Our mission is to establish a network of flourishing Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence, which together will put the UK at the forefront of international brain tumour research.  

We are the only national charity dedicated purely to funding scientific research into all types of brain tumours. With our secure long-term funding partnerships covering the key salaried positions within our Centres, researchers are freed from the limitations and frustrations of applying for one specific project grant after another in order to secure career opportunities, and instead can pursue the sustainable and continuous research so desperately needed if we are to achieve our vision of finding a cure for all types of brain tumours.   

Promising scientists are trained up through the ranks and fulfil their potential, rather than being tempted into other areas of cancer research which currently attract greater funding and have greater job security. As specialist brain tumour expertise and knowledge builds, these experienced researchers can then potentially move between Centres which encourages cross-pollination of the very best thinking at the cutting-edge of brain tumour research. 

With job security and the ability to build outstanding teams of collaborative researchers amongst the academic and medical communities, our Centres of Excellence can develop long-term strategic research plans to explore new avenues, in order to find the key breakthroughs that the brain tumour community so desperately needs, instead of thinking simply of one small project after another.

Each Centre of Excellence is an active partner with Brain Tumour Research. We supply dedicated members of staff with expertise in fundraising, marketing and PR to work at both local and national level alongside existing teams at universities and hospitals attached to these Centres of Excellence. This dedication to the brain tumour cause supports and enhances the identity of each Centre as well as that of Brain Tumour Research, providing a dynamic fundraising atmosphere in order to meet our target of raising £1 million per year per Centre. 

Our Centres are part of a new and powerful network, collaborating with each other and other institutes, both within the UK and internationally, in order to accelerate progress in brain tumour research in the UK and make a clinical difference. 

We partner with researchers and clinicians who share our vision of a sustainable, secure future for UK brain tumour research.  We want better futures for all those diagnosed and living with a brain tumour. 

We endorse the Association of Medical Research Charities position statement on the use of animals in medical research and, as the scope of our research expands and moves closer to progressing potential treatments through to clinical trials, some of the research activities we fund now unavoidably involve mouse models and fruit fly models in order to fulfil current legislative requirements.

Wherever possible, we want the research that we fund at our dedicated Centres of Excellence to use human brain tumour tissue. Indeed, we have proactively funded research into creating and sustaining animal-free research using models that only involve human brain tumour cells that are donated through appropriate consent given by patients undergoing surgical procedures.

We also fund BRAIN UK at Southampton University, the country’s only national tissue bank providing crucial access to brain tumour samples for researchers from the archives of clinical neuroscience centres in the UK, effectively covering about 90% of the UK population, and is an essential component in the fight to find a cure for brain tumours.

Grant Monitoring
The work carried out at our dedicated Research Centres and through our funded initiatives is vital, and is monitored carefully to ensure our money is well spent. Indeed, we owe it to brain tumour patients, their families and our supporters. It is also a condition of our membership of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), which regularly audits members to ensure good practice of review to guarantee that only the best quality research is funded.

Annual Review
Our Research Centres and Funded Initiatives submit a report annually which also includes a request for the subsequent year’s funding. The funds are approved and granted by the Trustees following the advice of the SMAB and recommendations of the Research Sub-Committee. The reviews comprise a comprehensive assessment, which includes interviews with the Centre Directors and considers results to date, publications and other achievements and the research vision for the coming years.

Quinquennial Review
Every five years, each Centre of Excellence is asked to complete a more in-depth version of the Annual Review process. The application is sent out for international external peer review and a site visit is undertaken with members of the SMAB who have relevant areas of expertise; other reviewers with specific areas of expertise related to the focus of the Centre can be co-opted, if required. Recommendations from the review panel are then considered and ratified by the Trustees of Brain Tumour Research.

It remains our fundamental goal to develop a network of dedicated Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence in order to build research capacity, promote sustainability and the growth of research into brain tumours in the UK.

The review is very important for the Charity as it enables the Centre’s progress over the previous five years to be reviewed and consider its plans for the next five years. This provides the Charity with an independent, expert assessment of the Centre’s achievements and goals. It also provides an opportunity for the Centre to include new areas of research that have been indicated as potential routes to a cure for brain tumours, based on its discoveries in the preceding five years. 

When a funding call is opened, potential applicants will be required to submit a preliminary application form that outlines the Centre’s proposed research programme in accordance with the application requirements. This can build upon existing research programmes and/or the development of new areas of investigation. It should also include details of how the Centre will integrate with the Charity’s existing network of Centres of Excellence. Additional requirements may also be included in the application.

The preliminary application will be assessed by the Charity’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, and additional co-opted reviewers with specific areas of expertise related to the focus of the Centre where relevant, to ensure that it fulfils all the requirements. Where appropriate, the applicant will then be invited to submit a full application.

The full application should include comprehensive details of the proposed programme of research, including existing study areas and how these will be included in the Centre. This should also detail the approach and methodology of planned investigations.

In addition, applicants will be asked to provide full details on how they will deliver on the following award requirements:

- Institution PR team will work with Brain Tumour Research to promote awareness

- Principal investigator (or appointed deputy) will act as ambassador and attend our events whenever possible

- Principal investigator (or appointed deputy) is prepared to be a spokesperson and help raise awareness

- Lab will be promoted within the Institution

- Lab will be badged as being supported by Brain Tumour Research and relevant member and collaborating charities

- Brain Tumour Research Wall of Hope will be displayed at the institution

- Annual reports will be submitted which detail spending, progress and papers published

Full application will be peer reviewed by external, international experts followed by an interview with the SMAB and additional co-opted reviewers with specific areas of expertise related to the focus of the Centre where relevant. There is also a site review conducted by charity staff.

Anonymised peer review comments will be shared with applicants ahead of the interview.

The funding recommendations of the SMAB will then be considered by and ratified by the Trustees of Brain Tumour Research. Feedback will be provided following the interview stage once all applications have been reviewed and a funding decision made.

We provide long-term core funding to our Research Centres, paying for the salaries, consumables and specific equipment for teams within the research centres. Researchers will be required to apply for funding from additional sources in order to build upon the core Centre funding provided by the Brain Tumour Research. As such, you would not be applying for a programme grant but applying to partner with us to establish a Centre.

Continued funding is subject to Centres complying with our Terms and Conditions and providing a formal annual report, in addition to other research updates where required. The funding will be for an initial period of five years which will be followed by a Quinquennial Peer Review. If the performance is considered as being satisfactory, the Centre may submit a re-application for a further period of five years.