European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD)
and the
Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS)
and
Lilly

Programme for Collaborative Diabetes Research
between China and Europe

Request for Applications (RFA)

EFSD and CDS and Lilly
announce
Funding of Research Grants
in 2009

Deadline: 10 September 2009

   Background

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) was founded in Montecatini, Italy, in 1965. In 1999, the Association created the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD). The aims of EFSD are to encourage and support research in the field of diabetes, to rapidly diffuse acquired knowledge and to facilitate its application.

Founded in 1991, the Chinese Diabetes Society conducts public education programmes, epidemiological surveys and research in China. The mission of CDS is to prevent and treat diabetes and provide information to help educate people living with diabetes, their families, health care professionals, and the public about this disease

Lilly is a world leader in insulin production and also manufactures and markets a variety of other pharmaceutical products. The headquarters of Lilly is in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

   Programme

EFSD and CDS and Lilly established a partnership in 2008 to target collaborative research endeavours between European and Chinese research centres and/or individual investigators in the area of diabetes and its complications.

   Funding Commitment and Instruments

A total funding of Euro 1.5 million has been committed from 2008 – 2010 for research to be carried out in China in collaboration with a European research institution.

To achieve the goals and objectives of this Programme, EFSD and CDS and Lilly invite applications by issuing this "Request for Applications" (RFA), which indicates joint funding as well as areas of research emphasis.

   Funding

Grants in the sum of up to Euro 100,000 for basic research and up to Euro 200,000 will be made available annually.

   Mechanism of Support and Review

The duration of each grant award may be one year or longer, depending upon the needs of the project and as justified in the application, so long as the total budget does not exceed the sum of Euro 100,000 for basic research projects and Euro 200,000 for clinical research projects. The Programme Board, on advisement from the Review Committee, may on occasion and at its discretion recommend an award in a lesser amount considered more appropriate for the proposed studies.

Applications for an EFSD/CDS/Lilly grant are invited from single non-profit institutions or groups of such institutions from China in collaboration with research institutions in Europe and associated countries, The principal investigator and any co-investigators must be employed full-time at a non-profit institution and the study must be performed at the place of work. The main part of the research project should be carried out in the Chinese institution, with the collaborating European institution acting in an advisory capacity.

Applications will be subject to scientific review by a specialised ad hoc committee. Funding will require approval by a joint EFSD and CDS and Lilly Board convened for this purpose. Dates for application review and funding approval are given in the schedule at the end of this document.

   Research Grant Applications

Applications for research grants may be subjected to pre-review (or triage) procedures. In this event, any application rejected at pre-review will not be subject to a complete scientific review. The deadline for receipt of research grant applications for funding this year is 10 September 2009.

All budgets are to be prepared in Euro. For countries in which the Euro is not yet the common currency, the exchange rate (between the Euro and the local currency in the country where the work is to be performed) used for calculating the Euro budget must be mentioned under "Budget Justification". EFSD and CDS and Lilly reserve the right to increase or decrease approved funding in Euro amounts to compensate for any significant change in the exchange rate.
Application forms may be requested from:

Foundation@easd.org

All applications must be prepared on the official forms and completed in strict accordance with the detailed instructions to be found on these forms. In particular, applicants are reminded that any pages in addition to the maximum of 10 allowed for the scientific section of the application will be deleted prior to review. Similarly, no applications using a font or line-spacing smaller than that defined in the instructions will be considered for review. Additional material (in the form of an appendix, attachment, reprints, etc.) will not be accepted.

Postal applications should be received in the EFSD Office no later than 10 September 2009.

Please send to:

European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes
Rheindorfer Weg 3
40591 Düsseldorf
Germany

   Review Considerations

Completed applications will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria stated below for scientific/technical merit by an appropriate scientific committee convened by EFSD and CDS and Lilly.

Review criteria are as follows:

• Significance: Does the study address an important problem in keeping with the goals and focus areas of this Programme? If the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge be advanced? What will be the effect of the proposed studies on the concepts or methods that drive this field?
• Approach: Are the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses adequately developed, well integrated, and appropriate to the aims of the project? Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics?
• Innovation: Does the project employ novel concepts, approaches or methods? Are the aims original and innovative? Does the project challenge existing paradigms or develop new methodologies or technologies?
• Investigator: Is the investigator appropriately trained and well suited to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers, if any?
• Environment: Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed experiments take advantage of unique features of the scientific environment or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there evidence of institutional support?
• Budget: Is the requested budget appropriate for the proposed study??

   Reporting Requirements

All investigators funded by this Programme are required to submit a scientific report at the end of the funding period. For those projects where funding is distributed over a period of more than one year, interim progress reports will also be required. Such reports will be subject to assessments prior to the release of any further funds.

Investigators must provide EFSD with copies of papers accepted for publication, and must acknowledge the support of the Programme in all written material by use of the phrase: "Supported by an EFSD/CDS/Lilly research grant".

   Competitive Renewal

Applications for a grant renewal will be accepted on a competitive basis, with the same review process as described in this Announcement. Such applications will thus be considered in the same fashion as all other new applications received for review and without any special priority..

   Schedule

Enquiries should be directed to: