”la Caixa” Foundation Call for Applications Health research projects

Call publication
21 October, 2019, at 2 p.m. CET

Opening of the new on-line system for user registration
9 December, 2019, at 2 p.m. CET

Opening of the new on-line system for proposal submission
8 January, 2020, at 2 p.m. CET

Deadline for applications (automatic closure)
12 February, 2020, at 2 p.m. CET

Remote pre-selection by peer review
From February to June 2020

Face-to-face assessment by Selection Committees
9 and 10 July, 2020 in Barcelona

Resolution announcement
Late July 2020

Execution of the selected projects
From September 2020 to September 2023

The ”la Caixa” Foundation launches the third edition of the Call for biomedical and health research projects with the aim of identifying and giving support to the most promising initiatives of scientific excellence with potential value and high social impact, whether in basic, clinical or translational research.

Proposals must be submitted in the following thematic areas:

• Neuroscience

• Oncology

• Cardiovascular and associated metabolic disease

• Infectious diseases

• Enabling technologies focused on the four previous thematic areas

For the 2020 Call, project proposals, to be executed over up to 3 years, may be:

• Individual projects: submitted by a single research organization (Host Organization, HO), requesting up to a maximum of €500,000.

• Research consortium projects: submitted by at least two and no more than five research organizations and coordinated by the HO. Research consortium projects may request up to a maximum of €1,000,000.

Both individual and research consortium projects may also include non-profit civil society organizations (CSO), such as patients’ associations. In this edition, established companies may not form part of the cooperating organizations that carry out activities of the project.

The intention is to distribute this amount approximately equitably amongst the different thematic areas, but the final distribution will always depend on the quality and specific characteristics of the submitted proposals. The fact that the proposals are submitted as individual or as research consortium, or are basic, clinical or translational research projects will not in any case be a selection criterion during the evaluation process. The only selection criteria for assessing the proposals are those described in the Rules for participation.

The correct allocation of the budget, properly adjusted to the activities to be carried out, will be a strictly evaluated criterion during the selection process.

Host Organizations (HO). Projects submitted may be led by researchers from non-profit research organizations based in Spain or Portugal.

Project Leader (PL). The principal investigator at the host organization must also be the project leader who submits the proposal and coordinates overall execution of the project.

Research Performing Organizations(RPO). Any non-profit organization dedicated to research that carries out activities of the project. In individual projects, the RPO is the host organization. In research consortia, there must be a minimum of two and a maximum of five RPOs (including the host organization). Research organizations with the same NIF or VAT number will be considered one sole organization.

Principal Investigators (PI). Each research performing organization must have a principal investigator responsible for performing the activities in the project carried out at their institution.

Civil Society Organizations (CSO). Both individual projects and research consortia may also include up to three non-profit civil society organizations that are not engaged in research as part of their usual activity (e.g. patients' associations).

Companies. Established companies may not be members of the project team, but may receive funds as subcontracted.

Organizations not located in Spain or Portugal may receive a maximum of 30% of the total project budget.

Team members. All team members should form part of the host organization (HO), the civil society organizations (CSO) or the research consortia.

Details of the eligibility criteria and required documentation to complete the application can be found in the Rules for participation.

Previous awardees. PLs of awarded projects in the two previous editions of the Health Research Call cannot apply as PLs for new proposals in this edition.

Threshold score in the previous Health Research Call. In order to promote the quality of proposals, PLs of projects that scored less than 5.50 in the pre-selection remote phase of the previous edition will not be able to submit proposals to this edition.

The on-line system does not allow PLs in either of these situations to open proposals in this call.

The following projects are NOT eligible:

• studies whose results are subject to rights, of any nature, held by for-profit organizations before the submission of the proposal;

• studies that evaluate the efficacy or safety of products, therapies, medical devices or diagnostic systems of for-profit organizations.

Proposals are selected on the basis of a rigorous process that will be carried out by peer reviewers in accordance with the highest standards of quality, impartiality, objectivity and transparency.

The process consists of an initial pre-selection remote phase and a second selection phase of face-to-face interviews conducted by Selection Committees in each of the research areas.

Check the list of the most frequently asked questions.

Questions and answers

E-mail: healthresearch@fundaciolacaixa.org

If you have any further questions, you can attend one of the following informative sessions

• Barcelona: Thursday 16 January, 2020, at 4 p.m. CosmoCaixa Barcelona

• Madrid: Wednesday 22 January, 2020, at 10.30 a.m. CaixaForum Madrid

• Lisbon: Thursday 23 January, 2020, at 10 a.m. BPI Headquarters Auditorium, Lisbon

• Porto: Friday 24 January, 2020, at 10 a.m. Serralves Foundation Library, Porto