ACORRN was established in response to the sharp decline in the number of clinical academics and radiation biologists over the past ten years. The network was launched in 2005 to help revitalise radiotherapy and radiobiology research in the UK by networking and supporting individuals and groups. ACORRN is governed by a Steering Committee, comprising members of the UK research community and receives advice from an International Scientific Advisory Committee. Since its inception ACORRN has established a national office to support researchers, providing practical advice and assistance on funding streams, grant applications, ethics legislation and approval as well as facilitating collaborative research meetings. ACORRN has also developed several working parties, research interest groups and an interactive website (www.acorrn.org) which is actively used within the research community. The website serves as a hub of information allowing researchers to locate and contact each other and search for information on projects, institutions and opportunities, quickly and easily.

The Academic Clinical Oncology and Radiobiology Research Network (ACORRN) was launched in 2005 by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) to revitalise radiotherapy (RTX) and radiobiology (RB) research in the UK [Price P. Clin Oncol 2005; 17:299–304]. The network was established in response to the sharp decline over the past 10 years in the number of clinical academics and radiation biologists. The decline had left the UK's radiotherapy and RB communities with insufficient infrastructure and capacity, despite radiotherapy experiencing one of the most rapid advances in technology and computerisation of any field in medicine.