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Barncancerfonden is the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, a Swedish non-profit that describes itself as the single largest financier of childhood cancer research in Sweden. For a research administrator it is a private funder with its own research committees, its own online application system (Alva) and its own set of grant policies, not a government agency and not an identifier registry. This guide covers the research-grant side only, as described on the fund's own English-language pages (read 2026-10-29).
What Barncancerfonden is
The fund's English name is the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund; Barncancerfonden is the Swedish name and the one most people search for. It carries organisation number 802010-6566. It was established in 1982, with origins in 1979, when parents and health workers worked to keep Sweden's only paediatric oncology department open. It states that it consists of six regional associations and a national organisation.
The fund states that since 1982 it has funded childhood cancer research with over three and a half billion kronor, and that its mission is that all those affected by childhood cancer can survive and live a good and long life. Its fundraising status is reviewed by Svensk Insamlingskontroll (the 90-konto scheme, which requires at least 75 percent of revenue to go to the mission).
Who funds and who assesses
Applications are assessed inside the fund, not by a state research council. Project grants and research positions are assessed by the fund's research committees, and project grants may also draw on external specialists. The smaller grant types are assessed by the chairman of the research committees together with scientific secretaries. For research positions the board or foundation makes the final decision.
That structure is the main difference from the Swedish state funders compared in Formas, Vinnova and Forte compared and from the innovation funder described in Vinnova's funding overview: Barncancerfonden is a single-disease charity funder, so every call is framed around childhood cancer.
Grant types and decision cycle
The English research-grants page sets out two rhythms. Larger awards are made once a year; smaller, event-type awards are made three times a year. The table restates the fund's own page.
| Grant type | How often awarded | Assessed by | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project grants | Once a year | Research committees; external specialists may be used | December |
| Research positions | Once a year | Research committees; board or foundation decides | March |
| Travel grants, symposia, graduate courses, methodology studies, guest speakers, start-up grants | Three times a year | Chairman of the research committees with scientific secretaries | See the calls page |
The calls page for 2026 also lists further call types: Clinical Trials in Childhood Cancer, medtech R&D projects, co-financing of EU projects, planning grants, and FORCE pre-proposals handled through Fondation ARC. Deadlines and call names change every year, so read the current calls page rather than relying on any dated list, including this one.
How to apply through Alva
Applications go through the fund's application system, Alva. The calls page links to the external application portal, and states that the application system closes at 14:00 on the last day for application. Treat 14:00 as the working deadline: an institutional sign-off that completes in the afternoon of the deadline day is already late.
Practical steps for a grants office, taken from the fund's pages:
- Open the current calls page and identify the call that matches the award type, using the fund's exact call names.
- Note the closing date and the 14:00 cut-off, then set the internal deadline well before it.
- Read the policy documents listed below before budgeting.
- Submit through Alva.
Policies to read before applying
The calls page links a set of policy documents. They are named here exactly as they appear on the fund's page:
- Policy for parallel grants from BCF
- Eligible costs for BCF grants
- General terms and conditions
- Salary lump sums 2026
- Policy for use of AI tools
- The 3Rs – for increased research quality
- Policy for collaborations with researchers in Russia and Belarus
For budget preparation, the eligible-costs and salary lump-sum documents are the obvious starting points; for compliance review, the parallel-grants, AI-tools, 3Rs and Russia/Belarus documents. The fund's pages do not state a general eligibility checklist, so confirm eligibility in the call text itself. For the general concept of overhead on grants, see the indirect cost recovery entry, but the fund's own eligible-costs document governs its grants.
Identifiers and publications
The fund's English research-grants and application pages do not mention ORCID, Scopus ID or open-access conditions. Applicants should check the general terms and conditions and the call text for any requirement of that kind. For Swedish publication records generally, see SwePub, Sweden's national publication database.
Common problems
- Searching the wrong thing. The name is also used for the fund's donation campaigns. Researchers should go to the for-researchers section of the fund's site.
- Missing the 14:00 cut-off because the internal deadline was set to midnight.
- Relying on the English page for detail. The English research-grants page is a simplified version; use the Swedish call text for full conditions.
- Overlapping funding. The fund has a policy for parallel grants; read it before submitting the same work elsewhere.
- Budgeting without the cost documents. Eligible costs and salary lump sums are set in separate documents.
FAQ
What is Barncancerfonden?
Barncancerfonden is the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, a non-profit that states it is the largest financier of childhood cancer research in Sweden.
How do I apply for a Barncancerfonden research grant?
Through the application system Alva, linked from the fund's calls page. The system closes at 14:00 on the last day of each call.
How often are the grants awarded?
Project grants and research positions are awarded once a year, with decisions in December and March respectively. Travel grants, symposia, graduate courses, methodology studies, guest speakers and start-up grants are awarded three times a year.
Who assesses the applications?
The fund's research committees assess project grants and research positions; the smaller grants are assessed by the committees' chairman with scientific secretaries.
Are the current deadlines on this page?
No. Deadlines change each year; use the current calls page on the fund's website.
Sources
- Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, research grants (English): barncancerfonden.se/en/for-researchers/research-grants, read 2026-10-29.
- Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, apply for research grants: barncancerfonden.se/en/for-researchers/research-grants/apply-for-research-grants, read 2026-10-29.
- Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, our organization: barncancerfonden.se/en/om-barncancerfonden/our-organization, read 2026-10-29.
