The Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Challenge Awards are large-scale grants for multidisciplinary teams pursuing groundbreaking research on lethal prostate cancer. These awards can range from $1–10 million (total) over 2–3 years, depending on the scope and innovation of the project . PCF Challenge Awards support high-risk, high-reward studies that address critical problems in prostate cancer – for example, novel therapies for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, precision medicine approaches, or advanced diagnostics. Teams typically include laboratory scientists, clinicians, and sometimes industry partners or data scientists, all collaborating to accelerate discoveries to patients . By design, these awards push the envelope and can fund multiple centers; they are open to international consortia.
Eligibility Criteria:
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Team Composition: Applications must be submitted by a team with at least two (often 3–5) co-principal investigators from nonprofit research institutions . Teams should be interdisciplinary – e.g., oncologists, molecular biologists, immunologists, bioengineers working together. At least one team member should be in the clinical realm to ensure translation. Collaboration between academic centers (and even countries) is encouraged.
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Focus: The RFP typically highlights priority areas (which can vary year to year). Generally, PCF seeks proposals addressing significant unmet needs in prostate cancer, especially projects that could deliver new treatments or markedly improve patient outcomes. Areas like advanced metastatic disease, novel therapeutic targets (especially for AR-independent prostate cancers), drug resistance, tumor microenvironment, immunotherapy, epigenetics, and health disparities have been among past priorities .
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Innovation and Impact: The proposal should be highly innovative – something not fundable via conventional grants due to its novelty or scale. It should have the potential for transformative impact, such as launching a first-in-human trial, developing a paradigm-shifting technology, or definitively validating a new therapeutic strategy for prostate cancer . Preliminary data is valued but PCF is willing to take risks on bold ideas.
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Investigators: Team PIs should be established researchers (mid-career or senior) with proven expertise. Inclusion of a junior investigator in the team is allowed (and often such teams also host PCF Young Investigators working under them). However, Challenge Awards are not meant for a single early-career PI – they are for collaborative efforts led by experienced scientists.
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All team members must commit to data sharing and joint reporting. There is an emphasis on rapid progress – PCF expects that results (positive or negative) will be quickly disseminated to move the field forward.
Funding Details:
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Award Size: PCF will determine funding based on proposal needs and innovation level. The RFP states that awards will be funded depending on the level of innovation in applications received . Historically, standard Challenge Awards have been around $1 million total. However, PCF has offered larger awards (sometimes named awards) up to $5–10M for exceptionally meritorious projects or specific focuses . The RFP or cover letter might specify if a certain number of awards (e.g. 2–3 awards of $5M each) are expected .
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Duration: Typically 2 or 3 years. For example, PCF might fund a project at $1M per year for 3 years ($3M total) . The project timeline and milestones should be well-defined for that period.
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Use of Funds: Funds can support a wide array of research expenses: personnel across collaborating labs (postdocs, research nurses, data analysts), clinical trial costs (if a pilot trial is part of the project), reagents, patient sample collection, specialized equipment, etc. Indirect costs are generally not allowed or capped at a very low rate (PCF primarily funds direct research).
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PCF often co-funds Challenge Awards with other organizations (e.g., pharmaceutical partners or other foundations) for targeted initiatives like precision oncology or therapy resistance. These partnership details, if any, will be in the RFP.
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Reporting: Given the scale, teams must provide regular progress updates (likely annually or bi-annually) and present at the PCF Scientific Retreat. Achieving milestones is critical for continued disbursement of funds in multi-year projects. PCF might adjust funding based on progress.
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The prestige: Challenge Awards are among the most substantial and prestigious in prostate cancer research, often catalyzing new consortia or centers of excellence.
Deadline:
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March 16, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT.
Where to go for further information: