Research on Alzheimer's disease and related disorders
Québec - France - Canada Collaboration

Call secretariat

Anne Welcker
FRSQ
+ 1 514-873-2114
Ext. 276

At FRSQ:
Joanne Goldberg
FRSQ
+ 1 514-873-2114
Ext. 368
jgoldberg@frsq.gouv.qc.ca

At ANR:
Véronique Briquet-Laugier
Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR)
+ 33 1 78 09 80 26
veronique.briquet-laugier@agencerecherche.fr

At CIHR:
Marilyn Desrosiers
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
+ 1 613-954-6242
Marilyn.Desrosiers@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Objectives

The aim of the research projects is to generate knowledge leading to better understanding of the aetiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders and to improved diagnosis, treatment and care for people suffering from these diseases and for their families.

Projects must:

-Be large-scale, and

-Bring together researchers from a variety of disciplines, areas of expertise and research settings and with an array of approaches, and

-Cover fields where the interests and strengths of the researchers are already proven.

The projects will have to be structured so as to contribute a new added value that the researchers, funded by each of the three research funding agencies, could not achieve on their own.

Priority themes

In this call for proposals, the emphasis is on, but not restricted to, the following five major research themes:

-Markers for detecting the diseases and tracking its progression (genetic, genomic, neuro-imaging, and neuropsychological)

-Animal models and preclinical studies

-Emerging therapies, and innovative studies and clinical trials

-Prevention

-Psychosocial aspects, behaviour disorders, quality of life, natural caregivers, families, end-of-life care, organization of care and services

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

Conditions 

Research teams applying to this call for proposals must consist of researchers working in eligible institutions under the conditions and requirements of the relevant research funding agency.

Multiple applications

An investigator may participate in only one application under this call for proposals.

Research team structure

The project research team is to be structured as follows:

-a Named Principal Investigator (called “coordinateur” for ANR), who will represent the project and be responsible for the management of the application and for the project's internal scientific management;

-one co-principal investigator for each research funding agency involved in the project (called “responsable scientifique” for ANR), who will be responsible for managing the project with regards to the specific agency in question (the Named Principal Investigator will also assume the role of co-principal investigator for his or her research funding agency)

-and co-investigators (called “partenaires” for ANR).

Each project research team must comprise:

At least:

And no more than:

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

Documents

E-mail as attached document to alzheimer@frsq.(...)

Named Principal Investigator

-Letter of notice form

Content

The letter of notice should:

-Contain the name, contact information and institutional affiliation for the Named Principal Investigator, the co-principal investigators and the co-investigators

-Briefly describe the objectives of the research team, the proposed methods and the anticipated outputs

-Briefly demonstrate that the proposed research project is in line with the topic of this call for proposals (Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders)

-Contain an overall budget estimate and estimates for each research funding agency involved

Objective

The letter of notice serves to:

-Establish the applicant's eligibility for the competition

-Check the application against the topic of the call for proposals

-Help create an expert review panel qualified to review the submitted projects

Procedure

The letter of notice form should be:

-completed, saved in Word format and named “Named Principal Investigator nameFirst name(s) initial(s)_LIAlz.doc” (for example SmithR_LIAlz.doc)

-and submitted by the Named Principal Investigator to the call secretariat (FRSQ)

-according to the rules for submission and by the deadline.

An investigator may submit only one letter of notice under this call for proposals either as Named Principal Investigator, co-principal investigator or co-investigator.

Delivery receipt

An e-mailed acknowledgement of receipt of the letter of notice will be sent to the applicants by October 20, 2009, at the latest.

Applicants are advised to contact the call secretariat as soon as possible if they do not receive this e-mailed acknowledgement.

Verification

The letters of notice will be verified by the call steering committee, composed of scientific officials from the three research funding agencies.

Criteria:

-administrative eligibility of the researchers and of the research teams

-fit between the objectives of the call for proposal and the proposed research project

Only applicants whose letter of notice is deemed eligible and in line with the topic of the call for proposals will be invited to submit a full application.

The call secretariat will notify successful applicants by e-mail by October 30, 2009, at the latest. These applicants will receive the instructions and further documentation needed for the submission of the full application at a later date.

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

The instructions for submitting the full application will be available at a later date.

Applicants

-Application form, in 2 sections:

-a common section including, but not limited to:

-A section containing the appendices specific to France and Canada (one common appendix will be submitted by researchers from Québec and researchers from Canadian provinces other than Québec), including the budget

-CVs from all the researchers (in the format prescribed by the research funding agencies)

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

Procedure

Applications will be evaluated by a review panel of scientists working outside of France and Canada and selected by the three research funding agencies.

Following the peer review, the call steering committee will establish a final ranking of the applications, based on the projects’ scientific merit, as assessed by the peer review panel, and on the balance between different approaches and themes. The steering committee will then submit funding recommendations to the three research funding agencies’ ruling bodies.

The process for the final ranking of the applications will be sent to the applicants invited to submit a full application.

Peer review panel criteria

-Originality and innovative aspects of the project

-Fit with the priority themes

-Track record of the researchers and scientific excellence of the application as defined by the panel of peers

-Relevance and rigour of research hypotheses and experimental protocols

-Added value of the collaboration involving researchers from France, Québec and/or other Canadian provinces

-Québec – France – Canada research team interdisciplinarity and complementary expertise

-Projects of an interinstitutional and interthematic nature, and where applicable, clinical collaboration

-Chosen methodologies

-Feasibility of anticipated outputs and realistic view of their significance

-Proposed strategy for knowledge translation (towards the scientific community and the general public)

-Budget feasibility and justification

-Training of highly qualified personnel

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

3 years maximum, not renewable.

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

This call for proposals is endowed with the equivalent of $2.5 million (CAD) or €1.6 million per year. A maximum of 5 projects will be funded.

There is no set maximum or minimum with respect to funds being requested.

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

Source

Awardees from Québec will be funded by FRSQ and CIHR.

Awardees from France will be funded by ANR.

Awardees from Canadian provinces other than Québec will be funded by CIHR.

Funding and management rules

Grants will be administered in accordance with the research funding agencies’ respective general rules and regulations. Applicants are subject to the rules and regulations of the research funding agency that will provide funding.

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

Eligible expenses, such as salaries, equipment, other project-related expenditures, as well as travel expenses, are subject to the rules and regulations of the research funding agency that will provide funding

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

In accepting this grant, the applicants agree to comply with the conditions and requirements stipulated in this call for proposals as well as with the rules and regulations of the research funding agency that will provide funding.

Applicants are responsible for learning and knowing these rules and regulations, and are strongly advised to carefully read the annex that applies to their research funding agency and/or contact the appropriate research funding agency representative.

Failure to comply will result in cancellation of the grant.

Report and presentation

In accepting this grant, the Named Principal Investigator agrees to:

-Send the call secretariat a mid-term progress report not exceeding 5 pages in length recapping the key messages of their research work, a Statement of Account and a scientific report

-Send the call secretariat a final report not exceeding 5 pages in length within 6 months of termination of the grant period, recapping the key messages of their research work, a Statement of Account and a scientific report. The investigator is encouraged to use Reader-Friendly Writing 1:3:25 prescribed by Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF).

-Give an oral presentation of the key messages of the research work at an event such as a symposium organized by the three research funding agencies

Knowledge transfer

The applicants agree to authorize the three research funding agencies to use the final report and published research outputs (scientific publications, conferences, symposia, conventions or e-publication) for reproduction, translation, execution or public extension purposes through whatever means or for any other non-commercial purposes, provided there is no infringement of copyright law

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

Sharing of intellectual property rights and user rights must comply with the rules of the three research funding agencies

Research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

Québec

Ministère du Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation (MDEIE)
(Programme de soutien à la recherche : soutien à des initiatives internationales de recherche et d'innovation)

Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS)

Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ)

France

Agence nationale pour la recherche (ANR), France

Canada

Canadians Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)