Cancer Research in Switzerland - Krebsliga Schweiz

gramme research funding decreased by 64 %, from
CHF 2.2 million in 2006–2008 to CHF 0.8 million in
2009–2010. This benefitted the contributions to the
research organizations, to which an annual average
of CHF 1.3 million were allocated in 2009–2010. As
compared to the previous recording period, 73 %
more funding went to persons receiving bursaries,
and funding for other projects increased slightly
by about 10 %. “Other” indicates for the most part
financial support of scientific and medical conferences
and workshops in Switzerland and contributions
to international organizations such as EORTC
Charitable Trust, the foundation of the European
Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer.
Figure 2 shows the two partner organizations’ distri-
bution of funds to the cantons and the cantonal in-
stitutions in the years 2009 and 2010.
Funding of independent research projects:
Distribution of spend and grant approval success
rate
The average funding of independent project research
was CHF 11 million per year (Table 2). At 80 % of
total spend, this is by far the most important area of
research funding. Allocating the lion’s share of the
funding to independent project research is in accordance
with the strategic guidelines set by the SCL and
CRS boards. Per year an average of 148 submitted
grant applications were approved for funding in the
period 2009–2010, which is a grant approval success
rate of 33 %. Of the average CHF 41.5 million in
funding applied for each year, CHF 11 million were
granted, which is a monetary grant approval success
rate of 27 %. Compared to the period 2006–2008,
this represents a not insignificant decrease of 8 % in
the grant approval success rate for projects and a decrease
of 5 % in funds. This was the case even though
in the period 2009–2010 more funding was available
(over CHF 1 million more) for independent project
research. The lower grant approval success rate can be
explained by the increase in the number of ap plications
submitted and the amount of funding applied for.
For purposes of comparison: According to the 2010
annual report of the Swiss National Science Foundation
(SNSF) the SNSF grant approval success rate in
project funding in biology and medicine was 49 %
for number of applications submitted and approved
and 45 % for amount of funding applied for and
amount of funding granted.
Once again, the greater part of all requests for funds
in independent project research (58 %) came from
the basic biomedical research sector. Again, only
24 % of the funding applied for was granted (2009:
22 %; 2010: 26 %), even though after the review
process an increased number of applications were
recommended for funding. This is a consequence of
the quota described below, which targets increased
funding of patient-centred research. Clinical research
includes research projects with patients and also laboratory
research using human biological material. In
the area of clinical research 30 % of the funds applied
for were granted (2009: 32 %; 2010: 27 %).
The lowest grant approval success rate was in the
area of psychosocial research; here 15 % of the funds
applied for were granted (2009: 26 %; 2010: 8 %).
This was mainly due to the relatively large number of
grant applications submitted that did not pass the
evaluation process according to international standards.
The highest success rate for grant approval was
in the area of epidemiological research: Here, 55 %
of the funds applied for were granted (2009: 64 %;
2010: 52 %). Comparing the number of approved
applications to the number of submitted applications,
the grant approval success rates in the different
sectors were: 30 % in basic research, 35 % in clinical
research, 27 % in psychosocial research, and
71% in epidemiological research.
The funding spend for independent research projects
and patient-centred research was higher in the last
two years than in the previous reporting period: It
increased from CHF 5.2 million (2006–2008) to CHF
5.9 million (2009–2010) annually for basic research
and from CHF 4.8 million (2006–2008) to CHF 5.2
million (2009–2010) per year for clinical, psychosocial,
and epidemiological research.
New ways to support excellent projects
There are two deciding factors for the number of
research projects approved for funding and for the
amount of the funding for the projects that the SCL
and CRS support each year: the international quality
criteria of proposal evaluation and the monies available
for funding. It is a difficult situation when the
Scientific Committee rates projects as high in quality
and recommended for a grant, but the boards cannot
approve funding because there is not enough money.
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