General Framework

How does JPND funding work?

Amongst those countries that are part of JPND, respective national funding organisations agree to fund a joint transnational call for proposals. Funders are free to choose which calls they wish to support and this decision is often dependent on their own priorities and focus areas. The current JPND call features a central application procedure for proposals, and is coordinated centrally by a Joint Call Secretariat.

JPND funding is based on the “virtual common pot” model. This virtual common pot of money is a total of the individual budgetary commitments of all funding organisations that participate in the call. These budget commitments of the funding organisations are made in advance of the call publication and are based on several factors, including budget availability and the anticipated response from their respective national scientific communities.

Funding organisations only pay for their own participants – each funding organisation will fund its own project participants of successful proposals and covers its own administrative effort. Therefore, researchers are not funded by JPND directly, but exclusively by their respective funding organisations, taking into account the individual budgetary limits.

For this specific call, the European Commission (EC) provides additional top-up funding from Horizon 2020. This top-up funding from the EC will further increase the budget that has already been allocated by the individual funding organisations. EC top-up funding will be used to fund additional proposals after the individual budgets from the funding organisations will have been spent.

Are there preferred topics or diseases that JPND would like to fund?

No, there are no “preferred” topics or diseases that should be addressed. Scientists are free to develop their own ideas, as long as they fit into the general framework of the call. However, the topic of the project, the scientific approach and the methodology should be well justified in the proposal.

Please note that you can only apply for a specific topic if it is supported by your respective funding organisation. If there is more than one JPND funding organisation in your country, please make sure that you select the appropriate organisation. Some funding organisations may also have specific regulations or restrictions with regard to the topic or the type of work they support. Information on the participating funding organisations in each topic and on regulations and restrictions is given in annex I of the call text and in the specific information sheets.

What about rare diseases?

A pre-proposal on a rare disease will have the same chance in the evaluation process as compared to a proposal on, for example, Alzheimer’s Disease – as long as the clinical relevance is convincingly shown.

Who is eligible to apply for a JPND call?

This call is being conducted by a number of JPND countries, represented by their respective funding organisations. In fact, only those researchers that are eligible according to the rules of their relevant national funding organisation may apply for funding. The call text provides all information on the participating funding organisations and eligibility criteria. This information is complimented by the specific information sheets, which provide additional information on national eligibility criteria for each participating funding organisation. If, after reading these documents, you are still uncertain about your eligibility to apply to this call, we strongly recommend consulting the respective national contact point (contact information is given in the call text as well as in the specific information sheets).

Meeting the eligibility criteria is absolutely mandatory! If partners of a consortium are not eligible, the whole proposal may be rejected without further review. Therefore, we strongly recommend checking the eligibility of all partners very carefully and consult with your national contact point if in doubt.

Please note that some countries demand additional forms to be completed by the applicants (this information is provided in the specific information sheets).

If there are uncertainties, whom can I contact to get further information?

If you have questions regarding this call, you should either contact the JPND Joint Call Secretariat or your respective national contact point. Contact information for both is given in the call text.

The JPND Joint Call Secretariat may help you with regard to general aspects of the call (e.g., if you have questions on the call topic, the proposal template or the evaluation process). The JPND Joint Call Secretariat will be able to communicate in English language by email or phone. In contrast, the national contact points will be able to advise you on all aspects of national regulations or restrictions, e. g., budgetary issues, eligibility aspects or additional requirements for potential applicants.

When should I contact my national contact point?

The national contact point can provide information on specific national regulations, restrictions and on the available budget to its researchers. Please keep in mind that failing to fulfil these specific regulations/restrictions may result in a rejection of the entire proposal. Therefore, it is helpful for each member of a consortium to contact its national contact point personally. Contact details are provided in the call text and in the specific information sheets, which can be downloaded from the JPND website.