What?
A funding program of the respective Cancer Centers of the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) brings together young clinical and scientific researchers. The “Cooperative NORD-Networking for Early Career Teams” program, CONNECT for short, enables tandem teams from the University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein (UCCSH) in Kiel and Lübeck and the University Cancer Center Hamburg (UCC Hamburg) to spend a year of research together. This grant sponsorship started in 2023 and has already supported 12 projects, including the running projects from 2025. CONNECT is financially supported by the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the Hamburg Mildred Scheel Centre for Young Scientists, which is funded by German Cancer Aid. At the end of the joint research period, the projects are presented at the cross-site Northern Oncology Research & Development (NORD) seminar.
Currently, the UCC Hamburg and the UCCSH are in preparation for a joint application for a Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC). So far, there are 15 CCCs in Germany which are funded by the German Cancer Aid. Hamburg is in a pioneering position as the only CCC in Northern Germany. More and more university cancer centers are currently applying for the award in consortia. Such an application is planned for autumn 2025.
In order to connect both centers in advance in the best possible way and to launch joint initiatives, numerous activities are already ongoing within several working groups.
As part of the „Early Career Researchers Support” from both cancer centers the CONNECT grants aim to ensure that early career scientists, both clinician and medical scientist, can contribute to the aspired closer co-operation.
Therefore, we will award up to 50,000 € per project for one year according to your plans for innovative and trend-setting team projects between UCCSH (Kiel or Lübeck) and UCC Hamburg scientists.
You are an interested scientist?
Team up with partners (teams from two to four researchers are eligible) from the respective other center (UCCSH or UCC Hamburg) and hand in your joint proposal (one joint proposal by all partners) until September 15th, 2025.
What are the criteria for participation?
Team Project
The project must be executed by a team, with at least one partner based at the UCC Hamburg and one at the UCCSH (Kiel or Lübeck).
Topic in Oncology
The applicants need to work at the UCC Hamburg or UCCSH on an oncology-relatedtopic that ideally fits into the core focus areas of UCC Hamburg and UCCSH (research programs and focus areas can be found in the proposal template).
Position
Eligible are teams of up to four early-career medical & clinician scientists*.
MD/PhD students, scientists with completed medical studies or STEM Master degree are included. W2/W3 professors are not eligible. At least one of the applicants has to fulfil all of the following criteria**:
Before or up to 6 years after completion of their doctoral thesis (MD or PhD)
Not habilitated
Publication
Minimum: per applicant 1publication as (shared) first or last author, at least manuscript submitted.
* A medical scientist is a researcher in biosciences (e.g. Biology, Life Sciences etc.), a clinician scientist (CS) is a clinician who is also doing research (either clinical, translational or basic).
** Parental leave: up to two additional years/child may be recognized.
What to hand-in and how to submit your work?
CONNECT Grant Proposal
Please use the CONNECT Grant Proposal Template [word file]. The application should be written in English, font Calibri 12 pt., and should not exceed 4 pages excluding references and appendices.
CV
Please provide a short CV from each partner (one page per person).
Letter of Support
Please provide a letter of support for each applicant by their respective Department Head. For CS, a written confirmation of clinical release times by the Department Head should be provided.
Submission
Please email your CONNECT grant proposal to ucch.science.info@uke.de
What are the criteria for evaluation?
Added Value
How well do the partner sites complement each other/make use of shared resources (biobank, technologies etc.)? Will there be an overall strategic benefit for the NORD consortium?
Potential
How strong is the potential of the project for follow-up studies and funding?
Innovation
Does the project represent a new and innovative idea that was not already followed before?
Quality
What’s the degree of excellence of the proposed research project?
Feasibility
How realistic is the implementation of the proposed project in the given time?
What`s the timeline?
Announcement
June 5th, 2025
Deadline
September 15th, 2025
Decision Announcement
November 3rd, 2025
Submission
Please email your CONNECT grant proposal to ucch.science.info@uke.de
Funding Period
January 1st – December 31st, 2026
Project Presentation - Results
NORD Seminar 2027
More questions?
Mail to science.uccsh@uksh.de