ERA-NET NEURON: Call for proposals for Research Projects on “Synaptic Dysfunction In Disorders Of The Central Nervous System”

Aim: The aim of the call is to facilitate multinational, collaborative research projects that will address important questions related to the synaptic dysfunction of the central nervous system. Defective synaptic communication is at the origin of numerous neurological and mental disorders - synaptopathies - such as epilepsies, migraine, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, mood disorders and others.

Research proposals should cover at least one of the following areas:

a)    Fundamental research on the pathogenesis and/or aetiology of synaptopathies. This may include the development of innovative or shared resources and new technologies for prevention, diagnosis or therapy of disease.

b)    Clinical research, including the exploitation of existing clinical data sets, to develop new strategies for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy for diseases in which synaptic dysfunction plays a key role.

Excluded from this call are research projects focused on:

1) Peripheral nervous system diseases,

2) Purely basic research projects focused on synaptic function without a clear objective of address-ing the synaptic dysfunction in the context of neurological and mental disorders,

3) Primarily neurodegenerative disorders, since they are addressed by the “EU Joint Programme - Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND)”.

Researchers with ongoing NEURON projects in 2018 cannot apply to the current call except if the applicant is the coordinator.

Researchers affiliated to Vall d’Hebron Hospital can participate both as coordinator and partner. Researchers affiliated to VHIR can only participate as coordinator.

Submission of joint transnational proposals

There will be a two-stage procedure for joint applications: pre-proposals and full proposals. In both cases, one joint proposal document (in English) shall be prepared by the partners of a joint transnational proposal, and must be submitted to the Joint Call Secretariat by one spokesperson, the coordinator.

Total funding pre-commitment by Instituto de Salud Carlos III: 150.000 € and 2-3 projects tentatively envisaged to be funded

Deadline:

- VHIR's internal deadline: March 6th, 2017

- Official deadline of pre-proposal submission: March 14th, 2017 at 14:00h CET via the electronic submission system

More information here: ERA-NET NEURON