SymbNET Research Grants: the use of new methods in Metabolomics and Genomics
Procedure and Selection
1. Calls for proposal submissions:
- 6th of September - 20th of November 2021
- 1st of March - 30th of April 2022
- 15th of August - 30th of September 2022
- 16th of January - 27th of February 2023
- 14th of August - 12th of October 2023
2. Proposals should be submitted here.
3. The applicants must provide the following items:
a) Name and Affiliation;
b) Project Title and the state of the art of their field of interest and the question(s) they want to address in their proposal (maximum of 3,000 characters, including spaces);
c) Summary of the experiments they want to perform and how the use of the new technique(s) will promote the development of their research project or lab research plans (maximum of 3,000 characters, including spaces);
d) A quote of the Research Facility or a detailed budget of expenses. This should be the full cost of the proposed experiments, of which SymbNET covers 50%, up to €4,000;
e) A statement (1 paragraph) from the Head of the relevant Facility at FCG-IGC or ITQB-NOVA about the novelty of the technique and local unavailability;
f) A statement from the applicant * confirming compliance with Ethics regulations. This letter should state the following:
"I [applicant's name] confirm that the research to be developed at [Name of Institute] within the scope of the SymbNET Research Grant complies with all national and European ethical and safety rules. The Laboratory / Facility where the project will be developed follows all national and European ethical and safety rules, and all licenses required for experimentation have been acquired. [date] and [signature]”.
* If the applicant is not a Group Leader, the statement has to be filled and signed by the Group Leader.
g) A letter from the collaborative Group Leader / Head of Facility confirming their support, and the following statement:
"I [name of Group Leader / Head of Facility] confirm that the research to be developed at [Name of Institute] within the scope of the SymbNET Research Grant complies with all national and European ethical and safety rules. The Laboratory / Facility where the project will be developed follows all national and European ethical and safety rules, and all licenses required for experimentation have been acquired. [date] and [signature]”.
The Ethics and Safety statements must be filled even if the project does not raise ethical questions or licenses are required.
4. Eligibility requirements will be verified by the task leader (Michael Zimmermann, EMBL) and contributors (Luís Moita and Luís Teixeira, FCG-IGC) with the support from the project manager (Mariana G. Simões, FCG-IGC).
5. Proposals will be evaluated by the SymbNET representatives of CAU, UNIL or EMBL.
6. If one of the SymbNET representatives has a conflict of interests in the evaluation of any of the proposals (e.g. is involved in the preparation of the proposal), a replacement will be proposed by the relevant partner institution.
7. Selection will be based on:
a) The innovative nature of the proposal;
b) The novelty of the method used and unavailability of similar methods at FCG-IGC or ITQB-NOVA;
c) The relevance of the question(s) being addressed within the scientific areas represented in SymbNET;
d) The scientific strength of the proposal;
e) The feasibility of the proposal;
f) Added value to the applicant's host institution in the development of the technique being used or the long-term use of the technique for the applicant.
Throughout the calls, selection will balance institutions, research groups, and topics covered in the awarded applications.
8. The reviewers will meet after performing an individual evaluation and ranking to discuss and select the applications.
9. The selected projects will be announced in December 2021 (1st call), May 2022 (2nd call), October 2022 (3rd call), February 2023, November 2023 (5th call).