Deadline: 31-Aug-2025
The Department of Biotechnology is inviting proposals for the establishment of Image Informatic Centers. These centers aim to collect, store, and retrieve diagnostic images along with related clinical data to support advanced research and healthcare improvements.
The initiative encourages the creation of Imaging Biobanks with annotated, high-quality image databases. These will be used to develop powerful AI algorithms. Proposals combining clinical expertise with advanced image metadata and AI tools for analysis will be prioritized.
Preference will be given to projects that create comprehensive image datasets of both healthy and diseased states. These should be annotated by clinical experts. Proposals that merely focus on collecting images and building AI models without detailed annotation will not be preferred.
Successful proposals should aim to enhance biomedical research, improve diagnosis and treatment, and harness the potential of imaging and AI. The centers will collect diverse human body images along with metadata such as demographics, clinical tests, habits, outcomes, treatments, and relevant genetic information.
They must also establish secure, accessible databases with proper IT infrastructure. Data should be made available to researchers via an easy-to-use online platform. The project will also support the development and publication of predictive algorithms for disease diagnosis and prognosis.
The Department plans to fund up to 10 multi-institutional projects, each lasting up to 5 years, with a maximum budget of INR 15 crore per project.
Eligible applicants include Indian nationals in regular positions at recognized academic or scientific institutions (government or private). Institutions must be approved by DSIR as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO). Private institutions and NGOs must submit valid documentation including NGO DARPAN registration, legal certificates, and audited financials for the last three years.
Each project must have at least one co-investigator from each participating institute. One of the PI or Co-PI must have a service duration aligning with the project’s timeline.
The research team must be multidisciplinary, with skills in radiology, pathology, oncology, clinical medicine, data science, computational biology, machine learning, and deep learning. Preference will be given to teams with existing clinical or trial datasets.
Use of free and open-source software is encouraged to promote data usability. Each proposal must include a plan for long-term sustainability and a mandatory data sharing plan with IBDC. Proposals lacking a data sharing plan will be rejected.
All funding guidelines applicable to extramural projects of the Department will also apply to this call.
For more information, visit Department of Biotechnology.
