Facts and figures about our research funding
Today’s science. Tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
In 2023/24 we spent £399m on new and ongoing research.
Our funding supports infrastructure and world-class research institutes and provides grants for investigator-led programmes, projects and training fellowships.
Together we are beating cancer.
Annual research activity
In 2023/24, we spent £399m on new and ongoing research. This includes:
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£164m on research projects focused on specific cancer types
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£93m on research relevant to all types of cancer (eg research infrastructure and research studies looking at cancer survivorship)
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£84m on basic research into understanding the fundamental biology of cancer
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£42m on research admin and support costs (eg peer review, grant management, IT and other support costs)
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£16m on revenue shares (share of royalties from sales of innovations developed from our research, which we passed on to others)
In 2023/24, we spent £19.9m on research specific to cancers that affect 0–24-year-olds, making us the biggest charitable funder of research into children’s and young people’s cancers.
“Worldwide, we stand on the brink of breakthroughs that are within our reach. We're improving our understanding of cancer every day and there is excitement among the research community that we can utilise new tools at our disposal to go further and faster, ultimately helping to improve outcomes for people affected by cancer."
Michelle Mitchell OBE, Chief Executive
Discover more about how far we’ve come in our annual report and accounts.
Our world class research networks
From Glasgow to Southampton, our network of centres, institutes and other facilities across the UK are where our more than 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses work together to help us beat cancer, carrying out everything from laboratory studies to largescale clinical trials.
We bring together a worldwide network of leading scientists to carry out ground-breaking research. We also work with other research funders, cancer societies and governments around the world to pool our resources and knowledge to accelerate progress towards beating cancer.
Our funding of key research areas
In 2023/24, we funded projects across a range of key research areas, including:
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31% Institutes
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14% Clinical and population research
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14% Other strategic funding
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10% Discovery research
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8% Drug discovery
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7% Centres
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6% Fellowships and training
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5% Cancer Grand Challenges
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5% Early detection
Funding across the research pipeline
From the £399m spent in 2023/24, we funded research across the pipeline, including:
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46% on basic research projects focused on biology, aetiology and cancer control, survival and outcomes.
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38% for translational research investigating treatment, prevention and early diagnosis, detection and prognosis.
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16% for clinical research into treatment, cancer control, survival and outcomes and early diagnosis, detection and prognosis.
Related stories
Our strategy for prevention research
With cancer incidence increasing, prevention research is critical for saving lives and reducing pressure on global health systems. Our prevention strategy outlines how we’ll work with our research community to create a world where many more types of cancer are prevented from developing.
Diversity data in our research funding
Over the past five years, the success rates among researchers we fund are equal across men and women. We’re receiving increasing numbers of fellowship applications from researchers from ethnic minority backgrounds. But, there’s still work to do.
Translating discovery into breakthrough cancer treatments
British cancer research already leads on the global stage, and through our innovation engine Cancer Research Horizons we want our UK oncology industry to rival that of the very best in the world.