🚨 Now available: 2025 grants for advancing pediatric cancer research!

[Jen-OMalley]

Are you interested in receiving a grant for your contributions to the OpenScPCA project?

We're seeking pediatric cancer researchers at non-profit institutions with experience analyzing single-cell RNA-seq datasets to annotate and assign cell types to existing ScPCA datasets. If interested, read the full eligibility and acceptance criteria to determine if you meet the requirements for receiving a grant!

Grants

A maximum of 19 grants are available, each tied to a specific sample group with a unique identifier. Grants are offered in two categories: the Advisor Award and the Analyst Award, each with distinct submission requirements. Only one grant will be awarded per sample group, to the institution of the first researcher who meets all eligibility and submission requirements for either award.

• Advisor Award: Researchers must submit and answer queries regarding a detailed protocol for cell type annotation for all diagnoses assigned to a specified group identifier. Researchers are not expected to perform analyses themselves.
• Analyst Award: Researchers must complete cell type annotation for all samples assigned to a specified group identifier. The researcher must complete cell type annotation analysis openly and collaboratively by contributing their analysis to the OpenScPCA project.

Group ID	Project ID	Diagnosis	Project Title	Total Samples	Advisor Award	Analyst Award	Status
SCPCAB0001	SCPCP000001	Glioblastoma	Single cell RNA sequencing of pediatric high-grade gliomas	16	$500	$2,000	#1076
SCPCAB0002	SCPCP000001	Anaplastic astrocytoma, Anaplastic glioma, Diffuse midline glioma, High-grade glioma, Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma	Single cell RNA sequencing of pediatric high-grade gliomas	6	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0003	SCPCP000002	Pilocytic astrocytoma	Single cell RNA sequencing of pediatric low-grade gliomas	18	$500	$2,000	#1072
SCPCAB0004	SCPCP000002	Ependymoma, Ganglioglioma, Ganglioglioma/ATRT, Low-grade glioma	Single cell RNA sequencing of pediatric low-grade gliomas	8	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0007	SCPCP000003	T-myeloid mixed phenotype acute leukemia	Single Cell Profiling of Early T cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia	10	$500	$1,000	#1297
SCPCAB0008	SCPCP000003	Acute myeloid leukemia	Single Cell Profiling of Early T cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia	8	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0011	SCPCP000007	Acute myeloid leukemia, T-myeloid mixed phenotype acute leukemia	Single-cell profiling of Acute Myeloid Leukemia for high-resolution chemo-immunotherapy target discovery	28	$500	$2,000
SCPCAB0015	SCPCP000010	Low-grade glioma	Delineating pediatric brain tumor progression using single-nuclei sequencing	23	$500	$2,000
SCPCAB0016	SCPCP000010	Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, Focal cortical dysplasia, Ganglioglioma, Glial-neuronal tumor, High-grade glioma	Delineating pediatric brain tumor progression using single-nuclei sequencing	20	$500	$2,000
SCPCAB0017	SCPCP000011	Retinoblastoma	Profiling the transcriptional heterogeneity of diverse pediatric solid tumors – Retinoblastoma	26	$500	$2,000
SCPCAB0018	SCPCP000012	Adrenocortical carcinoma, Germ cell tumor, Hepatoblastoma, Melanoma	Profiling the transcriptional heterogeneity of diverse pediatric solid tumors – Other solid tumors	11	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0019	SCPCP000013	Clear cell sarcoma, Clear cell sarcoma of the kidney, Embryonal sarcoma, Epithelioid sarcoma, Gastrointestinal stromal tumor, Infantile fibrosarcoma, Spindle sarcoma, Synovial sarcoma, Undifferentiated round cell sarcoma	Profiling the transcriptional heterogeneity of diverse pediatric solid tumors – Non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas	22	$500	$2,000
SCPCAB0020	SCPCP000013	Desmoplastic small round cell tumor	Profiling the transcriptional heterogeneity of diverse pediatric solid tumors – Non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas	7	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0021	SCPCP000013	High-grade sarcoma	Profiling the transcriptional heterogeneity of diverse pediatric solid tumors – Non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas	4	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0023	SCPCP000016	Rhabdoid tumor	Profiling the transcriptional heterogeneity of diverse pediatric solid tumors – Rhabdoid tumor	7	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0024	SCPCP000017	Osteosarcoma	A Single Cell Atlas of Pediatric Sarcoma	28	$500	$2,000	#1226
SCPCAB0025	SCPCP000018	Osteosarcoma	Single-cell profiling of pediatric bone sarcomas	11	$500	$1,000	#1257
SCPCAB0026	SCPCP000021	Diffuse midline glioma, Glioblastoma, High-grade glioma, Infant-type hemispheric glioma	Profiling pediatric and young adolescent (Ped-AYA) high-grade gliomas (HGGs)	15	$500	$1,000
SCPCAB0027	SCPCP000023	Osteosarcoma	Profiling the transcriptional heterogeneity of diverse pediatric solid tumors – Osteosarcoma	52	$500	$4,000	#1117

About the table:

• It contains a unique group identifier, project identifier, project title, list of diagnoses and total number of samples for each group.
• Groups of samples encompass samples from a single ScPCA project representing either a single diagnosis or a group of related diagnoses.
• The table displays the maximum grant amount (USD) that can be claimed for either type of award.
• The last column shows the Status of each group of samples.
  • If this column is blank, then no analysis has been proposed or started for that group of samples.
  • If there is a link to a GitHub discussion post, it means that a contributor is currently working on that group of samples. Click to view the discussion.
  • If a researcher has become eligible for either the Advisor Award or Analyst Award associated with that group of samples, this column will say Awarded.

To become eligible for a grant:

• All contributions must be openly available.
  • For Advisor Awards, protocols must be posted publicly on GitHub Discussions.
  • For Analyst Awards, analytical code for cell type annotation must be contributed to the public OpenScPCA-analysis repository and peer reviewed through our code review process.
• ALSF will only award grants with submissions meeting the eligibility requirements and acceptance criteria. All decisions regarding applications and grants, including satisfaction of requirements, are made solely by ALSF, in its sole discretion.
• These are just some of the requirements. Read the full eligibility requirements and acceptance criteria.

Distribution and Permitted Use of Funds:

• The funds will be distributed to the researcher's institution and must be used for pediatric cancer research. If the institution is not conducting such research at the time the grant is to be distributed, the grant will be deemed declined.
• ALSF does not allow the use of funds for research utilizing human embryonic stem cells or nonhuman primates. Research with human induced pluripotent stem cells is permissible.
• The institution receiving the grant is responsible for compliance with governmental reporting requirements and related tax obligations, if any.

Important Dates:

• Analyst Awards: The final table and Description section of the README must be approved via pull request by 5 PM Eastern Daylight Time on October 31, 2025.
• Advisor Awards: The final protocol must be approved, as indicated by a GitHub Discussions comment from an ALSF Childhood Cancer Data Lab staff member, by 5 PM Eastern Daylight Time on October 31, 2025.
• Application Submission Deadline, if eligible: 5 PM Eastern Daylight Time on November 14, 2025 or within ten days of notification of eligibility, whichever is sooner.

Getting started

Are you interested in performing cell type annotation or developing a protocol for cell type annotation for a group of these samples? Let us know by filing a GitHub discussion and a team member will respond to help you get started!

• Analyst Award: If you wish to annotate one of the groups of samples, please let us know by filing a GitHub Discussion using the template to propose a new analysis.
• Advisor Award: If you wish to submit a detailed protocol for cell type annotation for one of the groups of samples, please let us know by filing a GitHub Discussion using the template to submit a detailed protocol.
• All discussion posts must include the unique group identifier, the project title, project identifier, and list of diagnoses for the group you wish to work on.

You can expect multiple rounds of peer review or questions before the final table or protocol submission. Please start participating as early as possible to avoid missing the submission deadlines!

Feel free to leave any questions or comments here! You can also reach us by email at scpca@ccdatalab.org or on the #open-scpca Slack channel.