Joint transnational call 2019 for proposals on Systems Medicine through the ERA-NET ERACoSysMed

The French National Research Agency, in partnership with funding organisations from nine countries, is launching the third joint transnational call for proposals on Systems Medicine through the ERA-NET ERACoSysMed.

The overall objective of this call is to enhance the implementation of systems biology approaches in medical concepts, research and practice throughout Europe by structuring, coordinating and integrating national efforts and investments.

This call for proposals includes 11 research-funding organisations from 10 countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and Spain.

The aim of this call is to support transnational, collaborative research projects that focus on the analysis, interpretation and application of different biological and clinical data by appropriate computational models. Projects have to demonstrate the practical relevance of computational models for medical routine and their benefit for individual patients. To fit the aim of the call, projects must focus either on the validation of existing computational models and their predictions using biomedical and/or clinical data or on the discovery and validation of common molecular mechanisms underlying at least two different diseases. 

Consortium composition

Joint research proposals may be submitted by applicants belonging to one of the following categories, if eligible according to relevant national/regional funding organisations’ regulations for research funding:

• A.    Academia (research teams working in universities, other higher education institutions) or research institutes
• B.    Clinical/public health sector (research teams working in hospitals/public health and/or other health care settings and health organisations)
• C.    (Industry) Private partners, e.g. SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises)

Only transnational projects will be funded. Each consortium must include at least one clinical group and a computational modelling group. Each consortium submitting a proposal must involve at least three partners eligible for funding coming from three different countries whose funders participate in the call. The maximum number of eligible partners per project is five, although no more than two eligible partners from the same country participating in the call will be accepted in one consortium. Consortia including a Slovakian applicant may increase the maximum number of eligible partners to six. 

Research groups not eligible to be funded (e.g. from non-funding countries or not fundable according to national/regional regulations of the participating funding countries) may participate in transnational projects if they are able to secure their own funding. However, no more than two research groups with own funding can be included in a consortium. The consortium members must nominate one partner to act as coordinator who represents the consortium externally, acts as contact point and is responsible for the internal management of the consortium’s work. The coordinator must be eligible to receive funding from one of the funding organizations participating in this call.

Funding will be awarded for a maximum of three years. ANR will exclusively fund French partners of the selected projects.