Call for Proposals
1. Introduction
Estimates from the WHO suggest that by 2040 age-associated neurodegenerative disorders will be the world’s second leading cause of death, after cardiovascular diseases and overtaking cancer. Age-associated neurodegenerative disorders are complex and their aetiology is largely unknown. Research is therefore needed across a broad spectrum, addressing the underlying mechanisms of neurodegeneration from preclinical laboratory studies, through clinical and population studies to public health, ultimately leading to improvements in diagnosis, treatment or prevention of neurodegenerative disease.
A major obstacle to the integration of research on neurodegenerative disorders is the relative lack of common standards and mechanisms for efficient validation of potentially important findings in preclinical, clinical and population-based studies. Such problems are best and most rapidly addressed by utilising investments in existing large centres and institutes where there is the necessary critical mass of resources and expertise to immediately focus on these key barriers to progress.
To this end, on 10th June 2010, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE, Germany) and the Medical Research Council (MRC, UK) launched a funding initiative to establish collaborative activity between national centres of excellence in research into neurodegenerative disorders. These founding members were joined by VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology), the Health Research Board/Science Foundation Ireland (HRB/SFI), and the Ministry of Health Italy (Ministero della Salute, MDS) in October 2010
2. Objective
The aim of the initiative is to build productive links between research groups within recognised centres of excellence in neurodegeneration, in partner countries, in order to add value to investments and accelerate progress in understanding the mechanisms of disease as well as the identification of new therapeutic approaches.
For this call, each agency is contributing towards a £4.8m fund (equivalent to €5.8m or CA$7.2m) for collaborative research that will serve to underpin future studies in the neurodegenerative diseases field. This will address the need to adopt common methodologies, share research materials and resources, and enhance data sharing.
It is expected that teams will combine the research strengths across at least two partner countries to provide a true value-added collaborative effort that will advance our approach to neurodegeneration research. Projects will address issues which would not readily be funded through the standard grant mechanisms of the Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) partners, and it is expected that in addition collaboration across CoEs, projects should also serve to provide a platform for future collaboration.
3. Call remit
3.1 Type of projects to be supported:
- Pilot projects which could form the basis of future collaborative and innovative research
- Development of methodologies and technological platforms
- Working groups to establish ‘best practice’ guidelines and standardized SOPs in the areas of imaging and cognitive measures
3.2 Key Characteristics of research projects
- Innovative and collaborative
- Could not be funded via other regular schemes of Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) partners
- May cover research across the basic to clinical spectrum
- Impact achievable either in the near term, or as a foundation for future collaborations
- Projects will be up to a maximum of 24 month funding period, and provide a strategy for longer term sustainability
3.3 Scientific Focus
Within the remit of this call, neurodegeneration applies to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease and PD-related disorders, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington's disease, and Prion disease.
Research will be supported in the area of:
- Prodromal state
- Aetiology of chronic versus acute degeneration
- Changes in disease over the life course
- Common mechanisms between neurodegenerative diseases
Support may be sought for pilot/proof of principle research in the above areas using the following approaches:
- Development of novel measures to define patient subgroups
- Identification of new biomarkers, measurable in both clinical subjects and animal models, to support translational research
- Reverse translation of outputs from clinical phenotyping / cohort studies to refine existing disease models
- Mechanistic models of disease, including the role of genetic background
Support may be sought for development of the following enabling platforms for the above research areas:
- Towards standardized processes for analysing and exchanging data, and sharing methodological tools (e.g. technological platforms, working groups for development of guidelines and SOPs)
- Reporter technologies for monitoring disease in animal models
- New cognitive test batteries for identification and/or improving accuracy of measurement of functional impairments
4. Eligibility
- Applications are restricted to joint bids from Investigators within identified CoEs or eligible institutions in Canada (for a list of identified CoEs and eligible institutions for partner countries see the following document
- All bids must be submitted through the relevant CoE director or in the case Canadian eligible institutions, the Head of Research Office of the lead institution of the proposal.
- Only joint trans-national research projects will be funded. Each proposal must involve researchers from at least two CoEs (or eligible institutions) from different countries. Applications with three or more participating countries are encouraged.
- More than one CoE may be involved within any single country, as long as the primary cross-border criterion is met.
- Essential expertise can be included from outside the CoEs as an identified collaborator(s). Collaborators external to the CoEs could in principle receive funding via the lead CoE.
- Each project should identify a Principal Applicant from each participating country. An investigator may not be a Principal Applicant on more than one project.
5. Funds available
The initiative will make up to £4.8m (equivalent to €5.8m or CA$7.2m) available to the call. We aim to provide funds for pilot projects up to 24 months in duration, with total combined costs across collaborating CoEs typically in the range of £250-£500k (equivalent to €300-€600 or CA$375-CA$750).
The funding available will primarily support direct research costs within CoEs.
It will not provide support for:
- major equipment, defined as any item over £10,000 (quivalent to €12,000 or CA$15,000)
- the salaries of tenured investigators, although funds for research staff employed on the grant will be permitted
- randomized controlled trials
- student stipends
Each funding partner will fund the research component performed by researchers associated with CoEs / institutions within their respective jurisdiction, according to their standard Terms and Conditions. Partner contributions to the call: CIHR, Canada CA$1.5m (£1m); DZNE, Germany €1.2m (£1m); MRC, UK £1m; VIB, Flanders €1m (£0.8m); HRB/SFI, Ireland €0.6m (£0.5m); MDS, Italy €0.6m (£0.5m).
Details of allowable costs, including those which may need to be exceptionally agreed, are detailed for each funding body at the following link.
6. Reporting
In addition to the standard guidelines of the relevant funding partners, including requirements for reporting the outcome of funded research, researchers will be required to provide the Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) Oversight Group with a progress report after the first 12 months of the award.
7. How to apply
Applications must be submitted by email as a PDF copy of the application form to: coen(at)headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
The application form can be found here: pdf or word
All applications must be accompanied by a letter of support from the Director of the lead CoE of the proposal. For applications where the lead CoE is a Canadian Eligible Institution, the proposal must be accompanied by a letter from the Head of the Research Office.
Applicants should notify their Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) funding partner of their involvement in a proposal (see contacts below). Lead Applicant’s should also forward a copy of their letter of support to their COEN funding partner.
Please bear in mind that costing of finances in proposals may have to be signed off by the host institutions administrative department. Please allow sufficient time for these additional processes. Any late applications will be rejected.
The case for support must not exceed 4 sides of A4 (Point 10 verdana) and should cover the following:
- the rationale for the proposed study identifying gaps in existing knowledge/barriers to progress;
- the objectives;
- the justification for the collaboration including the role of each investigator and co-investigator from each partner; the added value and unique opportunity in addressing the issues identified the collaboration will provide;
- an overview of the methodology to be used;
- expected outcomes and deliverables.
Total costs for the proposal should be presented in addition to a breakdown of the costs of research to be undertaken in each participating partner country. In these breakdowns, costs should be presented in the host country’s currency and in Pounds Sterling according to the following exchange rates: Canadian Dollars £1 = CA$1.5 and Euros £1 = €1.2. Costs should be calculated according to the relevant funding partner’s standard terms and conditions.
All research undertaken must comply with the host funders terms and conditions with regard to:
- Ethics and research governance
- Data preservation and sharing
- Intellectual property
Release of funds for successful applications will be dependent on satisfactory compliance with such terms and conditions.
The Lead Principal applicant will assume responsibility for ensuring other members of the team are appropriately informed, and will coordinate any necessary communication between the team and the funding partners.
8. Evaluation process
The full applications will be assessed by an international scientific committee which will score and rank applications using the following document.
Funds will be allocated to proposals considered to be in the fundable range starting at the highest ranking until the relevant partner funding for components of the collaboration is exhausted.
Funding decisions will be taken in June/July 2011. The decisions of the Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) partners will be final.
9. Evaluation criteria
The applications will be assessed against criteria for importance, scientific quality and value for money, in the context of the aims of the initiative of building productive partnerships and addressing barriers to progress:
The Panel will take into account:
- Added value that researchers will gain from the partnership. This could include: increasing critical mass, or increasing the speed of progress; providing access to facilities, or research resources; moving towards exploitation of discoveries or techniques;
- Presence of realistic plans for partnership working and collaboration above and beyond that already taking place;
- Realistic options for any follow-up work likely to be needed.
As well as scientific excellence, the Panel will be looking for true collaboration and partnership working above and beyond that already taking place. Applicants should highlight that, in the absence of the requested collaboration and funding, the planned research could not be undertaken to the required quality level or timescale.
10. Dates
- Closing date for submissions is 4pm on Thursday 9th June (London time). Applications will not be accepted after this time.
- Panel Meeting July/August 2011
- Funding start date 8th September 2011
- Please send the proposals to coen@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
11. Contacts and further guidance
General enquiries:
Secretariat of the COEN Oversight Group
coen(at)headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
For UK applicants:
Dr. Katherine Giles
Programme Manager
Neurosciences and Mental Health Board
Medical Research Council
+44 20 7395-2233
katherine.giles(at)headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
For Canadian applicants:
Dr. Marilyn Desrosiers
Deputy Director, Targeted Initiatives Branch
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
+1 613 954-6242
Marilyn.desrosiers(at)cihr-irsc.gc.ca
For German applicants:
Dr. Veronika Ermer
Executive Associate to the Scientific Director Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE)
German Center for Neurodegeneration Diseases
+49 228 43302-501
veronika.ermer(at)dzne.de
For Irish applicants:
Dr. Caitriona Creely
International Liaison Officer
National Contact Point and National Delegate for Health, FP7
Policy Evaluation and External Relations Unit
Health Research Board
+353 1 2345 204
ccreely(at)hrb.ie
For Flemish applicants:
Dr. Lieve Ongena
Science Policy Manager VIB
Rijvisschestraat 120
9052 Zwijnaarde
Belgium
+32 9 2446611
lieve.ongena(at)vib.be
For Italian applicants:
Dr. Giuseppe Plutino
Direttore Ufficio VII
D.G. Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica
Ministero Salute
Via G. Ribotta 5
00144 ROMA
+39 0659943482
g.plutino(at)sanita.it
