How to Apply
Application process
[1] The letter of commitment must consist of a three-party written guarantee (signed by the grantee, the director of the university hospital, and the head of the department concerned) stating that, in case the grant is awarded: 1) the grantee will be released from his/her clinical duties to enable him/her to carry research activities in the frame of the KCIG, 2) the grantee will be re-employed full time in his/her original position at the end of the KCIG. Should the applicant be a PhD student, this letter of commitment additionally must be signed by the applicant’s academic promotor at the eligible host organisation
All applications will be double-checked to ensure that all eligibility criteria are met before being processed to the evaluation stage.
Applications must be submitted in English using the online application system no later than March 2nd 2026 (midnight CET). A PDF version of the application form is available here. This document only aims at providing an overview of the different sections. It should not be used to submit an application.
Applications encompass:
- The application form (administrative and scientific* parts) completed, dated and signed
- 5 main publications and/or achievements
- The applicant CV and publication list
- A letter of commitment[1]
- Any other relevant support material (eg. a recommendation letter from an international/European clinical trial committee/promoter or any relevant person from the academic world)
*The scientific part will entail:
- Title of the project
- Abstract of the project (max. 1500 characters without spaces)
- Main hypothesis and state of the art (max. 2 pages)
- Impact and clinical relevance of the proposed research (max. 2 pages)
- Preliminary data (max. 1 page)
- Core of the project: plan of the project over the first 2 terms (max. 5 pages) including a clear distribution of time between their research and clinical activities (Gantt chart or other)
- Methodology & design of the study (max. 2-3 pages)
- Contingency plan (max. 1 page)
- Assets of the research environment (max. 1 page)
- Ethics and reliability of the project in term of data treatment and management (statistics, processing and storage of the data including compliance with the GDPR) (max. 1 page)
- Bibliography
[1] The letter of commitment must consist of a three-party written guarantee (signed by the grantee, the director of the university hospital, and the head of the department concerned) stating that, in case the grant is awarded: 1) the grantee will be released from his/her clinical duties to enable him/her to carry research activities in the frame of the KCIG, 2) the grantee will be re-employed full time in his/her original position at the end of the KCIG. Should the applicant be a PhD student, this letter of commitment additionally must be signed by the applicant’s academic promotor at the eligible host organisation
All fields except for the title and abstract are optional, and they should be completed insofar as they are relevant to the research activities the grantee intends to carry out. Applicants should aim to provide the panel members with sufficient and relevant information to support an accurate evaluation of their application. Applicants may submit a KCIG project proposal within a single overarching research line that can be developed into multiple distinct research projects with other international research teams.
The applicants are requested to certify that:
- The research project is original and does not duplicate any ongoing or past research activities
- The research project will not benefit from overlapping funding
The submission of an application is acknowledged via an automatic notification.
All applications will be double-checked to ensure that all eligibility criteria are met before being processed to the evaluation stage.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants:
| Applicant eligibility criteria | Deadline of the call | Official start of the call |
|---|---|---|
| Hold a recognized academic degree of Medical Doctor | x | |
| Be employed in one of the eligible organizations and commit to at least 80% FTE | x | |
| Hold a specialty in haemato-oncology (ending with reference code #698 under the RIZIV/INAMI nomenclature of healthcare services) and/or be (or commit to become an) affiliated to the Belgian Society of Paediatric Haematology Oncology (BSPHO | x |
There is no PhD requirement nor any age/seniority prerequisites.
- Eligible organisation:
Any university hospital attached to a university in Belgium, provided they have a paediatric haemato-oncology department, as defined by the Royal Decree of April 2, 2014.
Eligible projects:
Eligible projects encompass any basic (hypothesis-driven) or translational research project or active participation in international clinical trials groups.
Additional eligibility criteria:
Research conducted in the frame of the KCIG must comply with the ethics-related legal provisions in force. The grantees will be required to provide an ethical clearance to KickCancer prior to starting the research activities should the research activities raise any.
The KCIG cannot be combined with the FWO senior clinical investigator fellowship nor with the FNRS clinical researchers’ mandates even though it would be acceptable for researchers to apply for any of these instruments (in case of multiple funding, the applicant would then need to choose between the funding sources).
The KCIG cannot be combined with the FWO senior clinical investigator fellowship nor with the FNRS clinical researchers’ mandates even though it would be acceptable for researchers to apply for any of these instruments (in case of multiple funding, the applicant would then need to choose between the funding sources).
Schedule of the Call
- Opening of the call: 1st December 2025
- Deadline: 2nd March 2026
- Panel meeting: 28th May 2026
- Award ceremony: TBC
- Start of the Grant: 2nd October 2026
Documents Of The Call
The call is open