EpiCARE Research Council

Deadline:23 May 2023

Indicative budget: € 2.5 million for a period of 5 years. However, an additional € 1 million can be made available to cover eligible “start-up” costs for researchers moving from a third country to the EU or an associated country and/or the purchase of major equipment and/or access to large facilities and/or other major experimental and field work costs.

Are you an established, leading principal investigator who wants long-term funding to pursue a ground-breaking, high-risk project? The ERC Advanced Grant could be for you.

Who can apply?

 Applicants for the ERC Advanced Grants – called Principal Investigators (PI) – are expected to be active researchers who have a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years.

More information

THCS launches its first Joint Transnational Call for proposals aiming to encourage the optimization of patient care pathways and contribute to the transition towards more sustainable, efficient, resilient, ethical, high-quality, and accessible person-centered healthcare systems. More than 30 funding agencies participate with an indicative budget of more than 30 million €.

In particular, the Call aims:

1. To provide the necessary knowledge to build the health and care of the future. This includes addressing several dimensions of health and care systems such as quality, safety, equity, efficiency, effectiveness, accessibility, sustainability, economy, ethics and resilience in reorganised health and care settings. By providing this knowledge, the call aims to support the development of new and innovative solutions that can address the current and future challenges facing health and care systems.
2. To support the implementation of innovative solutions on a larger scale. This includes identifying and promoting the adoption and transferability of evidence-based and successful practices that have already been proven to be effective in some contexts in addressing the challenges facing health and care systems. With research and innovation supporting the implementation of these existing solutions, the call aims to accelerate the pace of change and make a positive impact on health and care systems in a more efficient way.

 https://www.thcspartnership.eu/funding/announcement-of-the-joint-transnational-call-for-proposals-healthcare-of-the-future-.kl

Deadlines

Expected outcomes of the call :

□ Citizens and patients are better informed and engaged and have access to more distributed, community-based health and care facilities that better support their needs. This will include

new/adapted sustainable concepts of care, prevention models, personalised approaches in prevention and care on different intervention areas to be translated in different contexts.

□ Primary care and community-based health and care services are better equipped with integrated and cost-effective intervention tools to help prevent, monitor and manage age-related diseases,

conditions and disabilities, while promoting healthy lifestyles.

□ Health and care providers and professionals are engaged and have access to validated customized and largely adopted solutions for health and care delivery supporting continuity of care and integration of the different settings.

□ Health and care authorities and policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the decisionmaking processes have access to evidence-based strategies and learn from good practices supporting the transformation towards people-centred service

Budget committed for projects funding : Projects are multinational but funding is national (contract is signed by national funding bodies) – more precision will be added

Deadlines: Two stages : 15th February 2023and 14th June 2023

Link: https://www.ejprarediseases.org/joint-transnational-call-2023/

Research proposals should cover at least one of the following areas:

• Estimation of disease prevalence;
• Identification of biomarkers/companions for the diagnosis/prognosis of a RD;
• Identification of biomarkers/indicators/predictors of a rare disease or group of disorders (e.g. having the same aetiology) onset/progression (including collection of genetic, physiological, environmental data or variables….);
• Identification of relevant endpoints for future studies that include potential biomarkers, querying patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and quality-of-life measures to identify the most;
• Identification of biomarkers/variables for therapeutic approaches (pharmacology, drug repurposing, gene therapy, RNA therapy, cell therapy, medical devices…).

It is possible to use cellular and animal models for validation of the new diagnostic approaches in the subtopics listed above where relevant.

Furthermore, additional elements need to be considered in the application:

• Inclusion of patient and caregiver perspectives from the RD community is strongly encouraged. Patients living with a RD or a family member who cares for them, have experiences and knowledge that can contribute to generating data about the natural progression of the disease. Patients should be involved in all steps of planning and implementation of the study;
• For the small group of well-characterized rare diseases with approved treatments or improved standard of care, prospective studies can define the altered disease progression under the current medical setting. Thereby, studies collecting data regarding adverse events and providing reference/data for development of a more effective or safer treatment can be considered for complementing the natural history study.

Calendar:

Budget: 2 years / $250,000

Links: https://www.cureepilepsy.org/grants-program/ ; https://www.cureepilepsy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2022-CURE-Epilepsy-Catalyst-Guidelines_FINAL2.pdf

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to stimulate and accelerate discovery and development of new, transformative therapies for epilepsy, moving promising, well-supported preclinical and/or clinical research closer to clinical application.

The award is intended to support nimble development of data necessary to attract larger commercialization funding opportunities and is not intended to replace those opportunities. Projects based on novel biological pathways and/or highly differentiated therapeutic approaches which are likely to have a high probability of successfully transitioning to clinical development are strongly encouraged. The award is not intended to fund basic research on the mechanisms underlying epilepsy.

Projects supported by this award mechanism should advance research to clinical trial readiness through development of biomarkers, optimization of new entities based on entities with established proof-of concept including pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, safety profiles, and/or improved formulations, as well as studies that advance preclinical findings to pilot clinical trials. Proof-of-concept of the entity being developed is required. Proposals lacking proof-of-concept data will not be evaluated. Prospective pilot clinical trials where limited testing of a novel intervention is needed to inform the next step in the translational research may be considered.

Priority areas include:

• Innovative approaches to prevent, modify and/or arrest the development of acquired epilepsy.
• Development of novel approaches to prevent the onset or halt the progression of severe pediatric epilepsies.
• New, effective treatments for the >30% of the epilepsy population who are pharmaco-resistant.
• Translational or clinical approaches aimed at normalizing sleep disturbances or circadian rhythms to treat seizures.
• New approaches, biomarkers, or therapies to predict and/or prevent SUDEP.

 Budget: 1 year / $100,000

Calendar:

Link: https://www.cureepilepsy.org/grants-program/

The Rare Epilepsy Partnership Award (1 year / $100,000) will support the development of necessary research tools, techniques, model systems, and data collection platforms to stimulate and accelerate research on rare epilepsies. Each award will be co-funded by CURE Epilepsy and one or more of the rare epilepsy advocacy groups (partners) identified in the Request For Proposals. Applications must focus on one or more of the specific rare epilepsies that are represented by each group as well as address CURE Epilepsy’s mission to cure epilepsy.

Funding for scientific meetings or workshops relevant to neurobiology of epilepsy can also be provided through the NBC. Requests for sponsoring such workshops are considered for funding on an annual basis by the NBC.

Transformational Science Grant Awards are the largest grants awarded by DSF. Transformational Science Grants are intended for established, experienced, independent investigators affiliated with a research or academic institution whose proposed projects investigate hypotheses directly related to Dravet syndrome. Transformational Science Grants should have substantial preliminary data to support the stated hypothesis and strong potential to significantly impact the research field or move the needle on clinical care. Proposals are scored according to NIH guidelines based on the quality of preliminary data, research design, feasibility, investigator’s qualifications, and overall impact. Grants are awarded for $500,000 over 3 years (beginning January 1 of each year). Indirect costs must be included within the $500,00 budget and are not to exceed 10% of the total award.

Investigators applying for a DSF grant should ensure their proposed project addresses the needs of the Dravet syndrome community and DSF’s mission to support research toward better treatments and a cure for Dravet syndrome. Proposals should address research areas related to the DSF’s yearly priority areas and DSF’s Roadmap to a Cure.

Eligibility: Applicants should be affiliated with a research or academic institution (excluding for-profit companies), may be US or foreign based, established in their field, and in good standing with their institution.

Open: 4/26/23
Close: 9/8/23
Response: 11/30/23

Funding Level: $500,000
Funding Length: 36 months
Funding Start Date: 1/1/24

Link

Clinician-Researcher Awards support hypothesis-driven clinical research projects that have significant potential to advance our understanding of Dravet syndrome; slow or halt the progression of the disease, characteristics, or comorbidities of the disease; and/or reduce mortality. The projects must be patient-oriented, with the investigator directly interacting with human subjects/patients. This includes studies such as therapeutic interventions or support/extension of existing clinical trials.

The clinician-researcher award is meant to aid early-career clinicians in gaining experience in clinical research studies of Dravet syndrome (established clinicians without research experience are also eligible). Applicants are required to identify a clinical research mentor to assist in guiding the studies for the duration of the award.

Award funds of $75,000 for one year are made to the affiliated institution in two payments, the second of which is dependent on IRB approval if not required for the first portion of the funding period. Awards are to be used to support a minimum physician effort (salary and benefits) of 25%; funds may also be used to support a clinical trial specialist’s efforts or similar. Up to $1000 may be set aside to present findings at a national meeting. No indirect costs are permitted under this award category. Submission of scientific and financial reports are due no later than 30 days after completion of the project.

Successful applicants hold an MD or DO degree, have a valid US medical license (though US citizenship is not required), work full-time at a US academic or research institution. Clinical residents, fellows, and faculty are eligible. Applicants for this grant award are not required to have expertise in clinical research, but rather must identify a primary mentor with experience in the proposed research area. Residents and fellows are additionally required to submit a letter of support from their program director. With the exception of career development and training awards, Principal Investigators on NIH grants exceeding $225,000 and recipients of other fellowships are not eligible.

Open: 4/26/23
Close: 9/8/23
Response: 11/30/23

Funding Level: $250,000
Funding Length: 24 months
Funding Start Date: 1/1/24

Clinical Research Grants support hypothesis-driven clinical research projects that have significant potential to advance our understanding of Dravet syndrome; slow or halt the of progression of the disease, characteristics, or comorbidities of the disease; and/or reduce mortality. This also includes studies that help identify patient trends, characteristics, epidemiology, or other clinical aspects of Dravet syndrome. This research will be patient-oriented research in which an investigator directly interacts with human subjects/patients. Such studies may be conducted in conjunction with laboratory-based research, as appropriate. This includes studies such as therapeutic interventions or clinical trials.

Award funds of $250,000 distributed over two years are made to the affiliated institution in four payments, the second of which is dependent on IRB approval if not required for the first portion of the funding period. Indirect costs may not exceed 10% of the total award and must be included in the $250,000 budget.

Successful applicants hold an MD, PhD, DO or equivalent degree. Applicants should be well-established independent investigators affiliated with an academic or research institution (excluding for-profit companies). Applicants within the US and foreign countries are eligible.

Investigators applying for a clinical research grant should ensure their proposed project addresses the needs of the Dravet syndrome community and DSF’s mission to support research toward better treatments and a cure for Dravet syndrome.

Open: 4/26/23
Close: 9/8/23
Response: 11/30/23

Funding Level: $75,000
Funding Length: 12 months
Funding Start Date: 1/1/24

https://www.epilepsyresearchconnection.org/opp-detail.php?src=r&id=18

DSFs Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Award develops academic physicians and scientists committed to research related to Dravet syndrome and associated ion channel epilepsies. The fellowship is intended to support a full-time research effort. Successful applicants receive a stipend of $75,000 over the 12 month award. The number of awards is contingent upon the availability of funds. Award funds are made to the institution in two payments for direct expenses of the fellow (salary and benefits). No indirect costs are provided for this award category. Submission of scientific and financial reports are due no later than 60 days after the completion of project.

Post-doctoral Fellowship Grants may be appropriate for either basic/translational research or clinical research.

Basic/Translational Research Grants support research projects that have significant potential to advance our understanding of Dravet syndrome; slow or halt the of progression of the disease, characteristics, or comorbidities of the disease; and/or reduce mortality. Studies focusing on quality of life are not appropriate for this research focus area. These grants are appropriate for fellows with either a Ph.D or an M.D. who are proposing research projects that are laboratory- or field- based.

Investigators applying for a postdoctoral fellowship should ensure their proposed project addresses the needs of the Dravet syndrome community and DSF’s mission to support research toward better treatments and a cure for Dravet syndrome.

Open: 4/26/23
Close: 9/8/23
Response: 11/30/23

Funding Level: $250,000
Funding Length: 24 months
Funding Start Date: 1/1/24

Research Grant Awards are the largest type of grant awarded by DSF. These grants are intended for established, experienced, independent investigators affiliated with a research or academic institution whose proposed projects investigate hypotheses directly related to Dravet syndrome. Proposals are scored according to NIH guidelines based on the quality of preliminary data, research design, feasibility, investigator’s qualifications, and overall impact. Grants are awarded for $250,000 over 2 years (beginning January 1 of each year), with indirect costs not to exceed 10% of the award (indirect costs must be included within the $250,000 budget).

Investigators applying for a research grant should ensure their proposed project addresses the needs of the Dravet syndrome community and DSF’s mission to support research toward better treatments and a cure for Dravet syndrome.

Applicants should be affiliated with a research or academic institution (excluding for-profit companies), may be US or foreign based, established in their field, and in good standing with their institution.

Deadline model: single-stage

Opening date: 12 April 2023

Deadline date: 13 September 2023 17:00:00 Brussels time

More info

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported postdoctoral fellows

• Increased set of research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects of MSCA postdoctoral fellows within academia and beyond;
• New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary experience;
• Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

• Increased alignment of working conditions for researchers in accordance with the principles set out in the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers;
• Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training and supervision;
• Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);
• Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations; better transfer of knowledge;
• Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope:

Fellowships will be provided to excellent researchers undertaking international mobility. Applications will be made jointly by the researcher and a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector.

Postdoctoral Fellowships either can take place in Europe (i.e. in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country) or in a Third Country not associated to Horizon Europe:

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe. The standard duration of these fellowships must be between 12 and 24 months.
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. These fellowships require an outgoing phase of minimum 12 and maximum 24 months in a non-associated Third Country, and a mandatory 12-month return phase to a host organisation based in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Specific eligibility conditions apply to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships in the research areas covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025^Link.

Deadline for submission (two stages)

• September 19, 2023
• April 11, 2024

Total budget: €30M

Budget per project: 8-10 M€

Objectives:

– To develop solutions that promote a healthy lifestyle solutions for children and adolescents to have a long-term impact by using digital technologies.

– Develop and integrate innovative, privacy preserving tools and technologies, such as (but not limited to) activity trackers, sensors, serious games, platforms and robotics, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in coordinated and integrated care models, to help children and adolescents lead healthy, active and social lifestyles, prevent diseases, as well as to better monitor and manage their physical, social and mental health.
– Involve SMEs, national and regional authorities, patient associations and all relevant stakeholders to improve the adoption of solutions in health systems
– Involve relevant “Human and Social Sciences” expertise in the design and conduct of the
of the project

Deadline for submission (two stages)

-September 19, 2023

-April 11, 2024

Total budget: €50M

Budget per project: 8- 12 M€

Objective

->To develop personalized strategies for prevention of non-communicable diseases (use of computational approaches, algorithms machine learning AI)

– Enable understanding of areas of unmet need in the prevention of non-communicable diseases, opportunity to mechanisms, management of disease progression and relapse. disease progression and relapse.
– Design new or improved and ambitious policy and intervention options
-Designing holistic approaches that include several of the following aspects: genetic predisposition
genetic predisposition, metagenomics, epigenomics, microbiome, metabolomics, sleep disorders, large cohorts, molecular profiling, impact of lack of activity, new predictive biomarker candidates,
nutrition and diet

Budget: EUR 50.00 million.

Deadline for submission (single stage): September 19,2023

The co-funded European Partnership on rare diseases should be implemented based on the priorities identified in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and through a joint program of activities ranging from coordinating and funding transnational research to highly integrative and community-driven ‘in-house’ activities such as innovation strategies for the efficient exploitation of research results, EU clinical trial preparedness activities, optimization of research infrastructures and resources, including networking, training and dissemination activities. It should be structured along the following main objectives:

-Launch joint transnational calls for RD research and innovation priorities as defined in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, resulting in financial support to third parties, based on the annual work plans;

– Develop a European Clinical Research Network to accelerate the clinical trial readiness of the RD research community in Europe, to improve the research and innovation potential of RD stakeholders and facilitate the cost-effective clinical development of new therapies;

– Develop and consolidate the capacity building of the RD data ecosystem by supporting the federated access/sharing of FAIR research data, information resources to ensure the effective and fast translation of the research results to safe and effective health innovations;

– Integrate basic, pre-clinical and clinical research to reduce the burden for people living with a rare disease.

– Support research in relevant medical fields and intervention areas (prevention, diagnosis, treatment), while improving the utilization of existing health technologies in clinical practice;

– Support the scientific work of the International Rare Disease Research Consortium.

Deadline for submission (two stages)

-September 19, 2023

-April 11, 2024

Total budget: €45M

Budget per project: 6- 7 M€

Scope: Effective, affordable and accessible healthcare for diverse population groups is challenging and complex. For example, specific needs underlie the delivery of effective preventive actions and therapeutic treatments to a rapidly growing elderly population, often presenting comorbidities and associated poly-pharmacy. The pediatric population, including children born preterm, has also its specific needs in specially adjusted therapeutics and early

Proposals should address most of the following:

-Compare the use of currently existing (pharmacological, non-pharmacological and technological) healthcare interventions in specific population groups (or selected subgroups). While there is no restriction on diseases or conditions, preference will be given to proposals focusing on interventions with high public health relevance.

-Ensure acceptability and sustainability of the healthcare intervention through early involvement of ‘end users’ (e.g. patients, care providers) in the design of the study (integrating patient valued outcomes) and, where possible, in the research process including implementation. Additionally, proposals should take into account the diversity of health systems in different regions of Europe to allow large-scale uptake.

-Consider involving HTA bodies in order to create synergies and accelerate the practical implementation of the results.

-Consider issues of particular relevance for the target populations, for example, multimorbidity, complex chronic conditions, poly-pharmacy, substance misuse, vaccine efficacy, compliance, age, gender specificities and diseases with high societal burden (including but not limited to e.g. musculoskeletal diseases and mental health disorders).

– For the chosen population, assess clinical and safety parameters, as well as health and socio-economic outcomes (e.g. quality of life, patient mortality, (co)morbidity, costs, and performance of the health system). Agreed core outcome sets (COS) should be used as endpoints in conditions where they already exist, in other cases, efforts should be made to agree on such COS. Consider using new instruments and methods for determining the burden of disease and for evaluating the effects of the interventions. Low cost innovations should also be considered.

Deadline for submission (two stages)

-September 19, 2023

-April 11, 2024

Total budget: €25M

Budget per project: 6- 7 M€

A number of medical conditions fail to be recognised and/or be correctly diagnosed in a significant proportion of patients. As a consequence they are inadequately treated and often can become a chronic burden for the patient. These medical conditions may be insufficiently researched even though they manifest with high prevalence166, 167. This topic excludes rare diseases.

Proposals should address all of the following aspects:

-Proposals should address the gaps in robust, scientific evidence for improved policies and practices to tackle such medical condition(s), and aim at identifying the pathophysiological mechanism(s) (e.g. genetic, cellular and molecular) and potential risk factors (e.g. psychological and environmental) of the medical condition(s) through basic, pre-clinical and/or clinical research. These efforts should underpin the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and/or preventive strategies for the condition.

– Proposals should demonstrate that the medical condition(s) under study is/are insufficiently understood, inaccurately diagnosed or inadequately treated in a significant proportion of patients, and as such represent a high burden for patients and society. This could be through referencing key literature.

-Sex and gender aspects, age, ethnicity, socio-economic, lifestyle and behavioural factors should be taken into consideration. In addition, the emotional and societal long-term effects of these chronic disorders for the affected individuals should be addressed.

– Where applicable, the development of biomarkers and other technologies for diagnosis, monitoring in patients, and stratification of patient groups should be considered.

– Where applicable, the development of clinically relevant, (non-)human model systems that can complement clinical investigations should be considered.

– Exploitation of existing data, biobanks, registries and cohorts is expected, together with the generation of new (e.g. genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) data.

Planned opening date: 30 March 2023

Deadline dates:

• 19 September 2023 17:00:00 Brussels time
• 11 April 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time

Budget: €25 000 000 (Contribution: €6000000 to 7000000)

Link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-hlth-2024-disease-03-13-two-stage

• Expected Outcome:

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination 3 “Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim for delivering results that are directed, tailored towards and contributing to most of the following expected outcomes:

• The scientific and clinical communities make effective use of state-of-the-art information, data, technologies, tools and best practices to underpin the development of the diagnostics, and as such can also facilitate the development of effective therapeutics and/or preventive strategies.
• The scientific and clinical communities advance the field through a better understanding of mechanisms underlying brain disorders at the molecular, cellular and systemic level.
• The scientific and clinical community make wide use of newly established and where relevant open access databases and/or integrate them with existing infrastructures for storage and sharing of collected data according to FAIR[1] principles, thereby encouraging further use of the data.
• Policymakers, funders, scientific and clinical communities, patient organisations, regulators and other relevant bodies are informed of the research advances made, while health professionals envisage use of the biomarker tests for early detection of the disorder and for guiding patients in the selection of personalised treatments/interventions.
• Patients and caregivers are sufficiently engaged with the research, which also caters for their needs.

• Scope:

Treatments for some high-burden brain disorders are potentially on the horizon. Consequently, many patients and citizens will want to know if they are eligible for these treatments. For some disorders, a definitive diagnosis is difficult, expensive and time-consuming. Simple blood or other fluid-derived (e.g. saliva, urine, sweat) tests for markers that may indicate early signs of the disorder, and which can be deployed for widespread clinical use are needed.

The brain disorders within the scope of this topic fall under two categories, namely those listed under chapters six and eight of the International Classification of Diseases . Proposals in the area of mental disorders are encouraged.

Proposals should address all of the following aspects:

• Proposals should aim to validate biomarkers that can reliably confirm early stages of the human brain disorder and guide treatment/ intervention selection
• Proposals should aim to provide evidence supporting the regulatory acceptance of the biomarkers.
• Exploitation of existing data, biobanks, registries and cohorts is expected, together with the generation of new key data.
• Inclusion of patients or patient organisations in the research is strongly encouraged, as to ensure that their views are considered.
• Sex and gender aspects, age, socio-economic, lifestyle and behavioral factors should be taken into consideration in the study.
• To enable sharing of samples, quality data and advanced analytical and digital tools, consideration should be made for using infrastructures already developed at the European or national level.
• To enable the management of brain disorders, consideration should be made in demonstrating the gained cost efficiency.
• SME participation is encouraged.

Applicants invited to the second stage and envisaging to include clinical studies should provide details of their clinical studies in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system. See definition of clinical studies in the introduction to this work program part.

Open: 4/26/23

Close: 9/8/23

Response: 11/30/23

Funding Level: $1,000,000
Funding Length: 36 months
Funding Start Date: 1/1/24

Link: https://www.epilepsyresearchconnection.org/opp-detail.php?src=r&id=135

The Dravet Syndrome Foundation (DSF) is issuing a special request for grant applications proposing research projects that will deepen our understanding of genetic impacts on the diverse phenotypic outcomes of individuals with Dravet syndrome.

Application Due Date: September 8, 2023
Award Budget: up to $1M distributed over 3 years (beginning in January 2024)

Purpose and Objectives: The clinical presentation of Dravet syndrome is well-defined, characterized by intractable seizures beginning in infancy as well as a range of comorbidities that include intellectual disability, behavior issues, movement and gait disorders, language and speech difficulties, sleep disruptions, and dysautonomia. However, the manifestation and severity of these clinical symptoms, as well as response to medical interventions, can differ among patients. Heterozygous loss-of-function variants in SCN1A are found in the majority (>80%) of patients diagnosed with Dravet syndrome. Causal mutations are varied (missense, nonsense, insertions and deletions) and have been identified in every exon of SCN1A. Research efforts have not been successful in uncovering clear phenotype-genotype correlations based on SCN1A variants alone. Environmental factors likely impact patient outcomes, but studies in animal models and families with inherited SCN1A mutations suggest the interplay of other genetic factors. A deeper understanding of these genetic interactions could contribute to our understanding of disease etiology, and potentially provide meaningful clinical insights.

Project Requirements: DSF will consider budget proposals of up to $1,000,000 (including direct and indirect costs) over a 3 year timeframe for projects that propose to address the topic of broader genetic impacts on diverse phenotypic outcomes in human subjects with Dravet syndrome.

Projects are expected to generate substantial datasets from human samples using whole genome sequencing and/or other multi-omic approaches.

Anticipated results should aim to uncover novel insights into disease that have the potential to impact clinical care and spur new lines of research.

Projects should include plans for representation from diverse populations in the study cohort including patients from diverse geographical, racial and ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Proposals must include detailed plans for data sharing to ensure that resources developed within the project are accessible for future discovery.

DSF encourages researchers to incorporate plans for biospecimen banking, that, similar to the data, could be used in future collaborative efforts.

Deadline model: two-stage

Opening date: 30 March 2023

Deadline dates: 19 September 2023 17:00:00 Brussels time: 11 April 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time

Budget: €25 000 000

Link

Expected Outcome:

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination 5 “Unlocking the full potential of new tools, technologies and digital solutions for a healthy society”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim for delivering results that are directed towards and contributing to several of the following Expected Outcomes:

• Researchers utilise tools and strategies that are more relevant to the human situation as compared to the currently used animal models.
• Fewer live animals are used in biomedical research.
• Health technology developers will get access to improved human-relevant tools or strategies allowing for a faster pace of innovation.
• Legislators and regulators will benefit from strengthened EU leadership in non-animal based biomedical research that is socially accepted and sustainable.
• Healthcare providers and patients will benefit from innovative tools or strategies opening up novel biomedical concepts enabling improved disease prediction, prevention and treatment.

Scope:

The proposal(s) should develop and/or use tools and strategies that address critical areas of biomedical research where animal-models are currently used but are of limited translational value for investigation and development of prevention and treatment. Such advanced tools and strategies should aim at a better understanding of the pathogenesis of disorders that feature a high impact on public health and exhibit a high rate of animal use or severe animal suffering, and enable to develop biomedical concepts with increased translational value, thereby ultimately leading to improved disease prediction, prevention and treatment.

The proposals should address all of the following aspects:

• The innovative tools and strategies should include a variety of technologies and methodological approaches such as –omics and other high-throughput procedures, human-derived cell-based material, organoids, micro-physiological systems, and in-silico models.
• The newly proposed tools and strategies should demonstrably advance the state-of-the-art in specific areas of biomedical research.
• Prospects and avenues for dissemination, knowledge sharing, uptake or translation into health policies of the proposed tools and strategies within the EU should be provided.
• Aspects such as harm and cost-benefit assessment as well as ease of production with respect to current practices should also be considered.
• Criteria for model qualification and standardisation should be developed in well-justified use-case contexts to demonstrate their translational values.

Proposals could consider the involvement of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to provide added-value regarding such aspects as supporting validation of emerging approaches, promotion of research results, and the interfacing with the regulatory community. In this respect, the JRC is open to collaborate with any successful proposal after the selection process has been completed.

All projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to participate in networking and joint activities. These networking and joint activities could, for example, involve the participation in joint workshops, the exchange of knowledge, the development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. Therefore, proposals are expected to include a budget for the attendance to regular joint meetings and may consider covering the costs of any other potential joint activities without the prerequisite to detail concrete joint activities at this stage. The details of these joint activities will be defined during the grant agreement preparation phase. In this regard, the Commission may take on the role of facilitator for networking and exchanges, including with relevant stakeholders.

Budget: €4 M

Deadline: 30/09/2023

Link

The results of the project generated by this topic will enable innovations in healthcare delivery and research by generating the infrastructure and logistics for blood collection at home, that is simple, minimally invasive, less painful, convenient, and feasible.

Importantly, the project will also provide new insights and enrich information related to the research questions by creating an unprecedented data set that will enable multiple secondary research options for years to come.

Notably:

1. It will create insights into the public acceptability for microsampling home: are patients comfortable with a new kind of medical technology? What training is necessary?
2. Are we able to advance the transition of care from the hospital to the home? Does the care quality improve?
3. How do we utilise the higher frequency of data, including its integration with electronic medical records and using advanced analytics methodology?
4. Do doctors’ practices and decisions change with the increased frequency of biomarker data, and does it lead to better outcomes for the patient?

While integrating existing components for microsample collection and central lab analysis, quality standards for the new infrastructure and logistics will be rigorously and transparently validated and established in Europe and harmonised with parallel ongoing efforts in the USA. The harmonisation will critically enhance the implementation of microsampling in global clinical trials of new therapeutics. The validation and establishment of microsampling at home by patients and/or their caregivers will be undertaken in ways that are acceptable for patients and their caregivers, health care professionals, regulatory agencies, policy makers, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) experts, payers, and advocacy groups.

EIC Accelerator Open has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of technology or application. The EIC Accelerator supports the later stages of technology development as well as scale up. The technology component of your innovation must therefore have been tested and validated in a laboratory or other relevant environment (e.g. at least Technology Readiness Level 5 or higher). The EIC Accelerator looks to support companies where the EIC support will act as a catalyst to crowd in other investors necessary for the scale up of the innovation. The EIC Accelerator focuses on innovations building on scientific discovery or technological breakthroughs (‘deep tech’) and where significant funding is needed over a long timeframe before returns can be generated (‘patient capital’). Such innovations often struggle to attract financing because the risks and time period involved are too high. Funding and support from the EIC Accelerator is designed to enable such innovators to attract the full investment amounts needed for scale up in a shorter timeframe.

Deadline: 7 June 2023 and 4 October 2023

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A cost action  is an interdisciplinary research network that brings researchers and innovators together to investigate a topic of their choice for 4 years.  COST Actions are typically made up of researchers from academia, SMEs, public institutions and other relevant organisations or interested parties.

Open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging fields; COST Actions offer an inclusive, pan-European environment for individuals of all levels of seniority to grow their professional research networks and boost their careers.

In today’s world it is essential for research to be interconnected, interdisciplinary, collaborative and data-intensive. By focusing on networking activities, COST Actions help to advance knowledge and strengthen the research and development sector, by creating networking opportunities for researchers to meet and discuss ideas, complex problems can be addressed in a targeted way, across a large geographical area.

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Next collection date will be 25 October 2023 at 12.00 (noon) CEST. The following collection date is expected in Autumn 2024

Budget: €434 800 000

Single stage

Deadline: November 28, 2023 at 17:00:00 Brussels time

More info 

• Expected Outcome:
  • For supported doctoral candidates

New research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects within and outside academia; New knowledge allowing the conversion of ideas into products and services, where relevant; Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

• • For participating organizations

Improved quality, relevance and sustainability of doctoral training programs and supervision arrangements; Enhanced cooperation and transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines; Increased integration of training and research activities between participating organizations; Boosted R&I capacity; Increased internationalization and attractiveness; Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organizations.

• Scope:

MSCA Doctoral Networks will implement doctoral programs, by partnerships of universities, research institutions and research infrastructures, businesses including SMEs, and other socio-economic actors from different countries across Europe and beyond. MSCA Doctoral Networks are indeed open to the participation of organizations from third countries, in view of fostering strategic international partnerships for the training and exchange of researchers.

These doctoral programs will respond to well-identified needs in various R&I areas, expose the researchers to the academic and non-academic sectors, and offer training in research-related, as well as transferable skills[1] and competences relevant for innovation and long-term employability (e.g. entrepreneurship, commercialization of results, Intellectual Property Rights, communication). Proposals for doctoral networks can reflect existing or planned research partnerships among the participating organizations.

MSCA Doctoral Networks are encouraged to lead to Industrial or Joint Doctorates.

Deadline model : single-stage

Planned opening date: 10 October 2023

Deadline date: 08 February 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time

Link

Projects results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported doctoral candidates or postdoctoral researchers

• Deeper and more diverse set of research-related and transferable skills and competences;
• Improved employability and career prospects both within academia and beyond;
• New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary experience;
• Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

• Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training;
• Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);
• Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations;
• Increased contribution of the participating organisations to the local, regional and/or national socio-economic ecosystems;
• Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope:

Applicants submit proposals for new or existing doctoral or postdoctoral programmes with an impact on the enhancement of human resources in R&I at regional, national or international level. These programmes will be co-funded by MSCA COFUND.

Proposed programmes can cover any research disciplines (“bottom-up”), but exceptionally can also focus on specific disciplines, notably when they are based on national or regional Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3 strategies). In this case, the range of covered disciplines should allow reasonable flexibility for the researchers to define their topic.

COFUND takes the form of:

1. A) Doctoral programmes

Doctoral programmes offer research training activities to allow doctoral candidates to develop and broaden their skills and competences. They will lead to the award of a doctoral degree in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. The training activities should be based on the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training.

1. B) Postdoctoral Programmes

Postdoctoral Programmes fund individual advanced research training and career development fellowships for postdoctoral researchers. The programmes should offer training to develop key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, foster good scientific conduct such as research integrity, foster innovation and entrepreneurship and promote and (where appropriate) reward Open Science practices (open access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).

Deadline model: single-stage

Planned opening date: 06 December 2023

Deadline date: 12 March 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time

Link

Projects are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

• support to planning and decision making for research infrastructures at the national (e.g. funding bodies, governments) and European level (e.g. ESFRI) through solid science cases, including expected scientific breakthrough, gap analyses and feasibility/design studies for future research infrastructures or major upgrades of existing ones;
• a better alignment of the development of the research infrastructure landscape with the advancements of excellent science, frontier research and technology innovation;
• increased performance, scientific capacity and excellence of the European research infrastructure landscape;
• new services and access opportunities available to the research community, allowing to better tackle scientific and societal challenges;
• reduction of environmental (including climate-related) impacts as well as optimisation of resource and energy consumption integrated in the very early phase of development of new research infrastructures or major upgrades of existing ones.

Scope:

This topic aims at supporting the development of new concepts for the next generation of research infrastructures of European interest^[1], single/multi sited, distributed or virtual, that none or few countries might individually be able to implement. All fields of research can be considered.

Major upgrades of existing infrastructures may also be considered if the end result is significantly transformative and equivalent to a new infrastructure concept. The possibility to extend the scope of already existing infrastructures and/or integrate in a sustainable way existing pan-European and national capacities to address the specific RI service needs, should indeed be assessed as a first option, identifying what is missing and the necessary new developments.

Proposals for RI concept development will tackle all key questions concerning the technical and conceptual feasibility of new or upgraded fully fledged user facilities.

In this respect, proposals should address all following aspects:

• demonstrate relevance in relation to ERA, including to the existing landscape, and the expected advancement with respect to the state-of-art of the new or upgraded infrastructure;
• highlight the research challenges the new or upgraded research infrastructures will make possible to address, including at global level;
• indicate the gaps in the research infrastructure landscape the new or upgraded infrastructure will cover and the synergies with other existing infrastructures at European and global level, including those co-financed from other EU instruments (e.g.: Cohesion policy);
• indicate, when relevant, the potential impact of the new research infrastructure at regional level.

Proposals should also convincingly demonstrate that the project will effectively:

• identify technologies and the architecture (e.g. single site or distributed, …) for developing the research infrastructure;
• identify scientific user communities (and their related needs) that will benefit from access to RI services, including scientific data and instrumentation, and develop the planning of research services to users;
• identify governance options as well as strategic approaches for institutional/stakeholders’ commitment and engagement and for ensuring a wide membership;
• develop initial financial plans for the implementation and operation of the new or upgraded RI as well as preliminary ideas for long-term sustainability, including synergies with other funds and programmes (e.g.: ERDF);
• develop plans for an efficient data curation and preservation and for the provision of access to data collected or produced by the future infrastructure, in line with the FAIR principles.

Deadline model : single-stage

Planned opening date : 14 May 2024

Deadline date :04 September 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• Broader and more strategic promotion of international cooperation opportunities offered through MSCA;
• Monitoring progress, opportunities and challenges in MSCA bilateral and bi-regional cooperation with main international partner countries and regions;
• Strengthening complementarities with other relevant promotion and cooperation initiatives funded through Horizon Europe or other EU programmes.

Scope:

The objective is to foster international cooperation in MSCA in Horizon Europe, through a dedicated support action to complement and ensure coordination between existing promotion channels at local level, and ensure consistency with formal R&I policy dialogues at bilateral and regional levels. Focus should be given:

• At bilateral level on countries having concluded bilateral Science and Technology Agreements with the EU (Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine and the United States).
• At regional level, on bi-regional research and innovation policy dialogues, established notably with the African Union, ASEAN, LAC, Mediterranean partner countries, Eastern Partnership countries and Western Balkans.

Based on the outcomes of a study^[1] on the MSCA international dimension in Horizon 2020, activities to be implemented should include:

• Policy support to bilateral/bi-regional cooperation: assessing main cooperation trends, opportunities and challenges related to local developments in the R&I/higher education domain; identifying possible gaps versus joint priorities and participation of prominent local stakeholders; reviewing existing cooperation mechanisms (info relays, training, co-funding schemes) relevance and efficiency for MSCA; identifying main existing or planned cooperation initiatives to build upon, as well as major local players, networks and associations to be prioritized; qualitative monitoring of the participation in the different MSCA calls; preparing background reports ahead of joint committee meetings and regional dialogues; providing contributions to newsletters and periodic reports from existing information relays, e.g. Euraxess Worldwide, EU Delegations.
• Promotion of MSCA cooperation opportunities: identifying main local/bilateral or bi-regional events to target for MSCA promotion and opportunities for ad-hoc events co-located with bilateral/regional policy dialogues; liaising with local MSCA info relays, including local NCPs, Euraxess Worldwide offices, EU Delegations/S&T Counsellors, National Erasmus+ Offices, Enterprise Europe Network and other stakeholders/association representatives to identify coordinated promotion plans; organising MSCA promotion and training sessions (including through the physical participation of EU trainers when relevant); liaising with the EU NCP coordination platform to coordinate promotion activities with MSCA NCPs
• Cross cutting activities: analysing consistency with EU R&I bilateral and bi-regional, cooperation roadmaps and action plans, people-to-people dialogues, synergies with promotion events and activities related to Horizon Europe, including ERC or COST and other EU programmes (in particular Erasmus+).

The expected duration of the action is 36 months.

The world’s largest brain research prize is Danish and is awarded by the Lundbeck Foundation. Each year, we award 10 million DKK (approx. 1,3 million€) to one or more brain researchers who have had a ground-breaking impact on brain research.

Nominations for 2023 are open

The Brain Prize recognises highly original and influential advances in any area of brain research, from basic neuroscience to applied clinical research, and winners may be of any nationality and work in any country around the globe. This broad perspective is reflected in the diverse fields of previous Brain Prize winners.

The Prize may be awarded to one or more scientists who have distinguished themselves through outstanding contributions to any field of neuroscience, from fundamental studies to research related to understanding and treatment of diseases of the brain and other parts of the nervous system.

HOW TO NOMINATE?

The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) is currently inviting applications for its Grants program to support breakthrough solutions from for-profit firms, non-profit organisations, researchers, and government agencies to maximise their impact and catalyse meaningful change.

Deadline – Ongoing

The Global Innovation Fund invests in the development, rigorous testing, and scaling up of new products, services, business process, or policy reforms. Through its grants, GIF supports these breakthrough solutions from for-profit firms, non-profit organisations, researchers, and government agencies to maximise their impact and catalyse meaningful change.

If you are a non-profit and your innovation does not involve generating revenues from users or customers, a grant is likely to be most appropriate.

Stages of Funding

GIF has a staged funding approach, whereby the amount of funding available is tiered according to the level of maturity of your innovation and the activities proposed. The three tiers are:

Pilot – the innovation is at an early stage but you have a credible plan for how it can be developed and tested in a real-world setting. Funding of up to USD 230,000 is available to test core assumptions around operational, social, and financial viability.

Test and transition – the innovation has already shown promise of success at a small scale, and you have some information on your operational, social, and financial viability which you want to solidify before you scale. Funding of up to USD 2.3 million is available to support further growth and generate additional evidence on whether the innovation can achieve social impact and market viability, for commercial innovations.

Scale – the innovation has a strong evidence base and logistically credible plan for scaling to reach millions of people. Funding of up to USD 15 million is available to expand the reach of innovations with a view to reaching millions of people in the long term if successful.

What they Fund?

At GIF, they believe that innovation, by which they mean any solution that has potential to address an important development problem more effectively than existing approaches, can come from anyone, anywhere.

This means that they accept applications working in any sector in any developing country.

Any type of organisation may apply. This includes social enterprises, for-profit companies, non-profit organisations, government agencies, international organisations, and research institutions in any country. It is recommended that individual innovators, entrepreneurs, or researchers apply through an affiliated organisation.

Eligibility Criteria

Any type of organisation may apply. This includes social enterprises, for-profit companies, non-profit organisations, government agencies, international organisations, and research institutions in any country. It is recommended that individual innovators, entrepreneurs or researchers apply through an affiliated organisation.

Ineligible

GIF is open to innovations which meet their criteria in any sector or country. However, there are some activities they do not fund. These include:

• Theoretical research, or purely lab-based activities that are not linked to implementation of a specific proposed real-world pilot or demonstration project.
• Approaches that are only applicable in a single country (unless the innovation is expected to scale to a large proportion of one of the world’s most populous developing countries).

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