costs (e.g., personnel support, supplies, possibly small equipment).
- The award encourages exploratory, high-risk ideas – providing seed funding to generate data that could lead to larger grants. Successful collaborations may become eligible for future SU2C team grants.
- No indirect costs are generally allowed on SU2C awards of this type (funds are intended for direct project expenses).
- Travel and dissemination costs may be included if relevant to the collaboration.
Deadline:
- Application Deadline: January 6, 2026.
- Awardees are expected to be announced in early 2026, with the funding start date and project kickoff soon thereafter (likely mid-2026). Teams will also be invited to SU2C events or workshops to present progress.
Where to go for further information: