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New challenges

 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) are now closed.

Our new challenges with awards of up to £20m.

In March 2025 we announced seven new Cancer Grand Challenges to the global research community. These represent the most urgent, complex problems in cancer research that require collaboration across borders and disciplines. In September 2025, 12 multidisciplinary teams were shortlisted to take on six of these challenges.

The teams will present their innovative solutions to the Cancer Grand Challenges’ Scientific Committee, a panel of world-leading scientists, for a chance to receive up to £20m each to bring their research to life. The winners will be announced in March 2026. Explore our new challenges below, and meet the shortlisted teams here.

AI collaborations challenge icon

AI-human collaborations in cancer

Develop interdisciplinary AI agents that can generate novel cancer research hypotheses and design research plans for them to be experimentally validated.
Cancer avoidance challenge icon

Cancer avoidance

Understand the mechanisms by which certain high-risk populations or the extremely aged are resistant to developing cancer.
TME dynamics challenge icon

TME dynamics

Develop methods to identify the functional role of the tumour microenvironment over time.

Meet the shortlisted teams

EOIs are now closed. We have announced the 12 teams that will compete to take on some of the most complex problems in cancer today.
Learn more
People interacting at Cancer Grand Challenges event

Explore other challenges

PRECISION DCIS challenge

Concluded challenges

Learn about the challenges which were being tackled by teams whose funding period has now come to an end.

Monitor with scientific data

Unfunded challenges

We don't fund teams against every challenge we set. Explore the challenges that are currently unfunded and have no teams working on them.