NCN together with JPI AMR network is pleased to announce a new transnational call on antimicrobial resistance. The Call on Diagnostics and Surveillance 2019 will fund joint transnational research projects addressing the development of diagnostic and surveillance tools, technologies and methods to detect antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Projects should address the diagnosis of AMR infections in clinical and veterinary settings, or the surveillance of AMR in humans, animals and the environment. The call promotes projects with impact in low and middle income countries (LMICs) in Asia and Africa.

AMR has become one of the major global health and development challenges of the 21st century. The threat of AMR is particularly high in resource-limited and high-risk settings. This is linked to issues such as weak human and animal health systems; diverse means of food production, processing and consumption; food safety and food security; water, hygiene and sanitation challenges; and the global movement of people and goods.

In response to these challenges, the JPIAMR is pleased to launch this joint transnational call for proposals for innovative research projects on new or improved diagnostic and surveillance strategies, tools, technologies and methods.  The call will support research projects that also have the potential for impact in areas where the risk and burden of AMR is greatest, such as in LMIC settings in Asia and Africa. Projects are encouraged to use a One Health approach where relevant.

The projected call budget is approx. 20 million Euro, including 0,5 Euro allocated by he NCN Council to fund Polish research teams participating in the call.

Scope of the call

Projects should aim to either:

• Develop strategies, tools, technologies, and methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and/or surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.
• Study ways to facilitate and implement the uptake and use of existing strategies, tools, technologies, and/or methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.

Expected Outcomes

It is expected that this JPIAMR call will contribute to the urgent need to curb the burden associated with the most prioritised infections in different geographical settings. This topic area is also suitable to reinforce collaborations involving industry and social sciences. Regional LMIC led collaborations are welcomed. The results of the funded projects should contribute to improved understanding, monitoring and detection of AMR where efforts to curb AMR will have a global impact.

Suggested Focal Areas

• Establish the validity of new or improved diagnostic tools, technologies and methods.
• Evaluate how new or improved diagnostics can promote more prudent use of antibiotics (e.g. narrow spectrum antibiotics) in human and veterinary use
• Rapid diagnostics (essential for optimal antimicrobial selection) and point-of-care techniques, to improve personalised or individual therapies
• Development of new, or more efficient use and accessibility of already existing, tools, technologies and/or methods to detect AMR in multiple reservoirs, for example human, animal and environmental samples

Projects are encouraged to consider the global use of the tools, technologies and methods, including use in low and lower middle income settings (e.g. lack of laboratory facilities, affordable diagnostic tests, unreliable or unavailable electricity supplies or points-of-care-tests).

The following sub-topics are not within the scope of the call:

• Investigations based on, or involving, clinical trials.
• Investigations aiming to improve existing commercial technology or products (more details on this will be in the full call text and annexes)

Participating countries & eligibility

• Full eligibility criteria is included in the Call text, below.
• Consortia of eligible scientists from participating JPIAMR member countries and eligible countries in Africa and Asia may apply to this call.
• Applicants must adhere to the specific regulations of their national funding organisation, see Annex B.
• Consortia must include a minimum of three and a maximum of six project partners from at least three eligible countries.
• Participating JPIAMR member countries include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.
• China and specified LMICs in Southeast and South Asia (DAC list) will be funded by IDRC (See Annex B).
• Low income countries in Africa will be funded by SIDA (See Annex B).

Information and application

• Call text. All specific information on the 9th call.
• Proposal Application Form. Mandatory for submitting proposals. No other routes are accepted
• Application website: Applications should be submitted via https://ptoutline.eu/app/JPIAMR2019 
• Pre-eligibility check form for Italian applicants. For more information, see the specific requirements in the call text (Annex B).

Expected timeline

The call has a two-step application process (pre-proposal, full proposal) with the following targeted timetable:

• February 18, 2019 (11:00 CET)  – submission deadline for joint pre-proposals
• June 17, 2019 (11:00 CET) –  submission deadline for joint full proposals
• June 24, 2019 (23:59 CET) – submission deadline for UNISONO proposals for the participating Polish teams
• Mid October 2019 –  final funding decision announced to applicants
• End of 2019/Early 2020 – start of funding

Information for Polish applicants:

1. At the pre-proposal stage Polish applicants are not required to send any additional documents to the NCN.
2. At the full proposal stage no later than  June 24, 2019 they must submit their UNISONO proposals in the OSF submission system. The UNISONO proposal includes the following budget table: http://ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/UNISONO_budget_table.xlsx.
3. We strongly encourage all applicants to read the information on eligible costs included in the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (please see UNISONO).
4. If one international project includes partners from two (or more) different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions must apply to the NCN as a group of entities.  Please note that each member of the group will have a separate budget, but the limit on personnel costs, given in paragraph 2.1.2 of the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution, applies to the group of entities as a whole (please see  UNISONO).
5. At the full proposal stage, the budget of the Polish part of the research project in the OSF system should be given in PLN, with the exchange rate of  1 EUR= 4,3833 PLN.
6. Projects including Polish teams may last 24 or 36 months.

Contact

Please contact the Call Secretariat directly for more information or specific questions regarding the call.

• Email: Akin.Akkoyun@dlr.de
• Email: Barbara.Junker@dlr.de
• Email: Isabella.Napoli@dlr.de

NCN

• dr Jerzy Frączek, tel. +48 12 341 9165; e-mail: jerzy.fraczek@ncn.gov.pl
• Jolanta Palowska tel. +48 12 341 9139; e-mail: jolanta.palowska@ncn.gov.pl

News and updates

Updates about the call will be published on the JPIAMR web and make sure to follow JPIAMR on Twitter @JPIAMR , Facebook.com/JPIAMR and LinkedIn, for further news and updates. 

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG) and National Science Centre Poland (NCN) open the second call for Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence (DC) in Poland.

Dioscuri is a programme devised by MPG to support the development of lighthouses of scientific excellence in Central and Eastern Europe by promoting outstanding researchers who want to conduct their research in this region. Following a bottom-up and sustainable approach, it strives to establish future-oriented research fields and international standards of scientific quality. Dioscuri serves to strengthen the European Research Area as a whole and to expand the foundations for long-term economic and social prosperity in Europe.

The joint calls by MPG and NCN are designed to establish Centres of Scientific Excellence at Polish Host Institutions. The work of the Centres will be accompanied by Partners from German universities or research institutions in order to strengthen scientific exchange between Poland and Germany. These Partners will promote the Centres’ structural development and integration in scientific networks. Each DC may decide to expand this partnership tool and turn it into an Advisory Board.

DCs are expected to conduct top-class internationally competitive and innovative research. Each of them will be funded with up to € 300 000 p.a., initially for five years. This amount will be part of a larger package involving substantial additional funds, infrastructure, scientific equipment, and a long-term perspective for the principal investigators at the respective Host Institutions.

In the second call up to a total of 4 centres will be established in the fields of Natural Sciences and Technology, Life Sciences, and Humanities and Social Sciences.

Ten projects have been awarded funding within the JPIAMR 6th transnational call: “Innovations against antibiotic-resistant bacteria: New targets, compounds and tools”. The total funding amount is 12,8 M€. One of the awarded projects:  „Fighting antibiotic-resistant superbugs with anti-persister compounds targeting the stringent response”  will be carried out at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk by the research team lead by dr hab. Ewa Laskowska.

The call was launched in January 2018 and supported by 16 research-funding organisations from JPIAMR member countries. 104 applications were received, involving 468 partners.

For any questions concerning the call results, please contact the Joint Call Secretariat:

Agence Nationale de la Recherche
Phone: +33 (0)1 78 09 80 44
Email: JPI-AMRCalls@agencerecherche.fr

The projects awarded funding within the call are:

National Science Centre together with the NORFACE network is pleased to announce a new call for project proposals on the topic of Democratic governance in a turbulent age. Each project must be composed of at least three research teams consisting of eligible researchers based at host institutions in three or more different NORFACE countries participating in the call.

Countries participating in the call: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Projects including Polish teams may last 24 or 36 months.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CALL

Draft timetable for applications

• Deadline for outline proposal submission: 19th February 2019, 14.00 CET
• Notification of accepted pre-proposals: May 2019
• Deadline for full proposal submission: September 2019
• Funding decisions: March 2020

Call documents

• Programme text
• Call for proposals
• National and Regional Eligibility Requirements
• FAQ Outline Proposal Stage
• Guide for proposers
• Application Template

Information for Polish applicants

1. We strongly encourage all applicants to read information on rules of participation and eligible costs included in the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (UNISONO).
2. On the full proposal stage Polish applicants must submit their national applications in the ZSUN/OSF submission system. The application will include a budget that should be calculated according to the Annex to NCN Council’s Resolution on funding granted within calls for proposals for international research projects (UNISONO).
3. If one international project includes partners from two or more different Polish Host Institutions, these institutions apply as a group of projects. Each entity within the group has a separate budget, but the limit on the remuneration applies to the group as a whole (please see UNISONO). Please note that groups of projects have higher limits on the remuneration. 
4. Budget of the Polish part of the research project in the ZSUN/OSF system should be given in PLN: 1 EUR= 4,2024 PLN.

Contact

dr hab. Wojciech Sowa,  tel. 12 341 9171

Anna Kotarba, tel. 12 341 9091

The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) will shortly launch a new cohesive action with the European Commission – a call for “Multinational research projects on Personalised Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases Neurodegenerative Diseases”. More than €30 million have already been earmarked by JPND member countries and the European Commission for this action.

The following neurodegenerative diseases are included in the call:

• Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
• Parkinson’s disease and PD‐related disorders
• Prion diseases
• Motor neuron diseases
• Huntington’s disease
• Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)
• Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)

This will be a two-step call, expected to be launched in early January 2019, with a likely pre-proposal submission deadline in March 2019. Further details are provided at the programme website.

Please note that all information regarding future JPND call topics is subject to change.

Contact:

• dr Małgorzata Hasiec, tel. 12 341 9153
• Marlena Wosiak, tel. 12 341 9093

Please note that on 1 December 2018, the National Science Centre will change the address of its registered office to ul. Twardowskiego 16, 30-312 Kraków. The remaining contact details, including telephone numbers, will remain unchanged.

Please address any correspondence to be delivered after 1 December to our new address.

The December meetings of the Expert Team will be held at the old address, at ul. Królewska 57 in Krakow. The Expert Team members will receive an email with the exact time and place of their Expert Team meeting.

December 2018 will see the launch of the next call for transnational projects supported by the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPI AMR).

This call will fund joint transnational research projects addressing the development of diagnostic and surveillance tools, technologies and methods to detect antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Projects should address the diagnosis of AMR infections in clinical and veterinary settings, or the surveillance of AMR in humans, animals and the environment. The call promotes projects with impact in low and middle income countries (LMICs) in Asia and Africa.

AMR has become one of the major global health and development challenges of the 21st century. The threat of AMR is particularly high in resource-limited and high-risk settings. This is linked to issues such as weak human and animal health systems; diverse means of food production, processing and consumption; food safety and food security; water, hygiene and sanitation challenges; and the global movement of people and goods.

In response to these challenges, the JPIAMR is pleased to pre-announce this joint transnational call for proposals for innovative research projects on new or improved diagnostic and surveillance strategies, tools, technologies and methods. The call will support research projects that also have the potential for impact in areas where the risk and burden of AMR is greatest, such as in LMIC settings in Asia and Africa. Projects are encouraged to use a One Health approach where relevant.

The projected call budget is approx. 20 million Euro, including 0,5 Euro allocated by he NCN Council to fund Polish research teams participating in the call.

Scope of the call

Projects should aim to either:

1. Develop strategies, tools, technologies, and methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and/or surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.
2. Study ways to facilitate and implement the uptake and use of existing strategies, tools, technologies, and/or methods for the detection, monitoring, profiling and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and dynamics leading to resistance.

Expected Outcomes

It is expected that this JPIAMR call will contribute to the urgent need to curb the burden associated with the most prioritised infections in different geographical settings. This topic area is also suitable to reinforce collaborations involving industry and social sciences. Regional LMIC led collaborations are welcomed. The results of the funded projects should contribute to improved understanding, monitoring and detection of AMR where efforts to curb AMR will have a global impact.

Suggested Focal Areas

• Establish the validity of new or improved diagnostic tools, technologies and methods.
• Evaluate how new or improved diagnostics can promote more prudent use of antibiotics (e.g. narrow spectrum antibiotics) in human and veterinary use
• Rapid diagnostics (essential for optimal antimicrobial selection) and point-of-care techniques, to improve personalised or individual therapies
• Development of new, or more efficient use and accessibility of already existing, tools, technologies and/or methods to detect AMR in multiple reservoirs, for example human, animal and environmental samples

Projects are encouraged to consider the global use of the tools, technologies and methods, including use in low and lower middle income settings (e.g. lack of laboratory facilities, affordable diagnostic tests, unreliable or unavailable electricity supplies or points-of-care-tests).

The following sub-topics are not within the scope of the call:

• Investigations based on, or involving, clinical trials.
• Investigations aiming to improve existing commercial technology or products (more details on this will be in the full call text and annexes)

Participating countries eligibility

• Full eligibility criteria will be included in the Call launch.
• Consortia of eligible scientists from participating JPIAMR member countries and eligible countries in Africa and Asia may apply to this call.
• Applicants must adhere to the specific regulations of their national funding organisations.
• Consortia must include a minimum of three and a maximum of six project partners from at least three eligible countries.
• Participating JPIAMR member countries include Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

The Netherlands and South Africa has the intention of joining the call but no funding is guaranteed yet.

Please note that the list of participating countries is provisional.

Expected timeline

The call has a two-step application process (pre-proposal, full proposal) with the following targeted timetable:

• December 5 2018 – publication of the JPIAMR 2019 Call,
• February 15 2019 (17:00 CET) – submission deadline for pre-proposals,
• Mid April 2019 – full proposal invitations sent to project coordinators,
• June 14 2019 (17:00 CET) – submission deadline for full proposals,
• Late September 2019 – final funding decision taken by the funding organisations,
• Mid October 2019 – final funding decision announced to applicants,
• End of 2019/Early 2020 – start of funding.

News and updates

Updates to the call, including the participation of funding organisations, will be published on the call page on the JPIAMR website, in a JPIAMR newsletter, and on Twitter and Facebook.

Kontakt:

• dr Jerzy Frączek, tel. 12 341 9165
• Jolanta Palowska, tel. 12 341 9139

QuantERA Network is pleased to announce that the 2^nd  QuantERA Call 2019 for Transnational Research Proposals supporting the topic of quantum technologies is now open.

Thematic scope of the Call:

• Quantum communication
• Quantum simulation
• Quantum computation
• Quantum information sciences
• Quantum metrology sensing and imaging

One stage application procedure (joint submission of short and full proposals) will be open for consortia composed of researchers from at least three countries participating in the Call: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.

Applicants are obliged to comply with the national/regional eligibility criteria defined by each participating funding organization.

The deadline for submitting short and full proposals is February 18^th, 2019, 17.00 Central European Time.

Call documents and further details are available on the website: www.quantera.eu.

Contact:

Dr inż. Ewelina Szymańska-Skolimowska, tel. +48 12 341 9155

Sylwia Kostka, tel. +48 12 341 9018

Marlena Wosiak, tel. +48 12 341 9018

The results of the OPUS 15 and PRELUDIUM 15 calls are in. Awardees have received the total sum of more than € 92 million for their research projects.

OPUS 15 and PRELUDIUM 15 ranking lists

QuantERA has secured a dedicated networking space for researchers interested in applying for funding within the QuantERA Call 2019.  QuantERA Call 2019 Partner Search Tool gives applicants the opportunity to express interest either in joining an existing network or to search for new partner(s) in an already established network. To search for potential partners and share your project ideas you have to fill in the registration form.

Save the date December 5^th, 2018 to join us for the QuantERA Call 2019 networking session that will be organized within the ICT 2018 Event in Vienna. The event will take place in the Austria Center Vienna (Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1, 1220, Wien) in Room L8 from 14.30 until 16.00.

The meeting will allow researchers to hear about the upcoming QuantERA 2^nd Call and exchange ideas in order to form or strengthen consortia for project proposals. Interested researchers and stakeholders are asked to:

• register to the ICT 2018 Event (the registration closes on December 2^nd);
• confirm their participation in the QuantERA Call 2019 networking session here.

Contact:

• Sylwia Kostka, tel. 12 341 9018
• Marlena Wosiak, tel. 12 341 9093