Nos priorités scientifiques

With the support of more than 270 French and international scientific experts, ARC Foundation deploys an ambitious scientific strategy built around four key priorities

1.Nurturing French Talent and Making Long-Term Commitments to Leading Research Laboratories

In the face of an increasingly complex profession and a research landscape undergoing profound transformation—particularly technological—crossing disciplines and expertise, supporting and guiding researchers throughout their careers is essential. In the face of an increasingly complex profession and a research landscape undergoing profound transformation—particularly technological—crossing disciplines and expertise, supporting and guiding researchers throughout their careers is essential by investing significant resources to retain and attract talent.

Recognising the central role they play in laboratories, ARC Foundation places early-career researchers at the heart of its scientific strategy. Each year, through our "Individual Grants for Early-Career Researchers" funding programmes, we support the training of the most talented among them. From funding fourth-year PhD students, to training doctors and pharmacists in research, to financing post-doctoral positions in France and encouraging mobility, The ARC Foundation is a key funder of young cancer researchers in France..

A crucial stage in researchers' careers is securing a permanent position. With the average recruitment age at competitive examinations continuing to rise (now 37!), ARC Foundation created the "Passerelle" (Bridge) funding programme, whose recipients receive the means to continue their academic research work in good financial conditions while best preparing for competitive examinations. A vital support mechanism for ensuring the next generation of research excellence in France and preventing the departure of our brightest minds..

Retaining the best researchers but also attracting new talent to France and ensuring everyone can contribute to academic research in our country. This is the genesis of our "International Leaders in Oncology" programme, which aims to create conditions for high-level researchers based abroad to establish themselves in France, create their teams in the best research structures, and develop the most innovative projects in cancer research.

2. Fuelling Scientific Innovation and Opening New Therapeutic Pathways

Giving free rein to scientific inquiry and researchers' inventiveness to increase our knowledge of cancer and develop new treatments is at the core of our identity. It reflects the great trust we place in researchers and scientific intelligence..

Each year, ARC Foundation offers researchers the opportunity to apply for two open-topic funding programmes—meaning they can accommodate all cancer research subjects: ARC Foundation Projects and ARC Foundation-Labelled Programmes.

The objective of this funding is to encourage researchers to investigate new questions in cancer research, explore new fields, or lay the foundations for new therapeutic approaches. This enables us to broadly support research—particularly fundamental research—across all its domains: genetics, biology at the molecular, cellular, organ, and whole-body levels, immunology, and more.

When preliminary results warrant it, researchers are also offered the opportunity to develop large-scale work, whether in fundamental, translational, or clinical research. These programmes are selected for their excellence, the originality and relevance of the questions they pose in cancer research, and their potential scientific and medical impact.

3.Accelerating Progress on Priority Themes

The strength of our scientific strategy also lies in its foundation of constant reassessment, which enables our volunteer experts to evaluate the relevance of past and future actions, evolve our funding, and identify the most promising research themes. This is how ARC Foundation is able to commit to priority themes or actions and mobilise significant funds to accelerate progress in cancer research for the benefit of patients..

Each priority gives rise to an ambitious programme of not only funding but also structuring and enriching the specialist community through innovative projects, collaborations, and more. From this rich activity emerge cross-cutting projects whose complementarity ensures innovative and relevant answers to all the questions and challenges posed.

In recent years, Several priorities have been pursued by the Foundation : Accelerating the safe deployment of immunotherapies in France, Fighting pancreatic cancers—poor prognosis cancers increasing sharply, Deciphering the links between cancer and ageing and Investigating cancers in adolescents and young adults

4. Propelling French Research onto the International Stage

Convinced of the importance of supporting French teams and projects to reach the highest international level, ARC Foundation has significantly expanded its European activities in recent years..

We have established partnerships with European organisations on shared scientific and medical questions (ERA-NET TRANSCAN network dedicated to translational research, partnership with Worldwide Cancer Research, ATTRACT international call for projects dedicated to rare cancers). This enables us to encourage the participation of French research teams in high-value-added international collaborative projects.

At the end of 2024, this momentum reached a new scale when ARC Foundation succeeded in bringing together 14 European charitable organisations within a consortium and took on coordination of the ambitious FORCE project (Fostering Oncology Research by Charities in Europe.Funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, this initiative aims to promote patient-centred clinical research across Europe. A highly strategic focus for French research and for patients who can hope for improved care.