Collaborative Call for Proposals in the Field of "Genomics and Physiopathology of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases"

Announcement of the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany [Dezember 10, 2008 - deadline: March 20, 2009]

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1. Introduction

Genomics and physiopathology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are of high socioeconomic importance and scientific progress in recent years has made clear that genomics and related sciences have substantial impact on advances in their diagnostic and therapy. In light of existing skills and resources in the area of genomics and physiopathology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, joining French and German capacities in these fields is of high interest and benefit to scientists from both countries. Bilateral scientific collaboration through jointly funded research projects will promote the identification and characterization of susceptibility genes and gene products as well as their interactions in these diseases. By creating synergies these collaborations will form the basis for paving the way towards translation of results into benefits for medicine and industry.
To support this objective the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) in Germany and the Agence Nationale de La Recherche (ANR) in France have agreed to implement a joint funding action. In a coordinated manner a bilateral call is published in both countries to fund interdisciplinary research collaborations among researchers in France and Germany.
This call for collaborative proposals will require applicants based in France and Germany to work in partnership on research projects that will have the France-based component funded by ANR and the DE-based component funded by BMBF.  Eligibility to apply will be determined by national eligibility rules and the resources requested will also have to fit with national guidelines. Applicants are advised to refer to their national annexes on these sources and/or to contact their national programme manager for information.
This call is published in the German “Bundesanzeiger” and at http://www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr/AAPProjetsOuverts.

2. Aims and Scope

The primary strategic aim of the bilateral call is to promote synergy and added value by establishing high-quality, interdisciplinary research collaborations among researchers in France and Germany through funding bi-national, interdisciplinary research projects to understand genomics and physiopathology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Research proposals shall focus on prevalent disorders with high socio-economic impact such as Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, obesity, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, or heart failure.
The research proposals shall aim at generating further insights into the genomics and physiopathology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Whenever possible, the proposed research should be based on the sharing and exchange of pre-existing knowledge, technologies and resources (e.g. existing patient and control populations).

2.1 Thematic Axes

This call has two main axes. Research proposals shall focus on a central research question on genomics and physiopathology analyses of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases aiming at either axis 1 or 2:

- Axis 1. Genomic and phenotypic analyses of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases based on pre-existing results (e.g. follow-ups of genome-wide association studies, replication studies, additional genotyping, subphenotyping)

- Axis 2. Functional or mechanistic characterization of identified disease-genes employing animal or cellular models. Whenever possible, the research should focus on the translation of results into applications (prevention, diagnostics, therapy, etc). All sciences related to genomics may be applied (e.g. other “omics”, also including epigenetics and pharmacogenetics).

Research proposals may aim at the conduction of clinical research, i.e. research aiming at translating results into clinically relevant applications. However, clinical trials cannot be funded through this call. The inclusion of concepts for researcher- and knowledge exchange between France and Germany (e.g. through regular meetings of participating work groups, exchange of post- docs between research groups) in the proposals is encouraged. Adequate funds for exchange and regular meetings shall be included in proposals.

2.2 Structure of Collaborative Research Consortia

The proposals for consortia must contain concepts for researcher- and knowledge exchange among the individual partners and the applicants must formulate concepts for small-scale, interdisciplinary research consortia synergistically addressing a central research question. Structurally, consortia must be organized in work packages. Consortia must consist of at least 2 and up to 5 work packages, and the consortia must include at least one French and one German research group. Only transnational projects will be funded. Research consortia can be funded for a period of up to 3 years.
Joint research proposals may be submitted by higher education institutions (Universities), non-University public research organisations, as well as industry, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to relevant national funding agencies´ regulations for research funding. The integration of SMEs or other industry into consortia is possible but not mandatory. Each transnational consortium must nominate a project coordinator, who represents the consortium externally and is responsible for its internal management (such as controlling, reporting, intellectual property rights (IPR) issues). The coordinator of a consortium must belong to an academic research organisation.
Funds may be used to cover salaries of postdoctoral fellows and doctoral students as well as for consumables, equipment, and travel expenses for internal consortia meetings (at least one internal meeting per year), scientific conferences and researcher exchange between France and Germany. All requested salaries must be in accordance with the respective national administrative regulations.
Successful applicants will be required to disseminate the outcomes of their projects and attend a mid-term and a final dissemination event. To meet this objective, applicants should therefore include in their proposals travel and accommodation costs for one such meeting in France and one meeting in Germany.

3. Evaluation Process, Selection Criteria and Decision Making

The Joint Call Secretariat, together with the national partners, will assess all proposals to ensure that they meet the call’s formal criteria (eg. date of submission; number of participating countries, at least one French group and one German group); inclusion of all necessary information in English; appropriate limits on length) and that applicants are eligible to submit applications according to national rules. Proposals not meeting the formal criteria will be declined without further review.
All collaborative proposals submitted and eligible will be subject to peer review involving external referees. Applications will be ranked by an international panel of experts. Successful collaborative proposals are expected to be announced at the end of 2009.

Evaluation and ranking of proposals will be based on the following criteria:
- relevance and validity of the addressed research question
- scientific excellence and track record of applicants
- synergy / focus on a central research question
- added value of collaboration / common interest
- validity of the work plan
- interdisciplinarity / inclusion of all necessary expertises
- availability of cohorts and / or other resources
- ethical issues

Based on the ranking list, the Call Steering Committee will suggest the transnational projects to be funded. Based on these recommendations, final decisions will be made by the national funding agencies. Applicants will be informed in writing of the results of the review and, where applicable, of the subsequent administrative steps according to the respective national regulations. ANR will fund the French research groups, BMBF will fund the German research groups of consortia selected for funding, according to existing national rules, regulations and funding procedures. For specific national rules and regulations regarding funding of project parts, please refer to the national calls at http://www.gesundheitsforschung-bmbf.de/de/2074.php and at http://www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr/AAPProjetsOuverts.

Submission Processes & Structure of Joint Proposals

The language of the submitted proposals is English. The following structure will be required for applications:

A. General presentation (max. 2 pages):

- Names and full affiliations of the group project leader, co-investigators and other personnel participating in the project. A project coordinator will be nominated by the consortium to act as its representative, and a national coordinator will be nominated to act as the national representative.
- Project title up to 150 characters.
- Research subject and keywords.
- A summary of no more than 4,000 characters.
- Project aim(s), up to 4,000 characters.
- Project duration.
- Overall cost of the whole project and costs for each work package (in Euros).

B. Detailed scientific information (max 12 pages):

- Background and present state of the art in the field (max. 2 pages).
- Description of scientific ideas, highlighting the originality and novelty.
- Proposed work plan, including description of the different work packages, together with milestones and deliverables (max. 6 pages).
- Added value of the proposed collaboration, including description of management of the project, communication between partners as well as data management and data sharing (max. 2 pages).
- Information about possible exploitation and communication of project results (max. ½ page)
- Description of any training activities foreseen within the project, if applicable (max. ½ page).

C.  Description of German and French scientific teams:

- Brief CVs of the work package’s principal investigators, together with the five most significant recent publications (max 1 page per applicant).
- Description of ongoing projects of each participating group related to the present topic, indicating funding sources and possible overlaps with proposal (max. ½ page per group).
- Description of significant facilities and large equipment available to the consortium (max. ½ page).
- Financial plan for each work package, with detailed scientific justification (according to partners’ financial regulations) (Including a table summarizing the requested funds)

Joint proposals must be submitted as one complete application in identical versions:

a/ electronic submission (uploading the PDF file) by the 20th of March at 13h00 (CET) at: http://www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr/GPCMD2009-upload/
 
b/ postal submission of 1 original, 2 copies, and 1  PDF-version on CD by hard mail to the Joint Call Secretariat. Joint applications must be received

by no later than March 20th, 2009.

Dr. Matthias von Witsch
Projektträger im DLR
Gesundheitsforschung
Heinrich-Konen-Straße 1
D-53227 Bonn
Germany

The applicants are advised to consult their respective funding agency.

Contact person on behalf of BMBF:
Dr. Matthias von Witsch
Tel: ++49 228 3821-209
E-Mail: genomics.c.m@dlr.de

Contact for ANR:
Dr. Véronique Briquet-Laugier
Tel: +33 178 098-026
Veronique.briquet-laugier@agencerecherche.fr

Late applications and applications not fulfilling German and/or French national requirements will not be considered. No legal entitlement can be derived from the submission of a project description.