EDCTP supports projects under the following main grant schemes:

1. Integrated Projects on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis
2. Senior Fellowships
3. Ethics and Regulatory 
4. Joint Programme Activities
5. Networks of Excellence

Integrated projects are by far the largest of all EDCTP grant schemes in terms of budget and complexity. They have multicentre, multi-national clinical trials as the core activity. To ensure successful outcomes and sustainability, all supported clinical trials are integrated with project management, networking and capacity development components. Consequently, an integrated project will usually consist of the following components: 

• Clinical trials
• Networking and coordination of European national research and development programmes
• Networking and coordination of African national programmes
• Strengthening the African capacity in the field concerned through baseline epidemiological studies, site infrastructure upgrading, short-term training, MSc studentships, PhD scholarships and Postdoctoral fellowships.

For details on how to apply for this type of grant, please visit the section of our website on how to apply for a grant.

As scientific capacity can be limited by the lack of suitably qualified researchers, EDCTP’s strategy is to support researchers at different levels. Senior Fellowship calls are intended to identify and support senior researchers capable of building and leading research groups at sub-Saharan African institutions that will be internationally competitive and capable of winning grants from international funding bodies. The objectives of the fellowship programme are to:

• Develop capacity for research in sub-Saharan African institutions
• Promote the career development of sub-Saharan African researchers by encouraging them to upgrade their profile and/or return or continue to work Africa
• Strengthen the capacity to undertake clinical trials of interventions on any of the three major poverty related diseases (PRDs) in Africa (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria) conducted using best practices.

For details on how to apply for this type of grant, please visit the section of our website on how to apply.

EDCTP wishes to strike a balance between the public health interest, the interests of the innovative pharmaceutical industry, those of the generic pharmaceutical industry, and ethical values. Currently, many African countries lack ethical guidelines, and some even lack regulatory bodies.

In order to strengthen local capacity in both Ethical Review and the National Regulatory framework in Africa, EDCTP provides support in the following areas:

• Establishment and strengthening of both institutional and national ethics committees
• Ethics training in Africa through courses and seminars
• An African coordinating office that oversees activities in clinical trials and related research ethics
• Strengthening of the national regulatory frame work in Africa through collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).

For details on how to apply for this type of grant, please visit the section of our website on how to apply for a grant.

EDCTP recognises the need and importance of networking in ensuring successful and sustainable outcomes. Networking is therefore one of the main pillars of EDCTP activities and is used to achieve integration and coordination of European national programmes, strong north-north, north-south and south-south partnerships, transfer of technology, synergy and sustainability of EDCTP.

EDCTP’s Joint Programme Activities call aims to identify and strengthen Joint Programme Activities (JPAs) and contribute to the integration of the National Programmes of the EDCTP Member States (MSs) on clinical trials of drugs and vaccines against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa. It aims to enhance activities of researchers investigating the same topic or disease, reduce duplication of effort and improve collaborations within or between African institutions and research centres.

For details on how to apply for this type of grant, please visit the section of our website on how to apply for a grant.

EDCTP is committed to develop capacity for the conduct of clinical trials in Africa to expedite development of new interventions or tools against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. EDCTP therefore wishes to support institutions in sub-Saharan Africa to set-up regional networks to conduct the following: 

• Organise mentorship programmes and training of staff members working at African institutions where clinical trials will be conducted
• Conduct epidemiological and demographic studies that facilitate the planning of trials
• Support less established institutions with additional expertise that will enable them to participate in multicentre clinical trials. Such expertise shall include design of trials, data management, financial management, administration, quality assurance and required laboratory techniques.

The networks are organised on regional basis namely Eastern, Western, Southern and Central regions of sub-Saharan Africa. This will allow institutions to work together in accordance to African regional economic communities or sub-regions. Similarly, all the regional networks are encouraged to network at a Pan-African network level.