Four calls for proposals were launched in 2011, resulting in grant agreements for the successful projects in 2012.

Member State Initiated projects
The MSI grant scheme provides funding for networking and cooperation between two or more projects or programmes within the scope of EDCTP that have been independently initiated and are funded separately by EDCTP member countries. In response to the 2011 third call and after the review process, two out of the four applications received were recommended for funding. Grant agreements for these projects were signed in 2012.

Senior Fellowships
A Senior Fellowships Call for proposals was launched in August 2011, resulting in 32 applications. The scheme supports mid-career to senior researchers capable of building and leading research groups at sub-Saharan African institutions. Six Senior Fellows were selected for funding after the review process and five of these grant agreements were signed in 2012.

Strategic Primer Grants
The Strategic Primer Grants Call was published in December 2011. The purpose of the call is to provide funding for research groups in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe to conduct innovative studies that will generate results to inform future clinical trials. The grants will also sustain and strengthen the capacity built under EDCTP1 as well as further the networking of the research programmes of the African and European participating countries.

This scheme followed a two-step applications procedure and a two-step peer-review process. By 14 February 2012, 89 letters of intent had been received. Seventy-four of the letters of intent were deemed eligible and peer-reviewed. Of the 74 peer reviewed letters of intent, 32 were highly ranked and their authors were invited to submit full applications.

The 32 full applications went through another round of peer-review followed by a face-to-face meeting of the Scientific Review Committee (SRC) which recommended 14 full applications for funding. The SRC’s recommendations were supported by the EDCTP Partnership Board and these applications were approved by the EDCTP General Assembly for funding.

Capacity building for Ethics Review
Calls for proposals to support the establishment and strengthening of National Ethics Committees (NEC) and Institutional Review Boards (IRB) in sub-Saharan Africa were launched in February and August 2011. The August call sought applications from IRBs and countries that had not received EDCTP funding previously.

A total of 55 applications were received. The eligible applications were peer reviewed by members of the Scientific Review Committee (SRC). The SRC’s recommendations were supported by the Partnership Board and the EDCTP General Assembly approved funding for the 20 projects recommended by the Partnership Board. The grant agreements for all 20 projects were signed in 2012.

Overview of grant agreements signed in 2012

call	No. of contracts signed in 2012	Total grant value (€)
Senior Fellowships (second call)	12	2,360,982
Ethics/Institutional Review Boards (second call)	20	969,255
Member States Initiated (MSI) projects	2	979,188
Strategic Primer Grants	11	8,152,375
Total	45	12,461,800