European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases (EJP RD) Call for Proposals 2020
“PRE-CLINICAL RESEARCH TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE THERAPIES FOR RARE DISEASES”
The ERA-Net E-Rare has successfully implemented ten Joint Transnational Calls for rare disease research projects since 2006. This effort continues in the framework of the European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases (EJP RD) that has been established to further help in coordinating the research efforts of European, Associated and non-European countries in the field of rare diseases and implement the objectives of the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC).
A number of national and regional funding organizations will participate in the EJP RD Joint Transnational Call (JTC) 2020 and will fund multilateral research projects on rare diseases together with the European Commission (EC) under the EJP-COFUND action.
The call opens simultaneously with the involvement of the following funding organizations in their respective countries/regions:
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austria
- Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Belgium, Flanders
- Fund for Scientific Research – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS), Belgium, French-speaking community
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Genetics (CIHR-IG), Canada:
– The Ataxia Charlevoix-Saguenay Foundation (ARSACS), Canada in partnership with CIHR-IG
– Muscular Dystrophy Canada (MDC), Canada in partnership with CIHR-IG - Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQS), Québec (Canada)
- Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS), Czech Republic
- Academy of Finland (AKA), Finland
- French National Research Agency (ANR), France
- French Foundation for Rare Diseases (FFRD), France
- INSERM, France (Patient Advocacy Organisations)
- Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
- Decision Pending*: German Research Foundation (DFG), Germany
- General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), Greece
- National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH), Hungary
- Health Research Board, (HRB), Ireland
- Chief Scientist Office of the Ministry of Health (CSO-MOH), Israel
- Italian Ministry of Health (MoH-IT), Italy
- Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), Italy
- Fondazione Regionale per la Ricerca Biomedica (FRRB) Lombardy, Italy
- Tuscany Region (RT/TuscReg), Tuscany (Italy)
- Research Council of Lithuania (RCL), Lithuania
- National Research Fund (FNR), Luxembourg
- National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), Poland
- The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal
- Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), Slovakia
- National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain
- Swedish Research Council (SRC), Sweden
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland
- Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), The Netherlands
- The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), Turkey
* The signature of the Memorandum of Understanding is still in process.
AIM OF THE CALL
The aim of the call is to enable scientists in different countries to build an effective collaboration on a common interdisciplinary research project based on complementarities and sharing of expertise, with a clear future benefit for patients.
TOPIC
PRE-CLINICAL RESEARCH TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE THERAPIES FOR RARE DISEASES
Research proposals must cover at least one of the following areas:
- Development of novel therapies in a preclinical setting (including small molecules, repurposing drugs, cell and gene advanced therapies) focusing on condition(s) with unmet medical needs
- Use of disease models suitable for medicinal product’s development according to EMA guidelines
- Development of predictive and pharmacodynamics (PD) biomarkers (with appropriate analytical methods e.g. OMICS) in a preclinical setting (e.g. in the validated model or in pre-collected human samples) for monitoring the efficiency of the therapy. The model chosen must mimic the human diseases and be transposable so that the biomarker identified in animals can be valid for humans
- Proof of principle studies fostering an early (pre-clinical) stage of drug development (excluding interventional clinical trials of phase 1-4).
The following approaches and topics are excluded from the scope of the call:
- Therapeutic approaches concerning rare infectious diseases, rare cancers and rare adverse drug events in treatments of common diseases
- Interventional clinical trials
- Surgery or radiation therapies
- Studies that focus on research to accelerate diagnosis or to set up new registry/cohort studies to explore disease progression and mechanisms as these were the focus of JTC 2019.
- Rare neurodegenerative diseases which are within the main focus of the Joint Programming Initiative on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). These are: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias; Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD-related disorders; Prion disease; Motor Neuron Diseases; Huntington’s disease; Spinal Muscular Atrophy and dominant forms of Spinocerebellar Ataxia. Interested researchers should refer to the relevant JPND calls.
Childhood dementias/neurodegenerative diseases are not excluded.
CONSORTIUM MAKEUP
Projects shall involve a group of rare diseases or a single rare disease following the European definition i.e. a disease affecting not more than five in 10.000 persons in the European Community, EC associated states and Canada. Applicants are encouraged to assemble groups of rare diseases based on solid criteria and commonalities if this leverages added value in sharing resources or expertise and has the capacity to elucidate common disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets.
Partners belonging to one of the following categories may request funding under a joint research proposal (according to country/regional regulations):
- academia (research teams working in universities, other higher education institutions or research institutes)
- clinical/public health sector (research teams working in hospitals/public health and/or other health care settings and health organisations)
- enterprises (all sizes of private companies). Participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is encouraged when allowed by national/regional regulations
- patient advocacy organisations (PAOs are eligible to obtain funding for their participation in research projects)
The maximum duration of the project is three years.
Only transnational projects will be funded. Each consortium submitting a proposal must involve four to six eligible principal investigator partners. No more than two eligible partners from the same country can be present in each consortium (further national limits may apply). This limit applies to Early Career Researchers and partners from underrepresented countries (see below). PAOs requesting funding do not count toward this total.
The number of partners can be increased to 8 in two cases:
- The inclusion of partners from participating countries usually underrepresented in projects (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and Turkey).
- The inclusion of Early Career Researchers as full partners.
PRELIMINARY TIMETABLE
There will be a two-stage submission procedure for joint applications: pre-proposals and full proposals.
Registration deadline : 18th February 2020 at 14:00 CET.
Pre-proposal submission deadline: 18th February 2020.
Invitation to full proposal: end April 2020.
Full proposal submission deadline: 16th June 2020.
Deadline for rebuttals: 28th July 2020.
Notification of funding decision: November 2020.
An independent international Scientific Evaluation Committee will carry out a scientific evaluation according to specific evaluation criteria. Based on this central evaluation, selected consortia will be invited to submit a full proposal by late April 2020 (deadline for full proposals: June 16th , 2020).
CONTACTS
For general questions regarding the joint call please contact the Joint Call Secretariat at the ANR, France:
E-Mail:
or individually:
Florence
Guillot
florence.guillot(at)agencerecherche.fr
+33
(0) 1 78 09 80
01
Kiri Couchman
kiri.couchman(at)agencerecherche.fr
+33 (0) 1 78 09 81 29
For questions regarding national eligibility criteria and requirements please contact the national contact person listed in the EJP RD JTC 2020 PDF document.
NATIONAL CONTACT POINTS
| Country/ Region | Funding Organisation | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | Austrian Science Fund (FWF) www.fwf.ac.at | Stephanie Resch Phone: +43 (1) 505 67 40 82 01 mailto:stephanie.resch(at)fwf.ac.at Anita Stürtz Phone: +43 (1) 505 67 40 82 06 mailto:anita.stuertz(at)fwf.ac.at |
| Belgium: Flanders | Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) www.fwo.be | Alain Deleener Phone: +32 2 550 15 95 mailto:eranet(at)fwo.be Toon Monbaliu Phone: +32 2 550 15 70 mailto:eranet(at)fwo.be |
| Belgium: French-speaking community | Fund for Scientific Research - FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS) www.frs-fnrs.be/ | Florence Quist Phone: +32 2 504 93 51 mailto:florence.quist(at)frs-fnrs.be Joël Groeneveld Phone: +32 2 504 92 70 mailto:joel.groeneveld(at)frs-fnrs.be |
| Canada | Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Genetics (CIHR-IG) www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca | Jennifer Vineham Phone: +1 613 941 07 96 mailto:jennifer.vineham(at)cihr-irsc.gc.ca |
| Canada: Québec | Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQS) www.frqs.gouv.qc.ca | Maxime Beaudoin Phone: +1 514 873 21 14, ext 1369 mailto:maxime.beaudoin(at)frq.gouv.qc.ca |
| Czech Republic | Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) www.msmt.cz | Judita Klosaková (MSMT) Phone: +420 234 811 504 mailto:judita.klosakova(at)msmt.cz |
| Finland | Academy of Finland (AKA) www.aka.fi | Heikki Vilen Phone: +358 29 53 35 135 mailto:heikki.vilen(at)aka.fi |
| France | French National Research Agency (ANR) https://anr.fr/en/ | Florence Guillot Phone: + 33 (0) 1 78 09 80 01 Kiri Couchman Phone: + 33 (0) 1 78 09 81 29 mailto:EJPRDcall(at)anr.fr |
| France | French Foundation for Rare Diseases (FFRD) https://fondation-maladiesrares.org/eng/ | Ingrid Zwaenepoel Phone : + 33 (0) 1 58 14 22 85 Diana Désir-Parseille Phone : + 33 (0) 1 58 14 22 81 mailto:aap-bio(at)fondation-maladiesrares.com |
| Germany | Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) / Project Management Agency of the German Aerospace Centre (BMBF/ PT-DLR) https://www.gesundheitsforschung-bmbf.de/en/index.php | Dr. Katarzyna Saedler Phone: +49 (0) 228 3821 19 47 mailto:Katarzyna.Saedler(at)dlr.de Dr. Michaela Fersch Phone: +49 (0) 228 3821 12 68 mailto:Michaela.Fersch(at)dlr.de Dr. Ralph Schuster Phone: +49 (0) 228 3821 12 33 mailto:Ralph.Schuster(at)dlr.de |
| Germany | German Research Foundation (DFG) www.dfg.de | Dr. Katja Großmann Phone: +49 (0) 228 885 25 65 Fax: +49 (0) 228 885 27 77 mailto:katja.grossmann(at)dfg.de |
| Greece | General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) www.gsrt.gr | Sofia DIMITROPOULOU Phone: +30 213 130 01 87 mailto:s.dimitropoulou(at)gsrt.gr |
| Hungary | National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH) www.nkfih.gov.hu | Előd Nemerkényi Phone: +36 1 896 39 87 mailto:elod.nemerkenyi(at)nkfih.gov.hu Gábor Tóth Phone: +36 1 896 17 27 mailto:gabor.toth(at)nkfih.gov.hu |
| Ireland | Health Research Board (HRB) https://www.hrb.ie/ | Louise Drudy mailto:ldrudy(at)hrb.ie |
| Israel | Chief Scientist Office of the Ministry of Health (CSO-MOH) www.health.gov.il | Irit Allon Phone: +972 2 508 21 67 mailto:Irit.allon(at)moh.health.gov.il |
| Italy | Italian Ministry of Health (MoH-IT) www.salute.gov.it | Dr. Gaetano Guglielmi Phone : + 39 06 59 94 21 97 mailto:g.guglielmi(at)sanita.it mailto:research.EU.dgric(at)sanita.it Dr. Monica Paganelli Phone : +39 06 599 42 408 mailto:m.paganelli(at)sanita.it |
| Italy | Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) http://www.ricercainternazionale.miur.it/ | Aldo Covello Phone: +39 06 977 264 65 mailto:aldo.covello(at)miur.it Maria Bianco Phone: +39 06 977 27 146 mailto:maria.bianco(at)miur.it |
| Italy: Lombardy | Fondazione Regionale per la Ricerca Biomedica (FRRB) www.frrb.it | Paola Bello Carmen De Francesco Dr. Paola Larghi, PhD mailto:bandi(at)frrb.it |
| Italy: Tuscany | Tuscany Region (RT/TuscReg) www.regione.toscana.it | Donatella Tanini Phone:+39 055 438 32 56 Teresa Vieri Phone:+39 055 4383289 mailto:ejprare(at)regione.toscana.it |
| Lithuania | Research Council of Lithuania (RCL) www.lmt.lt | Dr. Živilé Ruželé Phone: +370 676 143 83 mailto:zivile.ruzele(at)lmt.lt |
| Luxembourg | National Research Fund (FNR) www.fnr.lu | Dr. Sean Sapcariu Phone: +352 261 925 33 mailto:sean.sapcariu(at)fnr.lu |
| Poland | National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) www.ncbr.gov.pl/en/ | Marcin Chmielewski Phone: +48 22 39 07 109 mailto:marcin.chmielewski(at)ncbr.gov.pl |
| Portugal | The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) https://www.fct.pt/index.phtml.en | Anabela Isidro Phone: +351 213 911 552 mailto:anabela.isidro(at)fct.pt Rita Cavaleiro Phone: +351 213 911 541 mailto:rita.cavaleiro(at)fct.pt |
| Slovakia | Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) https://www.sav.sk/?&lang_change=en | Zuzana Cernakova, PhD. Phone: +42 125 75 10 118 mailto:cernakova(at)up.upsav.sk |
| Spain | National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) www.isciii.es | María Druet Phone: +34 91 82 225 30 E-mail: mdruet(at)isciii.es |
| Sweden | Swedish Research Council (SRC) www.vr.se | Sverker Lundin Phone: +46 (0) 8 546 12 315 E-mail : sverker.lundin(at)vr.se |
| Switzerland | Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) www.snf.ch | Christoph Meier Phone: +41 31 308 23 62 mailto:christoph.meier(at)snf.ch |
| The Netherlands | Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) www.zonmw.nl | Harald Moonen Phone: +31 (0)70 349 53 49 mailto:moonen(at)zonmw.nl Sonja van Weely mailto:weely(at)zonmw.nl |
| Turkey | The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) www.tubitak.gov.tr | Jale Sahin Phone: +90 312 298 17 96 mailto:jale.sahin(at)tubitak.gov.tr |
| Multinational, for funding of PAO | The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) www.inserm.fr | Coordination EJP RD mailto:pao(at)ejprarediseases.org |
ADDITIONAL INFO