Fight Kids Cancer 2025-2026 Call for Proposals
The 2025-2026 Sarcomas Exclusive Call is now closed to new applications.
Selected participants are now invited to submit their full proposal (FP)
by 6 March 2026, 12:00 CET
Many thanks to all participants!
How to submit a full proposal?
- Please first consult the call guidelines and the platform instructions.
- Fill in the template for Full Proposal & ethics self-assessment according to whether your proposal is:
- Complete the budget template (.xls)
- Submit your full proposal, ethics self-assessment, and annexes to the platform.
For any questions related to the submission process, please contact the Fight Kids Cancer Secretariat (fightkidscancer@esf.org) or ellina@fightkidscancer.org
Deadline for submissions: 6 March 2026, 12:00 CET (noon).
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Eligibility Criteria
Application Process
Project Team & Roles
For any further questions related to
- the submission process, please contact the Fight Kids Cancer Secretariat (fightkidscancer@esf.org) or ellina@fightkidscancer.org
- the online submission of your proposal please contact esf-panels@esf.org, after prior reading of the submission guidelines.
2025-2026 SARCOMAS EXCLUSIVE CALL
Following the success of last year’s call, this sarcoma exclusive call will continue to give more flexibility to the applying teams. Thus, the possible amount available and duration per grant application will be the following:
For clinical trials:
- Up to 5 years
- Up to 5 million euros
For a clinical trial preparation grants:
- Up to 2 years
- Up to 0.25 million euros
For translation research projects:
- Up to 4 years
- Up to 2 million euros
As flexibility is the key motivation for the modification of the grants' duration and amount, the grant amounts and durations indicated represent the maximum that FIGHT KIDS CANCER will fund per project. Applicants should only request funding amounts that accurately reflects their project’s actual needs. Applications will also be assessed on their efficient use of funds and time: both shorter, less expensive projects and longer, more costly ones are equally welcome, provided they demonstrate a clear impact for patients and make judicious use of resources.
The call's objectives
FIGHT KIDS CANCER aims to catalyse and support pan-European leading-edge research initiatives in paediatric cancer to develop innovative approaches to improve the outcome for all children and adolescents with cancer. This call will cover the following non-exclusive objectives:
- Realise real impact on young patients,
- Improve survival rates and reduce toxicity to restore young patients to full health after treatment,
- Advance fundamental knowledge of paediatric malignancies,
- Support improved interdisciplinary research, methods and collaborations for tackling the issues of today,
- Strengthen collaboration and the development of scientific capacity across Europe.
FIGHT KIDS CANCER aims towards overcoming the structural lack of research dedicated to paediatric cancers by ensuring a recurring endowment that will be granted to the best European research projects every year. An additional ambition is to foster closer working ties between clinical and laboratory researchers.
The 2025-2026 call timeline
| Opening of the call | 01/09/2025 |
| Deadline submission EoI | 17/10/2025 12:00 CET |
| Opening FP phase | Prompt notification after 08/01/2026 |
| Deadline FP submission | 06/03/2026 12:00 CET |
| Rebuttal phase | 28/04/2026-05/05/2026 |
The 2025-2026 supporting organisations from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain are:
What's ESF's role in Fight Kids Cancer?
ESF is a trusted partner of FKC, that ensures the efficient and transparent management of its co-funded research programme in paediatric oncology.
Acting on behalf of FKC, ESF is organising every stage of the FKC programme: from the launch of competitive calls and the coordination of scientific peer-review to the support on project implementation.
The 2026-2027 Call will again be open to all types of paediatric cancers.
Contact us!
Judith Eschbach
Project Officer
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