The grant totals $450,000 and is paid in 3 annual increments of $150,000 made on or about January 1 of each year of the grant term. The grant funds will be directed to the sponsoring institution and should be used towards salary support, supplies, equipment, travel, etc. necessary for the pursuit of the recipient's research project.

Award funds may not be applied to patient care costs that are reimbursable by a third-party payor.

The budget guidelines are as follows:

• Total Award: The total award amount is $450,000 payable on January 1 in annual increments of $150,000 over 3 years. The total cost requested per year should not exceed $150,000.
• Research Support: $137,000 per year should support costs directly related to the research project such as personnel salary, supplies, equipment, and other expenses.
• Travel: Up to $2,500 per year should be allotted specifically for the applicant's travel to the annual meeting and for any other travel essential to conducting the study. Attendance is mandatory at the ASCO Annual Meeting upon acceptance of the grant.
• Indirect Costs: Up to $10,500 per year (or 7% of the yearly total award amount) can be applied to overhead or facilities and administrative costs of the recipient's sponsoring institution in administering the recipient's research project.

The Advanced Clinical Research Award is intended to support proposals with a patient-oriented focus, including a clinical research study and/or translational research involving human subjects. ASCO's definition of clinical research is "hypothesis-driven research that employs measurements in whole patients or normal human subjects, in conjunction with laboratory measurements as appropriate; on the subjects of clinical biology, natural history, prevention, screening, diagnosis, therapy, or the epidemiology of neoplastic disease" (Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1996, pp. 666-670). Proposals with a predominant focus on in vitro or animal studies (even if clinically relevant) are not allowed.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be a physician (MD, DO, or international equivalent) who is in the fourth to ninth year of a full-time, primary faculty appointment in a clinical department at an academic medical institution at the time of grant submission.
• Have completed productive post doctoral/post fellowship research and demonstrated the ability to undertake independent investigator-initiated clinical research.
• Be an active member of ASCO or have submitted a membership application with the grant application.
• Be able to commit to 75% of full-time effort in research (applies to total research, not just the proposed project) during the award period.

The ASCO Cancer Foundation reserves the right to evaluate and determine applicants' eligibility based on the information and justification included in the application materials. 

All application materials must be in English and must be submitted online. No paper applications will be accepted.

The full application must be submitted online on or before the due date.

The following are mandatory components of an ACRA application:

1. Contact Information
2. Project Information
   • Includes Abstract, IRB, and Animal Use Assurances
3. Applicant's Biosketch
4. Research Plan
5. Cited References
6. Budget and Justification
7. Institutional Letter of Support
   • Department Chair or Dean
8. Institutional Approval Face Sheet
   • Signed by Institutional Approver

The following are optional components:

1. Clinical Protocol (it is strongly encouraged to attach this document)
2. Prior Publications
3. Supporting Documentation

Download the Request for Proposal (RFP) for more information. 

ACRA recipients are selected exclusively by the ACRA Subcommittees, using a peer review process based on the following:

• Performs patient-oriented research, including a clinical research study and/or translational research involving human subjects
• Significance and originality of the proposed study and hypothesis
• Appropriateness, feasibility, and adequacy of the proposed experimental design and methodology
• Availability of environmental and institutional resources to support the proposed project
• Prior research experience and accomplishments of the applicant
• Potential favorable impact on career development of the applicant 
• Involvement of therapeutic vaccine or immunotherapeutic approaches for sarcoma

Applicants will not receive feedback on the applications submitted.