About the Te Aka Seed Round 2024

The Te Aka Seed Round 2024 is a contestable grant round set up to fund new cancer research projects of high scientific merit that hold promise for leading to future research that will benefit people, whanau, and communities impacted by cancer. Projects supported by this round in previous years have a strong record of leading to further research funding and development, and we encourage you to consider this opportunity.

A total pool of $300,000 has been committed for this round, and applications for research project funding up to $50,000 in value will be considered. Funded projects will be delivered over a period of up to 18 months, and may commence from February 2025 onward.

What kind of applications are sought?

Through this opportunity, we seek enable new cancer research projects to get off the ground – we want to enable excellent cancer research, that plants seeds for real-world impact that benefits patients, whanau, and communities. We want to see projects that will build partnerships – this could include translational research collaborations, researchers and clinicians working together, and partnering with the community. Funded projects will show potential for future success in competitive national and international research funding opportunities.

Our Assessment Panel will evaluate proposals on the basis of:

• Overall Quality and Scientific Merit, including readiness to deliver and quality of the project design.
• Māori Health Advancement, engagement with and consideration of Māori aspirations and health
• Partnership Building, collaboration in research, the community, and/or clinical settings
• Workforce Development, the extent to which the project design and team bring together diverse expertise and career stages, and supports the development of skills and sustainability of research careers.
• Impact on Community Health, demonstration of pathways to impact, e.g. generation of new knowledge, improved clinical care, community connections, improved systems/policy.

Full assessment criteria are found in the guidelines.

To register your interest in our Support and Development opportunities or for questions about the round, please contact our Research Operations Manager, Travis McDonald or our Director – Research Professor Andrew Shelling if you have questions or would like to discuss this excellent opportunity.

Te Aka and the Transdisciplinary Ideation Fund

Te Aka support cancer research at all stages. This year, inaddtion to our earlier Momentum round and the live Seed round, we wish to support pre-project research development.

To do this, we will provide additional funding and support via the University of Auckland’s Transdisciplinary Ideation Fund (TIF).

Applications are now open, until November 7. 

Up to five TIF applications concerning cancer research will be co-funded by Te Aka, so this is an excellent opportunity to resource development of novel, transdisciplinary research ideas.

TIF applications are subject to their own criteria and will be assessed independently of Te Aka, so please refer to the linked TIF page for guidance. For advice or to soundboard your TIF cancer research ideas, please reach out to our Research Operations Manager, Travis McDonald or our Director – Research Professor Andrew Shelling. We are eager to work with you to develop your application.