Call - EU Joint Programme - Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND)

1 Feb 2022

Several non-pharmacological interventions have been shown to be effective and accepted by the patients, e. g. from existing cohort data. Such interventions may include, among others, psychosocial interventions, neuromodulation, nutrition or exercise. Although neurodegenerative diseases are being recognized as multifactorial syndromes, there is little interaction between biomedical and psychosocial approaches. One rationale for integrating biomedical and psychosocial research is the discordance between neuropathology and cognitive functioning. However, there is yet little knowledge about the mechanisms of non-pharmacological interventions, e. g. on the molecular or cellular level.

For this reason, JPND launches this joint transnational call with the aim of improving the understanding of the mechanisms and biological substrates that underlie non-pharmacological interventions in order to tailor a holistic personalized treatment approach.

Who can apply:

CZ: universities, public research institutes and/or another entities classified as research organisations.
(More specification in national rules of each participating country.)

Eligible countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey

Eligibility rules for the consortia:

Each proposal must involve a minimum of three and a maximum of six regular partners, including the coordinator, from at least three different countries participating in this call (see section one). However, if the proposal involves at least one regular partner from an EU-13 country (i.e. Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia) or from Turkey, the maximum number of regular partners is extended to seven. For reasons of transnational balance, no more than two regular partners from the same country are allowed to join a proposal.

Duration of the grant:

max. 3 years

Budget:

Whilst proposals are to be submitted jointly by regular partners from different countries, each regular partner will be funded by the corresponding funding organisation of their country participating in this call.
CZ allocation: 1.000.000 €

The aid intensity for activities carried out by a research organisation might be at the level of 100 % (100 % for fundamental/basic research activities, 50 % for applied research activities and 25 % for experimental development activities.)

Timetable:

Opening: 4. 1. 2022
Deadline (pre-proposals): 1. 3. 2022
Deadline (full proposals): 28. 6. 2022

Topics of the call:

The aim of the call is to establish a number of ambitious, innovative, multi-disciplinary and multinational collaborative research projects that aim at understanding the biomedical, psychological and/or social mechanisms of non-pharmaceutical interventions in order to identify potential target sites for enhanced personalized interventions or a combination of pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions.

Proposals must focus on one or several of the following neurodegenerative diseases:

• Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
• Parkinson’s disease and PD‐related disorders
• Prion diseases
• Motor neuron diseases
• Huntington’s disease
• Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)
• Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)

Proposals submitted under this call may include, but are not limited to, the following types of research:

• Determining biomolecular and/or physical underpinnings of effects of non-pharmacological interventions;
• Examining the mechanisms of effective non-pharmacological interventions on the molecular and cellular level by applying cutting-edge technologies;
• Identification of the mechanisms of non-pharmacological interventions within the brain, using brain imaging, electrophysiology and other equivalent state-of-the-art techniques;
• Identification of biological, psychological and social health markers and their associations to allow the identification of modifiable risk factors amenable to non-pharmacological interventions and better predict and monitor the effects of these interventions for future largescale clinical studies;
• Elaborating modified concepts of non-pharmacological interventions with enhanced efficacy based on a deeper understanding of the mechanisms; JPND call for proposals: “Understanding the mechanisms of non-pharmacological interventions”
• Identification of potential drug-target sites for a combination of pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions;
• Finding (individual) factors that predict response to interventions.

Eligible costs:

• Personal costs
• Consumables
• Equipment
• Indirect costs

The Project Support Department offers the opportunity to promote the expertise of LF MU departments by uploading information to the Crowdhelix portal in relation to this or future calls. Crowdhelix is a platform that enables the creation of links between research institutes and innovative companies by publishing offers/requests for expertise for joint international projects.

Contact person MU LF