ERDERA - 1st co-funded call for proposals

Research

Funding organisation:

Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen

What?

The European Rare Diseases Research Alliance (ERDERA) has been established to further help in coordinating the research efforts of European, Associated and non-European countries in the field of rare diseases and implement the objectives of the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC).

The aim of the call is to enable scientists in different countries to build an effective collaboration on a common interdisciplinary research project based on complementarities and sharing of expertise, with the expected impact being future use of the results to benefit patients.
Projects will focus on a group of rare diseases or a single rare disease following the European definition i.e., a disease affecting not more than five in 10.000 persons in the European Community, EC associated states, and Canada. Applicants are encouraged to assemble groups of rare diseases based on relevant criteria and commonalities if this leverages added value in sharing resources or expertise.

Research studies on therapies using small molecules, small non-coding chemically synthesized nucleic acid-based therapies, repurposed drugs or biologicals (e.g., antibodies or proteins such as enzymes, immune modulators or growth factors etc.).
Proposals must cover at least one of the following areas:

1. development of novel therapies in a preclinical setting through cell, organoid and animal model studies, molecule screening or use of in silico or artificial intelligence models
2. development of predictive and pharmacodynamics biomarkers correlated to the efficiency of the therapy in a preclinical setting that could serve as surrogate endpoints
3. replication of pre-clinical studies in an independent lab to increase validity of exploratory findings
4. pre-clinical proof of concept studies for evidence of pharmacological activity in vitro and in vivo, pharmaco-kinetics and pharmaco-dynamics of the drug and first toxicology and safety data
5. studies to support readiness for initiating clinical trial authorization conforming to regulatory requirements

Translatability into humans should be the key focus of the project, and applicants should demonstrate access to relevant scientific or regulatory expertise (e.g., through innovation task forces or competent national authorities).

Funding will come via FWO through the fundamental (FO) or Strategic Basic Research (SBO) channel. The type and scope of the proposed research project will determine the choice of funding channel for the research performed within Flanders (e.g. more fundamental in nature, or more aimed at economical/societal valorisation). Non-compliance with the specific requirements per funding channel might lead to non-eligibility.

For the fundamental funding channel the respective regulations apply. For the SBO channel the SBO regulations have to be taken into account: these imply projects with a primarily economic and/or societal finality, forwhich ‘valorisation’ is a key - and mandatory - aspect.

The FWO can support 2 projects for a 36 months duration, with an available maximum applicable budget of 350.000 EUR (overhead included) per project/consortium.

Who?

Partners belonging to one of the following categories may request funding under a joint research proposal (according to country/regional regulations) :
• Academia (research teams working in universities, other higher education institutions or research institutes),
• Clinical/public health sector (research teams working in hospitals/public health and/or other health care settings and health organisations),
• Enterprises (all sizes of private companies). Participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is encouraged when allowed by national/regional regulations,
• Patient advocacy organisations (PAOs).

Only transnational projects will be funded. Each consortium submitting a proposal must involve four to six eligible principal investigator partners from at least four different participating countries. One of these four to six partners must be an Early Career Researcher (ECR).

Application?

Research proposals are submitted to the ERDERA call secretariat, after registration and by making use of the submission platform which can be found on the submission website, by consortia of European and international researchers, according to the applicable procedures and eligibility criteria included in the call documents.

Deadline pre-proposals: 13 February, 2025 13.00 CET (Brussels)

The FWO requires pre-registration on a national/regional level as well by filling in an application form on the FWO e-portal before the deadline for submission of the pre-proposals (13 February, 2025 13.00 CET (Brussels)). When you're logged on to the e-portal, you can find it under "Researcher".
It is strongly recommended to contact the FWO administration about your pre-registration at the latest one week before submission in order to verify admissibility.

For the fundamental funding channel the respective regulation applies. For the SBO channel the SBO regulation has to be taken into account: these imply projects with a primarily economic and/or societal finality, of which ‘valorisation’ is a key - and mandatory - aspect.

Deadline pre-proposal with the FWO and ERDERA: 13 February, 2025 13.00 CET (Brussels)

Given the pre-proposal already has to be OK in terms of budget, OBI has an internal deadline to check your proposal.
Internal deadline: 30 January 2025
In case the consortium includes more than one partner requesting funding from FWO, a single online form should be submitted containing all relevant information from the different Flemish partners.

around early May 2025: communication of the results and invitation for full proposal
9 July, 2025: deadline full proposal

More information?

You can find more information, like the call documents, the submission platform, the pre-proposal template, the slides from the webinar, ... on the ERDERA website.

Concerning the FWO regulations, you can consult the FWO website:
for the fundamental funding channel
for the SBO channel

Please contact research@uhasselt.be if you want to apply.

Deadline intern

30.01.2025, 13.02.2025

Contact Hasselt University?

E-mail sarah.szyr@uhasselt.be

Tel. +3211269052