TheoryLab Collaborative (TLC) Grant

The TheoryLab Collaborative (TLC) Grant is designed to fund collaborative cancer research projects between two American Cancer Society researchers. With a total award of $61,200 for a one-year period, the grant encourages new interdisciplinary collaborations while supporting travel for face-to-face meetings. Grantees must engage with the TheoryLab community, presenting their project outcomes six months post-grant. This initiative aims to foster innovation and growth within the ACS research ecosystem.

Purpose
The TheoryLab Collaborative (TLC) Grant mechanism is intended to provide pilot grant support for collaborative cancer research projects between two members of the American Cancer Society (ACS) research ecosystem, including current and former grantees and ACS intramural scientists. The proposed project can focus anywhere along the cancer research continuum but must be collaborative and interdisciplinary.
We highly encourage investigators to form new collaborations; current or former collaborators may apply for a TLC Grant, but their proposed project must be different from their previous collaborative project(s). In addition, co-PI's may be at the same institution but must be in a different department/discipline.
Grantees will give a virtual presentation for the TheoryLab community ~6 months after the grant ends, detailing the outcomes, challenges, and future work of the project. We encourage grantees to post project updates in TheoryLab.
Funding
The total award is $61,200 for a 1-year period. Both PIs receive $600 for travel, and the remaining $60,000 can be split between the co-PIs at their discretion. Indirect costs are not allowed.
Travel Award: The purpose is for the two PIs to meet face-to-face to generate ideas and advance their collaboration. If the co-PIs are at the same institution, these funds can go toward attending a conference, workshop, etc., by the PIs or a member of the team working on the project.
If a co-PI is an ACS scientist in the Surveillance and Health Equity Science or Population Science departments, they cannot receive salary support from an ACS grant. If a scientist is at a federal agency, or in industry, they cannot receive grant funds or salary support. In the latter instance, the total budget allowed is $40,600 which is restricted to the co-PI at an academic or eligible non-profit institution.