Pankind offers a range of competitive and strategic funding opportunities throughout the year, ensuring researchers have access to the resources needed to accelerate scientific advancements.
Pankind's grants program has grown to become a landmark investment in Australian pancreatic cancer research, supporting the nation's brightest researchers to pursue breakthroughs in early detection and new treatments.
Grant submissions undergo rigorous peer review by our Scientific Advisory Panel and are held to the highest standards of scientific excellence.
We are proud to announce the launch of our 12th annual grant round - the 2026 Pankind Competitive Grant Round.
This grant round will fund competitive research projects across two key priority areas: Early Detection and New Treatments.
Within the New Treatments stream, applicants can apply for either an Innovator Grant or an Accelerator Grant, supporting both emerging ideas and more developed research programs. This builds on the funding approach introduced in 2025 to help drive promising research forward at every stage of development.
In 2026, we are introducing the Early Detection Accelerator Grant as the next phase of our Early Detection Initiative.
Since 2021, we’ve invested in proof-of-concept and feasibility studies across Australia, building the foundations for early detection research.
Now, we’re accelerating progress - funding larger, more advanced projects with the scale and duration to deliver clinically meaningful outcomes.
Apply for a grant
The grant portal will open for applications soon.
You can access your applicant portal here if you already have an account.
All applications are now submitted through the Pankind online grant portal.
No soft copies of applications will be accepted.
To avoid any delays, please ensure you prepare early and set up your account in advance. This will allow time to resolve any technical issues before the deadline.
If you have any questions, please contact us at grants@pankind.org.au.
Early Detection |
Treatment |
Treatment |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Category |
Accelerator *New for 2026* |
Innovation |
Accelerator |
Funding per Grant |
$300,000 |
$100,000 |
$300,000 |
Funding Period |
2 years |
1 year |
2 years |
Grant Summary |
Funds developed early detection research with a clear pathway to clinical application |
Supports early-stage research to develop new treatments, diagnostics, or quality-of-care improvements. |
Funds advanced research to fast-track new treatments from the lab to clinical application. |
Timeline
Early Detection Accelerator Grant
Funding available: $300K grant for 2 years
Focused on advancing early detection approaches from research to clinical application for pancreatic cancer patients.
- Carry out developed projects that will significantly advance early detection methods toward clinical validation or implementation
- Contribute to the translation of early detection research from the laboratory to clinical studies or practice
- Accelerate the translation of promising detection strategies, including biomarker development, imaging tools, or risk stratification approaches, toward clinical application
- Contribute to innovative projects that require resources to advance critical milestones
- Extend previous or existing work in early detection, scaling up research toward broader clinical applicability
- Grow capacity in pancreatic cancer early detection research in Australia
- Improve survival from pancreatic cancer in line with our mission to triple survival by 2030
- Applications must demonstrate that the proposed work is past the proof-of-concept stage. Projects where the primary research question remains at hypothesis-generation or early feasibility, or where fundamental feasibility has not yet been established, are not suited to this grant category
- Projects at discovery or target identification stage are also not eligible for this category
- Where biomarker-based approaches are proposed, applicants should specify whether the biomarker has been identified and analytically characterised, and what clinical validation steps are planned within the grant term
- Applications should include a description of the competitive landscape, what existing detection approaches exist, how the proposed work is differentiated, and why the proposed stage of development represents the right point for accelerated investment
- Where the project builds on prior Pankind-funded work or other prior funding, applicants should clearly state what was achieved in that prior phase and why the next stage requires accelerator-level resourcing
- Projects focused on cancer prevention or supportive care, rather than early detection and diagnosis are not in the scope of this scheme
- Applicants must disclose any potential overlap with other current or pending research funding
- International collaborations are encouraged if the PI is located in Australia.
New Treatment Innovation Grant
Funding available: $100K grant for 1 year
These projects should explore innovative solutions that have the potential to significantly advance the therapeutic field.
- Carry out projects at an early stage that will accelerate innovation of treatments, diagnostics or quality (including standard of care) to pancreatic cancer patients
- Support innovative ideas that have the potential to impact treatment or diagnostics, but may not have extensive preliminary supporting data
- Answer key feasibility and proof-of-concept questions and arrive at critical project inflection points in an accelerated time frame
- Support established and/or early career researchers to develop preliminary data and attract additional funding in subsequent years
- Accelerate research translation
- Applications should demonstrate solid rationale and extensive planning
- Proof-of-concept or exploratory data to demonstrate the feasibility and rationale for your research questions should be detailed sufficiently
- Applicants must disclose any potential overlap with other current or pending research funding
- Where applications have multiple AI’s, the role of each co-investigator must be outlined and justified
- Only one application per institution may be submitted for each scheme
- International collaborations are encouraged if the PI is located in Australia
New Treatment Accelerator Grant
Funding available: $300K grant for 2 years
These projects should focus on more developed solutions that have the potential to move to clinical studies and make a significant impact on advancing the therapeutic field.
- Carry out developed projects that will significantly accelerate treatments to a clinical stage for pancreatic cancer patients
- Contribute to advancing the translation of research from the lab to clinical studies or practice; accelerate the translation of promising therapies to clinical application
- Contribute to innovative projects that require resources to advance critical milestones
- Extend previous or existing work for a new treatment, scaling up existing research
- Grow capacity in pancreatic cancer research in Australia
- Improve survival from pancreatic cancer in line with our mission to triple survival by 2030
- Projects which are well developed, part of a larger program of work may be suited to this scheme
- Applications must demonstrate that the proposed work is past the proof-of-concept stage. Projects where the primary research question remains at hypothesis-generation or early feasibility, or where fundamental feasibility has not yet been established, are not suited to this grant category
- Pilot or preliminary data should be developed and detailed as relevant to the application
- Where applications have multiple AI’s, the role of each co-investigator must be outlined and justified
- Only one application per institution may be submitted for each scheme
- International collaborations are encouraged if the PI is located in Australia
Eligibility and Funding Conditions
Pankind will only fund projects where all of the following conditions are et:
- Only one application per institution may be submitted for each grant category.
- The administering institution agrees to the terms and conditions of funding as outlined in Pankind's Research Funding Agreement. Please note amendments to the agreement terms are generally not accepted and institutional representatives must review the agreement prior to submission.
- The grant applicant (Principal Investigator) is based in Australia and the administering institution is an Australian organisation.
- The applicant is named as Principal Investigator on no more than one application across all grant categories in the same round.
- The applicant and all research team members are funded at a maximum of 1.0 full-time equivalent across the project.
- Applicants who currently hold a Pankind grant as Principal Investigator must have that grant concluding within the current calendar year. Pankind reserves the right to alter or withdraw an offer of award where the requirements of a currently held grant have not been fulfilled.
- Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and other commercial entities are eligible to apply; however, Pankind reserves the right to vary the terms of funding for successful commercial applicants.
- Adhere to the Permitted Use of Funds (see Policies and Procedures tab) within budgets.
- Where the project involves human biospecimens or data, applicants must provide a letter of support from an appropriate and accessible repository or collection at the time of application. Ethics and governance arrangements must be clearly outlined, including the current status of approvals and a defined pathway to achieving any outstanding requirements before the project commences.
Assessment Criteria
All applications will be assessed by the Scientific Advisory Panel and selected experts, according to the following criteria:
- Investigator team capability
- Novelty of the project. The novelty of concept, originality, and innovation
- Impact. Potential to improve pancreatic cancer survival
- Quality and feasibility. Scientific quality and feasibility of the proposed project and/or rationale
- Budget
Read our Conflict of Interest Policy.
Pankind grant essential documents: policies and procedures
Will be available late May 2026.
