Call for transnational research projects within the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR)

 The French National Research Agency, in partnership with 14 countries (Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden) is launching a ninth joint call for proposals through the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR). This initiative aims to promote international research on antimicrobial resistance.

Funding will be awarded for a maximum of 3 years. The ANR will fund only the French partners in the selected projects.

Aims

This call will fund joint transnational research projects addressing the development of diagnostic and surveillance tools, technologies and methods to detect antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Projects should address the diagnosis of AMR infections in clinical and veterinary settings, or the surveillance of AMR in humans, animals and the environment.

AMR has become one of the major global health and development challenges of the 21st century. The threat of AMR is particularly high in resource-limited and high-risk settings. In response to this challenges, the JPIAMR is pleased to announce this joint transnational call for proposals for innovative research projects on new or improved diagnostic and surveillance strategies, tools, technologies and methods.  The call will support research projects that also have the potential for impact in areas where the risk and burden of AMR is greatest, such as in LMIC settings in Asia and Africa. Projects are encouraged to use a One Health approach where relevant.

The projected call budget is approx. 20 million Euro.

Projects considered for funding will involve fundamental, translational research, with the exception of clinical trials.

Scope of the call

Project proposals should aim to either:

1. Develop strategies, tools, technologies, and methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and/or surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.
    
2. Study ways to facilitate and implement the uptake and use of existing strategies, tools, technologies, and/or methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.

The following sub-topics are not within the scope of the call:

• Investigations based on, or involving, clinical trials.
• Investigations aiming to improve existing commercial technology or products (more details on this will be in the full call text and annexes)

Participating countries & eligibility

Applicants must adhere to the specific regulations of their national funding organisations. Therefore, each participant is strongly advised to check carefully the national eligibility rules defined by its own funding organization, synthetized in the National and Regional Requirements (see Annex B).

Eligibility rules for the consortia are:

1. Minimum of three (3) eligible partners from three (3) different countries participating in the call, or three (3) different partners able to be funded by organizations participating in the call.
2. Funding must come from at least three funding organizations; however, if a member of the consortium is from a LMIC, there may be a minimum of two funding organizations. Additional national rules by funders may also apply and can be found in Annex B.
3. Maximum of six (6) project partners (including non-funded partners, see table below). The maximum number of six (6) participants can be exceeded to seven (7) partners in the case of inclusion of partners from Czech Republic, Latvia and Poland.
4. Maximum number of partners from each participating country per project indicated in Annex B must be respected.
5. China and specified LMICs in Southeast and South Asia will be funded by IDRC. Low income countries in Africa will be funded by SIDA (for details please refer to Annex B).
6. Participants not eligible for funding (e.g. from non-funding countries or not fundable according to national/regional regulations of the participating funding organizations) may be involved in projects if they secure their own funding. Consortia should always consist of a majority of project participants eligible for funding according to the criteria above. The budget of a non-funded partner shall not exceed 30% of the total transnational project budget requested.
7. Project participants not eligible to be funded cannot be consortium coordinators and must accept all JPIAMR rules and guidelines just as funded members.