The Development Fund was established in September 2003 as a joint funding initiative between Cancer Research UK (CR-UK) and Cancer Research Technology (CRT) with the aim of directly developing research for patient benefit. The award of funding will be overseen and approved through the Discovery Committee, which is a sub-committee of the Clinical and Translational Research Committee (CTRC). The Development Fund will be the sole Cancer Research UK scheme operating for managed development of projects arising from Cancer Research UK's basic research portfolio and for Intellectual Property arising from outside the Cancer Research UK portfolio but managed through CRT.

The aim of the scheme is to improve the likelihood of research eventually leading to a new preventative therapeutic or diagnostic entity by:

• Assessment of the potential value of your research findings for developing new preventative therapeutic or diagnostic approaches.
• Establishing a project plan with you, which charts a route to developing your research findings.
• Funding of the project plan to achieve specific milestones and endpoints.
• Management and monitoring of the project by the charity and CRT to achieve goals within agreed timescales.

For further details on how to apply for funding from the Discovery Committee, click here.