The JPND member states that contribute financially to this call are:

• Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• Denmark, Innovation Fund Denmark
• France, French National Research Agency
• Germany, Federal Ministry of Education and Research
• Ireland, Health Research Board
• Italy, Ministry of Health
• Netherlands, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development
• Norway, The Research Council of Norway
• Spain, National Institute of Health Carlos III
• Sweden, Swedish Research Council
• Switzerland, Swiss National Science Foundation
• United Kingdom, Medical Research Council

However, this is a cross-JPND activity and Working Groups may contain members from countries who are not financial participants to the call (see also question No. 2).

Any Principal Investigator or senior Post-Doctoral researcher who is based in an eligible institution within one of the funding JPND member countries may apply as a lead applicant and coordinator of a Working Group. The lead applicant does not have to be the most senior member of the Working Group. Scientists from all EU and non-EU countries may join a Working Group, they do not need to come from one of the 12 funding JPND member countries.

For a proposed Working Group to be eligible it must be transnational and involve researchers from three or more of the 30 JPND countries. In addition, the coordinator must be from a JPND country that is participating in this call (see also question No. 1). Aside from this requirement, we encourage the inclusion of essential expertise from outside the JPND countries.

It is anticipated that the outcomes of Working Groups will be guidelines and methodological frameworks that will allow imaging methods to be fully exploited for neurodegenerative disease research. As such, we expect the contributing members of working groups to be internationally recognised experts in their particular fields. Applicants should consider whether the composition of the proposed Working Group best meets the need to create outcomes that will be respected by the field.

Individuals are permitted to be members of Working Groups in more than one proposal. However, it is recommended that individuals do not act as the Working Group coordinator for more than one proposal.

To qualify for funding, each proposal must involve research experts from three or more of the 30 JPND countries. There is no further limitation.

The use of an external reference group is not a compulsory part of the application. However, Working Groups may find that using an external reference group or similar quality control mechanism will help to ensure that objectivity is maintained in developing the Working Group’s conclusions.

The call text and an application template are available on the JPND website. Applications are to be submitted by the coordinator in electronic format via the electronic submission system by March 10, 2016, at 23:59h C.E.T. Proposals that do not meet this deadline will be rejected.

The imaging research topics described in the call text are areas where the JPND Action Group on Alignment and Harmonisation decided that further thinking is required to reach consensus on guidelines and a framework for future studies. However, this list is not exhaustive, and proposals for areas that are similar in theme will be considered. A scientific rationale for the importance of a Working Group in the suggested area would be required.

The proposal budget should depend on the work plan, and will be dependent upon the size of the working group, the number of workshops to be held, additional communications requirements, and plans to publish the Working Group outcomes. A maximum budget of €50,000 may be requested.

Evaluation of proposals for this call will be undertaken by an international and independent review group, which will make recommendations to the funding organisations. The review group will recommend a ranked list of proposals to the JPND Call Steering Committee that comprises representatives of the funding organisations that participate in the call. The Call Steering Committee will consider funding options for projects in the fundable range in order to determine an optimal alignment with available funding.

In principle, there is no requirement to do so. It would be permissible to hold the workshop in another JPND country (i.e. not the country of the funding organisation) providing this decision can be justified and providing that the funding organisation that funds the Working Group agrees.

It is anticipated that each project would involve small workshops at the beginning and end of the process. Between these times, it is expected that the working groups would work remotely via tele-/web-conference, e-mail or other media.

Final reports will be expected at the end of the funding period. Reports are to be delivered to the JPND Joint Call Secretariat (for contact details, see the call text). A template will be provided for the reports.

It is anticipated that the Working Groups will establish guidelines and methodological frameworks that will have an impact on future neurodegeneration research in imaging studies. We will ask one of the Working Groups to organise a common workshop to share findings (see question No. 16). All of the Working Group reports will be discussed by the JPND Executive and Management Boards and published on the JPND website. We encourage the Working Groups to consider additional methods for ensuring that the recommendations in these reports reach their audiences, e.g., publication in a scientific journal or adoption by a learned society.

The aim of the common workshop is to bring together and present the combined outputs from all Working Groups funded under this call, to encourage further cross-fertilisation of ideas and wider dissemination to stakeholder groups. This workshop will be held when the Working Group reports are complete. Accordingly, the common workshop will take place in 2018.

JPND will ask the funded Working Groups if they would be willing to organise this workshop. Funds for covering expenses related to organising this common workshop will be provided by one of the JPND funders. If your Working Group is interested in organising and holding this workshop, please indicate this in the application template. Please note that indicating your interest in organising the common workshop does not influence the scientific evaluation of the proposal.

Please contact the JPND Joint Call Secretariat if you have questions about scientific remit or applying to this call:

Dr. Constanze Hahn (Phone +49-228-3821-1865; E-mail: Constanze.Hahn(at)DLR.de)

Dr. Thomas Becker (Phone: +49-228-3821-1686; E-mail: Thomas.Becker(at)DLR.de)