Published on 12 December 2011
Deadline: 14 February 2012
Grant scheme: Strategic Primer Grants
Disease: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
Call identifier: SPG.2011.41304
Total funding available: A minimum of € 5,500,000
Publication date: 12 December 2011
Purpose
Strategic Primer grants provide funding for research groups in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe to conduct innovative, ambitious studies that will:
- Generate results to inform future clinical trials
- Sustain and strengthen the capacity built up under EDCTP I
- Increase networking of African and European Member States’ research programmes
Funding is available to support clinical research studies* of up to two years duration to address high priority research issues and barriers to progress. The purpose of the award is to provide pump-priming to allow researchers to explore novel and innovative lines of research that may lead to the development and testing of new or improved clinical interventions against HIV/AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. Applications should describe how the proposed research will inform future clinical trials and present a clear plan of how the findings will be incorporated into the development and planning of future clinical trials. All research projects supported under this Call should be undertaken in partnership with sub-Saharan African countries and must fall within the remit of EDCTP. Applications must involve researchers based at public institutions in two or more EDCTP-EEIG Member States and researchers at institutions in one or more sub-Saharan African countries.
* Laboratory-based analysis of field or clinical samples are accepted**
** Additional Guidance: Preclinical studies based entirely on in vitro or animal model studies are not eligible. However, preclinical research based on safety and/or epidemiological studies may be considered eligible.
Budgetary information
Available funding
Awards are for up to two years and must terminate by 30 September 2014 according to the timelines for closure of EDCTP-I. Funding may be requested from EDCTP for salaries, consumables, equipment, networking and capacity building. There is no upper limit on the level of funding that can be requested, however, applicants should note that the total amount of funding available under this Call is around € 5,500,000. Awards are likely, therefore, to be in the region of € 300,000 to € 800,000. All requested costs must be justified in the application.
Cofunding requirements
In line with EDCTP’s objective to increase coordination and integration of the national research programmes of its participating EDCTP-EEIG Member States, project partners from EDCTP-EEIG Member States are required to seek national cofunding for their project. It is expected, therefore, that the EDCTP contribution of € 5,500,000 will be matched by cofunding from the Member States. All applications should include details of cofunding. Cofunding may take the form of ‘cash’ directly to EDCTP or ‘in kind’ contributions, i.e. the provision of goods or services, including salaries and costs, supported by the partner towards carrying out the project. Applications that leverage funds from other sources, in addition to support from EDCTP-EEIG Member States, are encouraged.
Eligibility criteria and application process
Applications must involve researchers from publicly funded institutions in two or more EDCTP-EEIG Member States, and one or more publicly funded institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. Applications to support research projects undertaken in collaboration with private or public partnerships are encouraged.
There is a two-step application process. Applicants are required to submit a Letter of Intent in PDF format. Letters of Intent will be assessed by a Scientific Review Committee and the top ranked proposals invited to submit full applications (PDF format). The full application form will be made available at the second stage of the process.
Applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Track record of the applicants, composition of the research team and the team’s ability and expertise to deliver the project’s objectives
- Importance of the research question(s), evidence of a clear need for this study, innovation and excellence of the scientific plan
- Feasibility and appropriateness of the methods and project management to answer the research question(s) within the time frame of the grant;
- Impact of the study results and how the outcomes will lead to the development of future clinical trials
- How the proposal strengthens and sustains capacity built up via EDCTP funding
- Fit with the mission and objectives of EDCTP (scientific, networking, capacity building)
- Value for money, inclusion of EU Member State cofunding, leveraging of other sources of funding
Full applications will be assessed by external experts and a Scientific Review Committee that makes funding recommendations to EDCTP’s Partnership Board. Final approval of the awards will be given by the EDCTP General Assembly.
EDCTP reserves the right to alter the timelines of procedure in case of unexpected events and to determine whether or not a proposal falls within the scope of EDCTP and is eligible under this scheme. EDCTP will make decisions on applications at its sole discretion and in conformity with its governing structure. Applications that do not comply with the submission guidelines or published deadlines will not be considered.
Deadlines
The deadline for submission of Letters of Intent (LoI) is 14 February 2012. Decisions on the Letter of Intent will be available by 20 March 2012.
The deadline for full applications is 31 May 2012. Decisions on the full applications will be available by 31 July 2012.
Successful applicants should sign the EDCTP grant contract by 30 September 2012.
List of the EDCTP-EEIG member states
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
List of sub-Saharan African countries
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Intellectual Property Rights
Should an investigational product be involved in the studies, please note that EDCTP aims to ensure that the investigational product under investigation (or its successors) will be accessible and available at an affordable price in developing countries.
Legal information and support
EDCTP is supported by EDCTP-EEIG Member States and the Directorate General for Research of the European Commission via Article 185 (Ex. 169 though the decision No 1209/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 June 2003).
EDCTP conforms to the legislation of the Netherlands concerning the Personal Data Protection Act.
Submission of Letters of Intent and Full Applications
Letters of Intent and/or applications should be submitted electronically (in PDF format) to: proposals[at]edctp.org
More information on EDCTP guidelines and financial requirements can be found in the Guidelines and Forms page. The overall mission and scope of EDCTP is available on the EDCTP website.
If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, please download the PDF converter.
For submission please use and read carefully the following documents:
Contact information
Should there be any queries, please contact Jean Marie Vianney Habarugira (habarugira[at]edctp.org), or Dr Montserrat Blazquez-Domingo (blazquez[at]edctp.org).
Download this call in PDF
« Return to overview
