Medical Technology Research Grants for Neurological Diseases and Mental Illnesses
Under title ‘Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental Illnesses and Neurological Diseases – Unlocking the Potential of Medical Engineering for a Better Quality of Life’, the new funding initiative by the BMBF provides grants for industry-led, high-risk, pre-competitive research and development projects for a period of up to 3 years. The initiative is designed to encourage advances in medical engineering for faster diagnosis and better treatment for mental illnesses, neurological diseases and rare diseases. Projects should generally be carried out in research consortia involving several partners from research, industry and clinical practice. They should aim for the development of novel, marketable healthcare solutions on the basis of innovative medical technologies.
The thematic focus of the initiative is on the following areas:
Mental illnesses including, addiction, depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and psychoses.
Neurological diseases including, vascular diseases of the brain which may lead to strokes, episodic and paroxysmal diseases including migraines and tensions headaches, as well as epilepsy and insomnia. Also included are infectious diseases of the nervous systems, tumours in the brain and spinal cord, diseases of the peripheral nervous system, polyneuropathy and comorbidities of neurological diseases such as muscle weakness, as well as neurodegenerative diseases and chronic inflammatory diseases of the brain and spinal cord such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Rare diseases.
Projects addressing related areas which align with the initiative’s overall aims are also considered.
Funding is provided for research consortia bringing together actors from industry, research and clinical practice. Proposals from individual organisations or consortia involving only partners from research institutions are supported only in justified cases.
Eligible for funding are the following organisations based in Germany:
Institutions of higher education.
Research hospitals.
Non-educational research institutions.
Private companies, particularly SMEs.
Funding is provided in the form of a project grant on the basis of project-related eligible costs. The maximum funding period is 3 years. There are no set maximum funding amounts.
For institutions of higher education and non-commercial research institutions, up to 100% of project-related costs may be covered. In addition, a project lump sum of 20% may be granted.
The overall maximum funding levels per research consortium vary between 65% and 100% according to the research area.
Applicants are initially asked to submit only an outline project proposal which will be followed by a full, formal funding application in the case of a positive review.
The deadline for the submission of outline proposals is 31 January 2020.
More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.