EP PerMed Joint Transnational Call for Proposals (2024)

Identification or Validation of Targets for Personalised Medicine Approaches (PMTargets)

The European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed), supported by the European Union under Horizon Europe (Grant Agreement N° 101137129), has launched its first joint transnational call (JTC2024) for proposals on “Identification or Validation of Targets for Personalised Medicine Approaches (PMTargets)”. In total, 38 funding organisations participate in this call with an available budget of over 45 Mio€.

Expected timeline of the call

02 January, 2024

Publication of the call

12 January, 2024

Opening of the pre-proposals submission system

15 January, 2024

JTC2024 information day (recordings available)

05 March, 2024 (17:00, CET)

Deadline for pre-proposal submission

Expected around 20 May, 2024

Communication of the results of the pre-proposal assessment and invitation to the full-proposal stage

20 June, 2024 (17:00, CEST)

Deadline for full-proposal submission

Mid/end of August 2024

Rebuttal stage

Expected for October 2024

Communication of the funding decisions to the applicants

End of 2024, beginning of 2025

Expected project start (according to regional/national funding regulations)

Electronic submission website

Electronic proposal submission is mandatory on PT-Outline. Research project consortia who intend to submit a transnational proposal should register as soon as possible, by clicking on “Sign up” and follow further instructions.

Contact persons for the Joint Call Secretariat (JCS)

The EP PerMed JCS is hosted by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France:

Monika Frenzel and Mathias Vetillard
86 rue Regnault, 75013 Paris, France
Phone: (MF) +33 1 73 54 83 32 / (MV) +33 1 78 09 80 36
Email: EPPerMed@agencerecherche.fr

Call Documents

The call text and all additional documents can be downloaded below:

Depending on the country of origin, additional documents may be required:

ISRAEL (CSO-MOH):
National additional document (to be sent to CSO-MOH before the JTC submission deadline, instructions (DOCX)).

ITALY (IT-MoH):
Pre-eligibility check form for IT-MoH proposals (PDF) (to be sent to IT-MoH at least 10 working days before the JTC submission deadline).

ITALY (MUR):
Additional national documents for MUR proposals (to be sent until the same deadline established in the international joint call: National submission platform).

ITALY (FRRB):
Pre-eligibility check form for FRRB proposals (DOCX) (to be sent to FRRB at least 10 working days before the JTC submission deadline) and budget tool (XLSX) as support for FRRB applicants.

ITALY (RT):
Pre-eligibility check form (DOCX) for Tuscany Region proposals and budget compilation (XLSX) form for Tuscany Region proposals (pre-eligibility form to be sent to RT at least 10 working days before the JTC submission deadline).

PORTUGAL (FCT):
Statement of Commitment for FCT proposals (to be sent up to 10 working days after the deadline for submission of pre-proposals to the National Contact Points, EPPerMed@fct.pt).

SPAIN (CFN):
Additional document for CFN proposals (DOC) (to be sent to CFN in parallel to the pre-proposal submission).

Aims of Call

With its first joint transnational call, EP PerMed aims to fund research that fosters the identification or validation of targets for personalised medicine (PM) approaches.

Applicants submitting a proposal to this call must combine the research on new and advanced targets with companion biomarker research (companion diagnostics). Consortia are required to be transnational, interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral as well as to clearly outline the PM perspective in the research proposed.

The overall objectives of the JTC2024 are to

  • Support research projects in human health aiming at identifying or validating targets for personalised medicine approaches in combination with development of companion biomarkers or other markers to allow for monitoring of treatment outcomes and patient stratification;
  • Encourage and enable interdisciplinary collaborations by combining pre-clinical and clinical research in translational projects, and multi-actor research by engaging a range of other relevant disciplines such as bioinformatics/health informatics/data research, ELSA research, implementation research or health economics research connected to the proposed research topic, including end-user perspective analysis to empower the implementation of PM; and
  • Encourage cross-sectorial collaborations, by including the private sector (e.g. SMEs, small and medium-sized enterprises), industry, as well as regulatory/HTA agencies and patient organisations.

Scope of the Call

The core of each application must be the identification or validation of a target for personalised medicine approaches in combination with companion biomarker research. In addition, the consortia can address accompanying research if this is necessary for the identification or validation of the target and if appropriate to the development status of the project. EP PerMed strongly encourages the active involvement of end-users in the proposed research projects.

Depending on the development phase of the research, projects can focus on the following stages (specific funding regulations might apply, see Annex 2 of the Call Text as well as Annex 2 of the “Guidelines for Applicants” document):

  • Stage 1: Identification of novel targets for the development of a concrete and feasible PM approach, based on a clearly circumscribed biological/clinical hypothesis, in combination with companion biomarker research. Applicants are advised to use existing clinical data as a basis for target identification.
  • Stage 2: Development or validation of already known but not yet established targets for a PM approach, in combination with accompanying biomarker research. This includes target validation in vitro and in animal models (proof-of-principle studies), early pharmacological and toxicity tests and, if feasible, exploratory clinical studies to demonstrate clinical applicability (proof-of-concept studies).

Exclusion: Research focussing only on new biomarker discovery. Projects submitted to the JTC2024 focussing on the identification of new biomarkers as the sole purpose of the research are out of the scope.

Stages are not mutually exclusive. They define the overall scope of the JTC2024 to which all proposals must comply.

Research projects in all disease areas are encouraged. Consortia are required to start from a relevant clinical (unmet) need and to include activities that support a comprehensive and efficient uptake of the developed PM approach in clinical practice, with the aim that “Today’s research is tomorrow’s healthcare”.

Please refer to the Call Text of the JTC2024 for further information and definitions.

General (Eligibility) Conditions for Application

Joint research proposals may be submitted by applicants belonging to an entity according to the following categories (subject to regional/national funding regulations; see “Guidelines for Applicants”):

  • 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 healthcare settings and health organisations). Participation of clinicians (e.g. medical doctors, nurses) in the research teams is encouraged;
  • Private for-profit (industry) partners, e.g. SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) and private non-profit partners, e.g. foundations, associations or non-governmental organisations.

Only transnational projects will be funded. Each consortium must involve at least three partners from three different EU Member States or Associated Countries whose funding organisations participate in the call. Each of these partners must be eligible and request funding from the respective funding organisation. All three legal entities must be independent of each other. The project coordinator must be eligible to be funded by his/her regional/national participating funding organisation.

Max. 2 project partners per consortium can request funding from the same funding organisation. For some funding organisations, the maximum number of eligible partners who can be funded in one project is limited to one (see also “Guidelines for Applicants” for individual funding rules).

Pre-proposal stage: Maximum number of partners is 6 (no more than 2 partners from the same country); Maximum number of partners can be 7 if the consortium includes a 3rd partner of the same country (condition: funding requested from at least 2 different funders of the respective country; applies to only one country per consortium).

Widening concept: Consortia are allowed to include in the full-proposal phase an additional project partner that is eligible to receive funding from a funding organisation that is underrepresented in the second stage of the call and that agrees to participate in the widening option (a list of underrepresented regions/countries will be provided to coordinators invited to submit full-proposals).

No more than one partner with their own funding is allowed in the consortia with at least three partners eligible for funding (more indications in the Call Text: “B. Funding recipients”, section 7).

Exception: To facilitate the integration of patient organisations in consortia, they can be added to a consortium as additional partners at the pre-proposal stage or full-proposal stage. Patient organisations can be added as additional partner(s) either on own funds or by applying for funding, if eligible, from the respective funding organisations. The consortia must follow all of the above-mentioned rules regarding the consortia composition without counting the patient organisations, except for the following rule: within one consortium, no more than 2 partners can request funding from the same funding organisation, including patient organisations. For some funding organisations, the maximum number of eligible partners who can be funded in one project is one.

Funding will be awarded for a maximum of three years.

Each project partner has to be represented by one principal investigator. Within a joint proposal, each project partner’s principal investigator will be the contact person for the JCS and the relevant regional/national funding organisation. Each consortium must nominate one project coordinator among the project’s principal investigators. The nomination of a project co-coordinator is not allowed. The coordinator must be eligible to be funded by his/her regional/national participating funding organisation.

If a partner is found to be ineligible by one of the funding organisations after the formal check, the entire proposal may be rejected without further review. For a definition of eligible partners, see the regional/national regulations in the “Guidelines for Applicants” document, and contact your regional/national funding organisation.

All eligibility criteria and submission requirements are detailed in the following two call documents: “Call text” and the “Guidelines for Applicants”.

EP PerMed Partnering Tool

The EP PerMed Partnering Tool for Personalised Medicine Research is now open.

Contact details of participating members

The following countries (23) are participating in the call: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and Turkiye (contact list is provided below and in Annex 1 of the Call Text as well as the “Guidelines for Applicants” document).

Besides national funders, the following regions are participating (10): Flanders (Belgium), Walloon Region (Belgium), Wallonia-Brussels Federation (Belgium), Saxony (Germany), Lombardy (Italy), Tuscany (Italy), Azores (Portugal), Centro Region (Portugal), Catalonia (Spain) and Navarre (Spain).

Contact List

Country (Region)Funding OrganisationContact pointEmail
AustriaAustrian Science Fund – Österreichischer Wissenschaftsfonds FWFHannes Zwicklhannes.zwickl@fwf.ac.at
Tel.: +43 676 83487 8219
Belgium (Flanders)Flanders innovation & entrepreneurship – Fonds voor Innoveren en OndernemenPatricia Mentenpatricia.menten@vlaio.be
Tel: +32 2 432 43 29
Belgium (Flanders)Research Foundation – Flanders – Fonds Wetenschappelijk OnderzoekToon Monbaliu (FO)
Kristien Peeters (SBO)
europe@fwo.be
Tel.: +32 (0)2 550 15 70
Tel.: +32 (0)2 550 15 95
Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels Federation)Fund for Scientific Research – Fonds de la Recherche ScientifiqueAgnès Roba
Joël Groeneveld
international@frs-fnrs.be
Tel.: +32 2504 9236
Tel.: +32 2504 9270
Belgium (Wallonia)Service Public de WallonieThierry LemoineThierry.lemoine@spw.wallonie.be
Tel: +32 81 33 45 26
DenmarkInnovation Fund Denmark – InnovationsfondenKatrine Boeriiskatrine.boeriis@innofond.dk
Tel: +45 61 90 50 06
internationale@innofond.dk
EstoniaEstonian Research Council – Eesti TeadusagentuurMargit Suuroja
Argo Soon
Margit.Suuroja@etag.ee
Tel.: +372 731 7360
Argo.Soon@etag.ee
Tel.: +372 515 3424
FinlandAcademy of Finland – Suomen AkatemiaRita Rinnankoski-Tuikka,
Marko Uutela
rita.rinnankoski@aka.fi
marko.uutela@aka.fi
FinlandBusiness FinlandMatti Hiltunen
Norma Jäppinen
matti.hiltunen@businessfinland.fi
norma.jappinen@businessfinland.fi
FranceFrench National Research Agency – Agence Nationale de la RechercheMonika Frenzel
Mathias Vetillard
EPPerMed@agencerecherche.fr
Tel.: (+33) (0) 1 73 54 83 32
and (+33) 1 78 09 80 36
GermanyFederal Ministry of Education and Research – Bundesministerium für Bildung und ForschungAlexandra Beckerpermed@dlr.de
Tel.: +49 228 3821-2211
GermanyFederal Ministry of Health – Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (BMG)Fabian Gondorfpermed@dlr.de
Tel.: +49 228 3821-2211
Germany (Saxony)Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism – Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Kultur und TourismusGabriele Süptitzgabriele.sueptitz@smwk.sachsen.de
EuProNet@smwk.sachsen.de
Tel.: +49 351 564-64210
HungaryNational Research, Development and Innovation Office – Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs HivatalKlára Horváthklara.horvath@nkfih.gov.hu
Tel.: +36 1 896 37 48
IcelandThe Icelandic Centre for ResearchHelga Snævarr KristjánsdottirHelga.s.kristjansdottir@rannis.is
IrelandHealth Research BoardSiobhan Hacketteujointprogrammes@hrb.ie
Tel.: +353 1 234 5000
IrelandScience Foundation IrelandMaria Nashmaria.nash@sfi.ie
eu-Cofund@sfi.ie
IsraelChief Scientist Office, Ministry of HealthLiron Even-FaitelsonLiron.ef@moh.gov.il
Tel.: +972-2-5082168
ItalyItalian Ministry of Health – Ministero della SaluteMaria Josè Ruiz Alvarez
Chiara Ciccarelli
mj.ruizalvarez-esterno@sanita.it
Tel.: (+39) 06 5994 3214
and (+39) 06 4990 6836
c.ciccarelli@sanita.it
Tel.: (+39) 06-5994 3919
ItalyMinistero dell’università e della ricercaAldo Covelloaldo.covello@mur.gov.it
Tel.: +39 375 510 2431
Italy (Lombardy)Fondazione Regionale per la Ricerca
Biomedica
Erica Torti
Carmen De Francesco
bandi@frrb.it
Tel.: (+39) 02 6765 0166
Tel.: (+39) 02 6765 0170
Italy (Tuscany)Tuscany Region – Regione ToscanaDonatella Tanini
Teresa Vieri
eppermed@regione.toscana.it
Tel.: +39 055 4383256
Tel.: +39 055 4383289
LatviaLatvian Council of Science – Latvijas Zinātnes padomeUldis BerkisUldis.Berkis@lzp.gov.lv
Tel.: +37129472349
LithuaniaResearch Council of Lithuania – Lietuvos mokslo tarybąŽivilė Ruželėzivile.ruzele@lmt.lt
Tel.: (+370) 676 14383
LuxembourgNational Research Fund – Fonds National de la RechercheGideon Gießelmanngideon.giesselmann@fnr.lu
Tel.: +352 691 362 805
NorwayThe Research Council of Norway – Norges ForskningsradKarianne Solaas
Katrine Rolid
kso@rcn.no
Tel.: +47 945 35 380
karo@rcn.no
Tel.: +47 415 48 328
PolandNational Centre for Research and Development – Narodowe Centrum Badań i RozwojuAnna Stępieńanna.stepien@ncbr.gov.pl
Tel.: +48 22 39 07 210
PortugalFoundation for Science and Technology – Fundação para a Ciência e a TecnologiaRita Cavaleiro
Pedro Ferreira
EPPerMed@fct.pt
Tel.: +351 213 911 541 /
+351 213 924 445
Portugal (Azores)Vice-Presidency of the XIII Regional Government of the AzoresMaria ValeMaria.LA.Vale@azores.gov.pt
Tel.: 00351 296 308 922
Portugal (Centro)Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do CentroSophie Patrício
Dora Cabete
ccdrc.projects@ccdrc.pt
Tel.: +351 239 400 100
RomaniaExecutive Unit for Research, Development and Innovation Higher Education Funding – Unitatea Executivă pentru Finanțarea Învățământului Superior a Cercetării, Dezvoltării și InovăriiMihaela Manolemihaela.manole@uefiscdi.ro
Tel.: +4021 302.38 63
SpainCarlos III Health Institute – Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)María Callejo Arranzmcallejo@isciii.es
Tel.: +34 918222503
Spain (Catalonia)Departament de Salut – Generalitat de CatalunyaMontserrat Llavayolperis@gencat.cat
Tel.: +34 935566103
Spain (Navarre)Government of Navarre – Comunidad Foral de Navarra – Gobierno de NavarraJavier RodrigoJavier.rodrigo.aznarez@navarra.es
Tel.: +34 848 42 76 69
SwedenSwedish Research Council – VetenskapsrådetKarin Sikström
Maria Nilsson
karin.sikstrom@vr.se
maria.nilsson@vr.se
SwedenSweden´s Innovation Agency – Verket för innovationssystem (Vinnova)Anna-Carin Christoffersson
Malin Eklund
anna-carin.christoffersson@vinnova.se
Tel.: +46 730 51 98 41
Malin.eklund@Vinnova.se
Tel.: +46 730 20 39 53
The NetherlandsThe Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development – Zorgonderzoek Nederland ZONRob Diemel
Kirsten IJsebaert
EP-PerMed@zonmw.nl
Tel.: +31 70 349 5252
TürkiyeThe Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye – Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma KurumuN. Selcan Türkerselcan.turker@tubitak.gov.tr
Tel.: +90 312 298 1760