Two years after the first Network Projects Call, which led to the funding of four projects worth over €15 million, the Foundation is back with a new look, closer to its stakeholders and the world of research, with a new measure aimed at supporting biomedical research in Lombardy.
The context is that of Precision Medicine, to follow up – with concrete action – on the contents of the recently published position paper on this topic (http://www.frrb.it/it/news-mp).
The new call for proposals is in line with the strategy developed by the Lombardy Region and aims to develop and implement Personalized Medicine approaches, a goal towards which Italian and European biomedical research is moving ever more rapidly.
There are three scientific themes: omics, advanced therapies, and nanopharmaceuticals. Each project must be developed around the concept of Precision Medicine and must demonstrate its potential to transfer the results of the funded research to the Regional Health System, taking into account the ethical, social, and health implications of personalized treatments.
There are also two important new developments: a portion of the scientists leading the projects must be female, in order to promote the presence of women in research. This criterion is in line with the Foundation’s philosophy of promoting gender equality (the Foundation participates in the TARGET project – http://www.frrb.it/it/target).
In addition, the Foundation demonstrates its commitment to the future of young researchers, whose salaries may be reimbursed with funds allocated by the Foundation itself, in accordance with the policy guidelines of the Lombardy Region.
Detailed information is provided in the call for proposals and in the attached documents, which can be downloaded from the ‘documents to download’ table.
The scientific evaluation process for the Network Projects call for proposals was completed on May 27, 2019.
The ranking list, published on June 12, 2019, can be consulted here.
Projects funded by FRRB
Official documents of the call for applications
The official documents for participation in the call for proposals are published.
- State aid for research, development, and innovation – Guidelines
- Call for Network Projects – Second edition
- Call Text Network Projects – Second edition_eng
- Guidelines_for Submission Network Projects – Second edition
- FAQ Call for networks
Scientific activities kick off for the five winning projects
The five projects worthy of funding were selected through an evaluation process lasting approximately six months, which concluded with the publication of the final ranking on June 12, 2019.
The scientific community’s reaction to the publication of the call for proposals by FRRB was extremely positive, with a total of 22 projects submitted involving 46 institutions in the Lombardy region, divided between I.R.C.C.S., ASST, universities, and research centers (Figure 1).
Following a thorough formal investigation, the projects underwent an independent scientific review process involving more than 30 experts: internationally renowned scientists from various countries (Figure 2) evaluated the projects from both a scientific point of view and in terms of their impact on the region, selecting those most deserving of funding at the end of the process.
The projects, which will last 36 months and officially began on January 1, 2020, have experienced some delays due to the COVID-19 health emergency.