Applying for funding

The Hanarth Fonds makes funding available for research and education (Fellowship) in artificial intelligence and machine learning within oncology, with a special focus on rare cancers in adults.

Targeted applicants

Clinicians or scientists* with background or profound interest in machine learning or artificial intelligence in general and a partner or partners with background in machine learning or artificial intelligence in general). Female researchers are explicitly invited to apply.

Medical or non-medical scientists with an appointment for at least the duration of the application process and the duration of the research at one of the following Dutch knowledge institutions: Dutch universities, university medical centers, KNAW- and NWO-institutes and researchers from the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Nivel and ARCNL can also apply.

Two types of funding

1. Research project

Funding for a project in which artificial intelligence algorithms are developed and/or applied to data sets to gain more insight into the clinical, pathological, molecular or imaging characteristics of tumors and outcome of treatment. This knowledge will have the potential to improve the outcome of patients with particularly rare cancers by improving early detection and developing or improving therapeutic strategies, for example through individualized dynamic prediction models.

Machine learning approaches that can be utilized, amongst many others, are for example artificial neural networks, decision trees algorithms, support vector machines, Bayesian networks or rule-based systems. Data sets can consist of molecular data and non-medical data, imaging data or patient record forms or registries.

Projects for implementation research can also be submitted.

Budget: max. € 500,000 for 2-4 years. If this budget is exceeded, a motivated explanation of this exceeding must be added to the application.

2. Hanarth Fonds Fellowship

Funding of a specific training trajectory which recognizes the added value of incorporating machine learning into research, daily clinical work and organization. Training could exist for example of dedicated courses on this subject, advanced statistics or internships at institutes well known for their research in the field of machine learning.

Budget: max. € 250,000 for max. 2 years.

Kindly note that if you submitted a Fellowship proposal at the Hanarth Fonds during an earlier call - and this has been rejected - you may submit this proposal maximum one more time.

Procedure for application and review

To apply for research funding or a fellowship one should first create an account on this website.

Create account »

All applications are judged based on the following terms:

• does the project fall within the objectives of the Hanarth Fonds (i.e. focus on rare cancers in adults)?
• does the project meet the conditions as set by the Hanarth Fonds?
• feasibility and quality of the research proposal
• is the project worth it’s money: the relation between budget and tasks to perform.

1. Research project

• Terms and Financing
  The research proposal should at least meet the following terms:
  
  • The research proposal form has been filled in completely, meaning that all required fields have been filled in and the maximum number of words has been respected
  • The proposal clearly shows that it concerns a research in which algorithms for artificial intelligence are developed and/or are applied to data sets to gain more insight into the clinical, pathological, imaging of molecular characteristics of cancers and outcome of treatment
  • At the start of the research, the project manager should have promoted and be appointed to a Dutch organization, performing as the main institute;
  • At least 1 scientific staff member has been appointed for 0.5 fte/month for the duration of the research
  • The requested budget should be substantiated sufficiently. Please note:

 (i) that failure to comply with our financing conditions may result in a rejection of the application.

 (ii) the maximum funding per research proposal is € 500,000. If this budget is    exceeded, a motivated explanation of this exceeding must be added to the  application. Before completing your budget request, we ask you to carefully  read the funding conditions regarding the costs that are taken into consideration.

• • If you submitted a proposal at the Hanarth Fonds during an earlier call - and this has been rejected - you may submit this proposal maximum one more time

• Preliminary research proposal
  Candidates are invited to submit a preliminary research proposal before March 13, 2025 (14 CET).
  
  Application preliminary proposal »
  
  The Hanarth Fonds will first perform an eligibility check for compliance of the formal requirements. Subsequently the eligible preliminary research proposals are reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Hanarth Fonds.
  
  Candidates are informed May 28, 2025 whether they are invited to submit a complete research proposal.
  
  Download example preliminary proposal application
  
  
• Complete proposal

  Eligible candidates are invited to submit a  complete research proposal form before June 20, 2025 (14 CET). Complete research proposals that are taken into consideration, will be submitted to national and/or international experts (reviewers) for review.
  
  Candidates are informed November 20, 2025 whether their proposal will be granted.
  
  Download example complete proposal application

2. Hanarth Fonds Fellowship

Candidates are invited to apply before June 20, 2025 (14 CET).
Fellowship proposals are reviewed by the SAB. Applicants may be invited for an interview with (members of) the SAB.

Costs that are taken into consideration for funding are:

• Personnel costs of the Fellow (based on the NWO salary scales for UMCs)
• Travel and accommodation costs
• Costs of courses and conferences

Candidates are informed November 20, 2025 whether their proposal will be granted.

Application Fellowship »

Download example Fellowship application