Deadline: 13-Apr-23
The European Commission (EC) is accepting proposals for Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Understanding Vaccine Induced-immunity.
Scope
- As shown by the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines are a critical component needed to bring infectious disease pandemics under control. The availability of effective vaccines that are able to induce a strong and durable immune response are critical to respond to health threats caused by infectious disease epidemics or pandemics. A proactive approach to understanding the factors that affect vaccine durability and strength is necessary to ensure development of effective vaccines for future infectious disease outbreaks.
- Proposals should study vaccine-induced immunity in the general population and vulnerable groups. Proposals should look both at the magnitude and breadth of initial immune responses and the duration of immunity after vaccination with different vaccine types (mRNA, vector, inactivated, subunit, attenuated,…). Proposals should assess how sex (e.g. male vs female, pre- vs postmenopausal), age (childhood vs adolescent vs elderly) and/or lifestyle (e.g. obesity, drug addiction, diet, sport) affect the immune response. Proposals may also examine genetic and other molecular factors that may influence immune response in humans. Proposals should pursue a multi-omics approach in order to foster a deep understanding of vaccine induced immunity.
Funding Information
The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
- public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
- cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).
Expected Outcomes
This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination 3 “Tackling diseases and reducing disease burden”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim for delivering results that are directed, tailored towards and contributing to all of the following expected outcomes:
- The scientific and clinical communities have an increased knowledge of vaccine-induced immunity and, in particular, a better understanding of factors that affect the magnitude, breadth, nature and duration of immunity to vaccine antigens.
- The scientific and clinical communities have an increased knowledge of the durability and breadth of vaccine-induced immunity in vulnerable populations and older age groups.
- The scientific and clinical communities have an increased knowledge of correlates of protection for pathogens with epidemic potential to allow the development of effective vaccines.
- The scientific and clinical communities have an increased knowledge of the characteristics that influence vaccine effectiveness to allow for novel approaches for the development of vaccines for emerging and re-emerging infections, including antigenic variants, in the context of epidemic and pandemic preparedness.
Eligibility Criteria
- To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
- To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions,
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States,
- countries associated to Horizon Europe;
- the following low- and middle-income countries.
For more information, visit European Commission.