Rare cancers and research
In most rare and ultra-rare disease areas, progress in clinical care depends on a balance between clinical work and research. This balance allows clinicians to deepen their understanding of the disease through direct patient care while staying current with scientific advances and contributing to the field through collaboration with European colleagues.
However, such collaboration demands significant time investment. Clinicians must attend multiple scientific conferences each year and participate actively in scientific committees — commitments that are difficult to sustain alongside full-time clinical duties.
A 2025 KickCancer survey of Belgian paediatric haemato-oncologists revealed strong interest in protected research time: 20 of 31 respondents expressed the desire for part-time research contracts to support this work.
Protected time for research
In December 2025, KickCancer launched its first call for Clinical Investigator Grants. This funding opportunity allows researchers to dedicate 50% of their time to research by reducing their clinical duties at the bedside. The grants are awarded for an initial two-year period and can be renewed up to four times, for a total of ten years. Candidates may reapply an unlimited number of times.
To ensure continuity of patient care, hospitals receive €70,000 annually to cover the salary of a qualified clinician who will assume the grant holder's clinical duties.
In addition, grant recipients receive an annual €10,000 research stipend to support project-related expenses and travel to conferences or scientific meetings.
Collaboration with the FNRS and FWO
This funding opportunity was developed in close collaboration with the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) and the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) to ensure national coverage. Together, they oversee the selection process to identify the strongest candidates and conduct biennial reviews prior to grant renewals.
KickCancer established a single national funding opportunity rather than separate regional programs because the paediatric haemato-oncology field in Belgium is too small to generate a sufficient applicant pool at the regional level. A unified national call ensures a sufficient number of high-quality applications.