European Partnership for Personalised Medicine 2024

The Health Research Board (HRB) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) are collaborating to support Irish researchers to engage in transnational collaborative research in the field of personalised medicine under the call entitled “Identification or Validation of Targets for Personalised Medicine Approaches (PMTargets)”.

The vision of European Partnership for Personalised medicine (EP PerMed) is to improve health outcomes within sustainable healthcare systems through research, development, innovation and implementation of personalised medicine approaches for the benefit of patients, citizens and society.

One of the main activities of EP PerMed will be the preparation and implementation of joint transnational calls (JTCs) for research and innovation projects. The first JTC, Identification and Validation of Targets for Personalised Medicine Approaches (PMTargets) has now been launched.

The overall objectives of the JTC2024 are to:-

Support research projects 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.

For further information including call and guidance documents, please visit the EP PerMed website.

Details of this scheme

A brief summary of the call is provided below along with additional information on eligibility for applicants requesting funding from HRB. Please visit the EP PerMed website for full guidance and annexes.

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

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 (see information box below) to demonstrate clinical applicability (proof-of-concept studies).

Irish Partner(s) are not eligible for HRB funding for:

Proposals involving basic biomedical research
Research intended to create human embryos solely for the purposes of research or for the purposes of stem cell procurement, including by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Major changes since the last round :

In recognition of the rising costs of research, the overall budget has been increased.

This scheme is not framed as a training initiative for PhD candidates and, as the maximum duration of projects (three years) is less than the HRB standard for PhD funding (four years), we will be unable to support PhD student stipends or fees for this call. Where candidates for a Master’s degree are proposed to work on projects, Lead Applicants must show evidence of careful consideration ensuring a good training experience for the Master’s candidate.

Funding Available, Duration and Start Date:

Projects are expected to start end of 2024/beginning of 2025. Awards will have a duration of 36 months.

Please note: Project partners will be funded by their relevant national/regional funding organisations. Eligible costs and funding rules may vary between the respective funding organisations (see the call text).

For applicants based in Ireland, the HRB will provide funding for projects up to a maximum of €330,000 direct costs per award. Additional funding of up to €75,000 direct costs will be made available for coordination activities (cannot be used to cover equipment and consumables) bringing the total to €405,000 direct costs for coordinators. The maximum total award, including overhead contribution, will be €430,000, for a partner and €530,000 for applicants who take on the role of coordinator.

The HRB plans to commit up to €530,000 to the EP PerMed JTC2024 awards. Quality permitting a minimum of one award will be funded.

The award will offer research related costs for:

Personnel
- Salary-related costs in line with the most recent IUA (or other most applicable) scale for funded personnel.
- Salary related costs for Lead Applicants in contract positions up to a maximum of 0.5 FTE protected time for research funded by HRB for the duration of the award.
- Stipends and fees (Master’s students only)
Direct running costs (including travel, mobility costs, patient-related costs)
PPI costs
Small equipment costs (not to exceed €10k)
FAIR data management costs: Data stewardship costs (e.g. service/fees from data steward, access to secondary data, costs of making data FAIR, etc).
Dissemination and knowledge exchange activities (including dissemination-related travel)
Overheads contribution.

Funding available is inclusive of overheads and pension contributions.

Please refer to “HRB JTC Budget Guidance” attached for further details.

Note: The EPPerMed award will not fund PhD stipends and fees, nor the salary and related costs of tenured academic staff within research institutions (including buy-out from teaching time etc.). The latter does not apply to contract researchers, as outlined above.

The budget requested and the award duration must reflect the scale and nature of the proposed research.

All HRB funding granted is subject to, and must be compliant with, State aid legislation based on Article 107(1) of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)2.

Funded Personnel

Alignment between personnel requested and the proposed project should be demonstrated. Roles and responsibilities of funded personnel must be differentiated and clear.

This scheme is not framed as a training initiative for higher degree candidates. It will not cover costs for PhD students. Where candidates for a Master’s degree are proposed to work on projects, Lead Applicants must carefully consider:

The complexity, scale, objectives, and dependencies of the project.
The suitability of such project in terms of delivering a clearly identifiable original research project or the potential difficulties in clustering various pieces of work packages for a Master’s thesis. The skills, expertise and experience level required to carry it out.
Any requirements and/or restriction relating to the Master’s candidate’s registration with the Host Institution, and this should be accounted for when determining the start date of the award.

Who can apply?

This call is not open for Host Institutions in Northern Ireland.

Only transnational projects will be funded and consortia must meet specific criteria as detailed in the call text. There will be a partner search tool available for this call from mid-January. Please refer to the EP PerMed JTC2024 webpage for all details.

General Notes on Eligibility of Applicants based in Ireland

HRB is collaborating with SFI on national participation in EP PerMed and in order to maximise the use of available funding, both HRB and the SFI reserve the right to transfer proposals to the other agency subject to respective organisation funding policies and remit.
Applicants from Ireland are only permitted to submit one application as coordinator.
SFI will only accept one application per applicant. Applicants can apply to both HRB and SFI with different project proposals.

If applying through the SFI, please consult the SFI website.

Lead Applicants requesting HRB funding:

Note that HRB use the term ‘Lead Applicant’ to refer to a coordinator or partner applying for HRB funding.

The following will apply to partners seeking HRB funding – i.e., Lead Applicants. ¹ If there is more than one Irish partner/coordinator and they are based in different Host Institutions, they must apply as separate partners.

Where more than one Irish coordinator/partner exists, each must meet the Lead Applicant eligibility criteria. However, the HRB will only contract with the Host Institution of one Lead Applicant (this must be the coordinator if an Irish coordinator exists).² This Lead Applicant will serve as the primary point of contact for the HRB during the review process and on the award, if successful. They will be responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the Irish research programme. They have primary fiduciary responsibility and accountability for carrying out the research within the funding limits awarded and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the HRB. Where applicable, they must distribute the funds appropriately to the second Irish partner via collaboration and/or consortium agreements.

Lead Applicants must:

Hold a post (permanent or a contract that covers the duration of the award) in a HRB recognised Host Institution in the Republic of Ireland (the “Host Institution”) as an independent investigator. For clinicians, an adjunct position in a HRB recognised Host Institution is acceptable (an accompanying letter of support is required in these cases, as well as in the case of contract positions – see How to apply below).

Be an individual who will be recognised by the Host Institution upon receipt of an award as an independent investigator who will have a dedicated office and research space for the duration of award, for which they will be fully responsible. The Lead Applicant does not necessarily need to be employed by the Host Institution at the time of the application submission (an accompanying letter of support is required in these cases – see How to apply below).

They must show evidence of achievement as an independent researcher in their chosen research field by:

Demonstrating a record of research output, with at least three publications of original research in peer reviewed journals. Where appropriate, they should also provide evidence of other outputs (e.g., published book chapters, reports to government, research data and datasets, research materials, databases, audio/video products, national and/or international reports, patents, models and protocols, software production, evidence of influence on health policy and practice, outreach and/or knowledge exchange activities, media coverage or other relevant activities) and/or any other relevant outputs that have resulted in a significant impact in their field.
Demonstrating record of independence by showing that they have secured at least one peer-reviewed research grant for a research project/s, as either the Lead Applicant or a Co-Applicant. Funding received for travel to seminars/conferences and/or small personal bursaries will not be considered in this regard.
Show evidence that they possess the capability and authority to manage and supervise the research team.

Where an applicant fails to meet the eligibility criteria, the application may be deemed ineligible and may not be accepted for review. The Joint Call Secretariat will contact the consortium in the event that this situation arises.

Host Institution:

The Host Institution for the award is normally that of the Lead Applicant based in Ireland but it may be another organisation/institution designated by the research team, where it is clearly justified. In order to be eligible to apply for funding, an Institution must be an approved HRB Host Institution no later than two calendar months before the closing date of a call. A list of currently approved HRB Host Institutions can be found on the HRB website.
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¹ In view of the overwhelming evidence that both active and passive smoking of tobacco are injurious to health, the HRB is unwilling to fund applications from individuals applying for, holding, or employed under a research grant from the tobacco industry.

² For administrative purposes, the second partner will be recorded in HRB systems as a Co-Applicant.

How to apply:

There will be a 2-stage application procedure for joint applications. One joint proposal document (in English) shall be prepared by the partners and must be submitted by the Coordinator in electronic format no later than 16:00 GMT on 5 March 2024 via the electronic proposal submission system. No other means of submission will be accepted.

For further details, please refer to the respective submission forms available through the EP PerMed JTC2024 website. If you need additional information, please contact the Joint Call Secretariat (JCS). Please refer also to HRB Grant Policies.

Lead Applicants applying for HRB funding will be required to provide additional information:

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the eligibility criteria by completing the Lead Applicant eligibility form by the submission deadline.
Host Institution Letters of Support must be provided for (1) all named Lead Applicants in a contract position and (2) Adjunct Professors not directly employed by the HI. These must be emailed to eujointprogrammes(at)hrb.ie or attached with your Lead Applicant eligibility form before the pre-proposal submission deadline. The formal letter on headed notepaper, dated and signed by the Head of School/Research Centre/Hospital must include the following information:
1. Case (1): [Host Institution - insert name] which is the host institution of [applicant - insert name] confirms that [applicant - insert name]: (i) holds an employment contract which extends until [insert date] or will be recognized by the host institution upon receipt of the HRB [scheme] award as a contract researcher; (ii) has an independent office and research space/facilities for which they are fully responsible for at least the duration of the award, and (iii) has the capability and authority to mentor and supervise the research team.
2. Case (2): [Host Institution - insert name] confirms that [applicant - insert name] has the authority and resources allocated to hold and manage a grant under their Adjunct status for at least the duration of the award.
At full proposal stage, applicants must submit a justification for their requested budget, and clarification on deliverables assigned to the partner from Ireland. Templates requesting this information will be provided by the HRB.

If applying through the SFI, please consult the SFI website.

Apply for this award: