Data Catalyst (formally known as Data Innovation Awards)
The Data Catalyst aims to maximise the impact of cancer datasets that may have commercial value. The scheme does this through providing funding and support to help researchers make these datasets more accessible and usable by third parties.
The end goal is to produce a high-quality cancer dataset that adheres to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) and can be made available to third parties for further research and product development.
Eligibility
Cancer Research Horizons (CRH) is looking for researchers worldwide that have generated a high-quality cancer dataset or are working on a project that will generate one in the future, where there is a need for additional funding to make the dataset suitable for sharing.
Key selection criteria relate to the potential impact of the dataset, which Cancer Research Horizons assesses based on three data characteristics:
- Size of dataset: Over 100 subjects, although there is flexibility for particularly rare indications or where multiple complex profiling approaches have been employed
- Depth of data: Several different data types are linked together for each subject (e.g., WGS, digital pathology and RNA-seq data)
- Multidimensionality of data: Data is generated from multiple time points (longitudinal) or multiple samples from the same subject
Funding awarded
The Data Catalyst provides researchers with up to £100k funding to be used to support the cleaning, annotation, curation, linking or storage of data that has significant commercial potential.
In addition to funding, Cancer Research Horizons' team will work with you to develop a long-term data-sharing strategy and investigate consent and background agreement status to ensure that all the necessary approvals and rights are in place to enable safe, secure and transparent commercial data partnerships.
Applications process
Applications are welcome at any time of the year and are managed by the Cancer Research Horizons team and reviewed by an internal panel of experts.
Information on how to apply
FAQ
What makes a successful application?
The application should focus mainly on the value of the data that has been, or will be, generated, but will also require you to outline how you intend to spend the funding and how this will increase the availability and/or utility of the data.
Any existing or previous evidence of commercial interest in accessing your datasets will greatly enhance your application