Irish Cancer Society's Research Awards 2026

It has been another busy and successful year for the research team at the Irish Cancer Society – success we owe to the hard work and dedication of our researchers, patient partners and the institutions we have worked with over the last 12 months to drive forward improvements in patient outcome, care and quality of life.

We are so proud of the hard work of our entire research community and want to recognise these incredible achievements at our Research Awards 2026. The Awards will take place in person on Thursday 19th February 2026 in our Dublin offices.

This year we are excited to announce five main categories: PhD Scholar of the Year Award, Support Staff of the Year Award, Survivorship Project of the Year Award, Translational/Clinical Project of the Year Award and the Public and Patient Partnership Award.  

We welcome your nominations by 5pm Wednesday, 7th January 2026 for all awards by using the individual forms linked above.

Please note that nominees who are shortlisted must be available to attend the Irish Cancer Society Research Awards on the 19th of February 2026 at 6pm in Dublin. For any queries, please email research@irishcancer.ie..

Every year, we fund outstanding PhD researchers who are the backbone of novel cancer research in Ireland and who will improve the outcome of those affected by all types of cancer.

This year, we are looking for applications for PhD Researcher of the Year. This award will showcase the fundamental role of current PhD researchers. Please note, only currently funded PhD students (must have started their PhD by August 2025) can be nominated. Applications from individuals nominating themselves are encouraged as are applications from either supervisors or from their peers. PhD students who finished their PhD at the time of nomination are still eligible to apply provided they have not graduated by February 2026. A judging panel with review the applications and the top 3 highest ranking Scholars will be picked as our finalists. The finalists will present their research in plain English on the night of the Research Awards, and our final awardee will be picked on the night.

All nominations should be submitted using this link.

This award is to recognise an individual who on a daily basis goes above and beyond the call of duty to support the cancer research being carried out across the country. Nominees for this category are not required to be funded by the Irish Cancer Society but must support the work of those who are. This means that they must work with an Irish Cancer Society-funded researcher in 2025. The description ‘Support Staff’ refers to any staff member, at any level who offers research support. This includes but is not limited to research assistants, technical staff, registration officers, lab managers, clinical trials staff, research nurses, data managers, administrative staff (including project/programme managers, research manager/coordinators) etc.

Nominations should be from a third party who works closely with the individual being nominated. All nominations should include a short outline of the reasons why the individual nominated should receive the award.

All nominations should be submitted using this link.
 

This award is to recognise the formidable contribution on the cancer research landscape in 2025 seen in one research project. All research projects that are wholly or partly funded by the Irish Cancer Society at any stage in 2025 are eligible for the award. Nominations from the individual researcher of that project or from a third party are welcome.

This is for either Translational and Clinical projects. Please note that PhD research projects are not eligible for this award but are encouraged to apply for the PhD Researcher of the Year Award instead.

All nominations should be submitted using this link

We are committed to highlighting the impact that Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) contributors in cancer research have in improving the relevance and quality of the research we fund.


This year, we are looking for applications for Public and Patient Partnership Award 2026. This award will focus on highlighting the important role of PPI contributor(s) working with researchers across a specific PPI research activity in 2025.

Please note, PPI is a partnership, therefore, applications should be made in partnership with both PPI contributor(s) and the researchers.  For activities with multiple PPI contributors and/or researchers, please ensure to nominate all parties involved in the partnership. It is not required that the PPI contributors on a panel be funded by the Irish Cancer Society, but the PPI achievement or activity should support the work of the researchers who are

The Public and Patient Partnership Award will be jointly awarded to the PPI contributor(s) and the researchers, to showcase outstanding, innovative PPI partnerships in cancer research in Ireland.

Applications from individuals nominating their own PPI project are eligible and encouraged, as are applications from either researchers or PPI contributors as the lead applicant.

Please note: We understand that PPI comes in many forms, and the roles that PPI contributors/panels undertake are broad. Queries about eligibility for this award are welcomed to ppi@irishcancer.ie.

Nominations can be submitted using this link.