The European Cancer Workforce Grants
Overwhelming workloads, excessive bureaucracy, and inadequate support are driving doctors, nurses, pharmacists, pathologists, and countless others to leave their professions across Europe. These dedicated men and women care for cancer patients during their most challenging moments. Now, it’s up to us to ensure they receive the support they need – the support they deserve.
The European Cancer Community Foundation remains committed to being part of the solution. The European Workforce Fund will provide grants to inspire and support on-the-ground projects in healthcare and community settings across Europe, offering meaningful solutions to the current workforce crisis with the potential for lasting impact.
The dedicated professionals on the frontline of healthcare have already identified the problems – and the solutions. Now, the Foundation is providing the financial backing to bring these ideas to life. The results of these pioneering projects won’t stop at their initial sites; they will be shared across the entire European cancer community, amplifying their impact.
Grants of up to €20,000 are being awarded to pilot projects that explore new processes, introduce innovations, or apply fresh perspectives to existing interventions, all with the goal of creating better working conditions for frontline cancer care professionals and helping them stay focused on their mission: providing the best possible care for their patients.
Applications are now closed. Thank you to all who submitted their pilot projects.
Key Dates to Remember
Applications Open
10 September 2024
Submission Deadline
1 October 2024, 23:00 CEST
Application Review Period
4 – 11 October 2024
Winners Notified
14 October 2024
Winners Announced
20 November 2024 at the European Cancer Summit in Brussels
Review Process
Selection Criteria
- Overall impact: Will the results likely change current practice or have a clinical impact?
- Interest Across the Community: Will the results be of interest across the European Cancer Community?
- In case of a research project – Design: Are the eligibility criteria, study endpoints and planned analysis well defined in this abstract?
- In case of a research project – Scientific Relevance: Does the research address an important or novel question?
- In case of a non-research project: Are the deliverables well defined and attainable?
Decisions of the Grant Selection Committee will be taken on a majority basis after weighing all relevant factors. Detailed records of deliberations will be taken and will remain confidential. Members of the Grant Selection Committee will exercise their discretionary powers in good faith, and for the specific, intended and authorised purpose. Feedback from the Grant Selection Committee may be requested and afforded at the discretion of the Grant Selection Committee upon written request. Incomplete applications will automatically be disqualified without further correspondence, as will applications from areas outside of the European area (as defined in the WHO region of Europe).
Announcement of Winners
The winners will be notified in writing in late October. More detailed information on the Summit programme is available online. Announcements of winning applications will also be made on the Foundation’s website soon after the Summit.
A Cancer Workforce in Crisis
Current shortages in the cancer workforce are profoundly affecting the dedicated men and women on the frontlines of cancer care in Europe. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, pathologists and many others are struggling to cope. More and more of them report burnout, forcing them to leave their professions. Those who remain are given more responsibilities, larger caseloads, and ever-taller stacks of paperwork, resulting in even less time with patients. Mistakes under these conditions are inevitable, and care is being compromised. This must stop. It’s time to accelerate action on Europe’s cancer workforce crisis!
What is the European Cancer Organisation doing?
The World Health Organization reported that more than 40% of physicians in Europe will be retiring within the next five years – and that was before Covid-19. The unprecedented disruptions caused by the pandemic put new, unimaginable strains on an already fragile cancer workforce, strains that continue to grow throughout Europe.
The European Cancer Organisation, its member societies and supporting community embarked on a major new initiative: a pan-European campaign launched during the European Cancer Summit 2023, ‘Time to Accelerate: for Our Workforce.’ This effort is focused on changing policies within national governments and health institutions to improve working conditions for cancer professionals.
But to address this crisis, groundwork is essential!
So, the European Cancer Community Foundation has joined the campaign introducing the European Cancer Workforce Fund. The launch took place during a high-level meeting hosted by The Lord Mayor of The City of London, Michael Mainelli, at The Mansion House in London on 4 April 2024.
The Fund will promote quality research into current conditions and best practices within the cancer workforce. Together, we need to consider initiatives that can document the full extent of the crisis, assemble more and better data, investigate impact and best practices and define improvements to policy recommendations. By supporting initiatives that improve the daily professional lives of cancer care workers, we aim to ultimately benefit patients, their families, and the entire community.
How has the cancer workforce crisis affected patient care? Do you have ideas for initiatives that could improve the current situation? Do you want to be part of the solution? Can you collect, collate and share relevant data that could help shine light on these issues and provide possible solutions which can have a positive influence on policy recommendations at a European level?
If you’d like to address these questions, apply for the European Cancer Workforce Grants.
You Can Lead the Change
Between 10 September and 1 October, the Workforce Grants Selection Committee welcomed applications from across the cancer workforce spectrum as well as from the community setting. Applications were submitted by individuals or groups of individuals working together on a project or pilot project. Selected applications are assessed based on individual merit and availability of funds.
Within the Workforce Grants framework, the European Cancer Community Foundation remains committed to supporting investigators from the entire spectrum of the cancer workforce and community settings in Europe, while also striving to strengthen diversity, equality, and inclusion within the oncology workforce.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet the following criteria to qualify for a Workforce Grant:
- Be a qualified biologist, doctor, healthcare professional, health economist, pharmacist, physicist, physician, nurse or healthcare manager working in any European country (as defined in the WHO region of Europe) or in any healthcare-related sector that must be attested to by the applicant’s employer.
- Must have personal experience or plan to carry out the project/initiative/pilot project him or herself, or as a member of the group applying.
- Have a valid, active medical/nursing license in the country where the project or research will be conducted at the time of application or be able to provide proof of their professional capacity with relevant degrees and certificates of employment from employers/institutions.
- Have completed productive projects or research and demonstrated the ability to undertake independent projects or investigator-initiated research.
- If the applicant is a member of the Young Cancer Professionals group, they will need to provide a letter of support from a mentor from the institution they are currently active in with their application.
- Applicants can have other funding or funding partners, but this should be declared upon application.
- Past recipients of European Cancer Community Foundation grants are eligible to apply no sooner than two years after having received the previous grant.
Ineligible Applicants
- Members of the Selection Committee, their spouses/partners or first-degree relatives are not eligible to apply.
- Currently serving Board members of the European Cancer Community Foundation or the European Cancer Organisation or Focused Topic Network Co-Chairs are not eligible to apply, neither are their spouses/partners or first-degree relatives.
- Should applications be received from the institutions of members of the Selection Committee, the respective Steering Committee member will declare a conflict of interest on the specific application and will not evaluate that application.
- ECO Staff members or consultants are not eligible to apply.
Applicants who are uncertain about their eligibility are encouraged to contact us for clarification and provide their latest CV for evaluation.
Grant Amounts: As a guideline and depending on the goals of the winning application(s), the Selection Committee anticipates awarding grants in the region of €10,000-20,000, while reserving the right to adjust the amount within this range if justified (particularly where groups of individuals are working together on a pilot project application). The Workforce grants are announced at the annual European Cancer Summit held in Brussels on 20 November 2024 and the winners will be invited to attend in-person.
What Did the Applications Address?
The pilot projects received fell into one of the following 7 categories.
- Workforce Planning
- Workforce Retention
- Workforce Time Efficiency
- Technology
- Supportive Care Interventions
- Reducing Bureaucracy
- Wellbeing and Job Satisfaction
For more detailed background on each category as currently described in the Workforce Network of the European Cancer Organisation please visit the relevant webpages.
Examples of Eligible Projects
- Ensure time for staff training and development, involvement in research and attending scientific congresses.
- Support policies for a proper work-life balance among staff.
- Define ways in which a work environment can be encouraged to incentivise and foster positivity and growth.
- Improve bureaucratic reporting requirements, e.g. split some reporting duties between different professions involved and how this can be achieved.
- Guarantee psychological care and stress management training during all career phases.
- Streamline administrative processes to ensure healthcare professionals have more time for patient care.
- Improve working conditions of workforce for better patient care.
- Promote workforce mentorship programmes for trainees across healthcare facilities.
- Introduce/streamline technology to enable more effective use of a professional’s time.
- Demonstrate how bureaucratic procedures can be reduced without added risk or expense.
- Utilise existing measures to improve a professional’s wellbeing and job satisfaction.
- Identify existing practices that have proven effective (such as the IHI Framework for improving Joy in Work).
- Have a pilot project in mind that will practically improve the daily lives of the cancer workforce.