Deadline: 31-Aug-22
Merck is offering a series of research grants to stimulate innovative research in challenging areas of future importance.
The aim of the Research Grant is to create new sustainable partnerships with leading global science and technology players to work on breakthrough science and to generate valuable seeds for future business.
Areas
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany intends to offer research grants in the following research areas:
- Drug discovery: Research proposals advancing the field of drug discovery and are looking for proposals for projects to identify and characterize the next game-changing molecule to help cure cancer, autoimmune/neuroinflammatory disease or infertility.
- AI for predictive diagnostics & therapeutic target discovery: Research proposals that can substantially advance Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning mediated predictive diagnostics and drug target discovery with the goal of developing tools to augment current approaches.
- Chemistry in the cloud – Rapid synthesis through automation: Chemistry has become richer and more complex over the last years. Chemical experiments scale exponentially with the number of variables like reactants, conditions and compound diversity. At the same time chemists must restrict their search spaces dramatically while synthesizing even more complicated molecules.
- Innovation within green chemistry: Science and technology are at the heart of everything they do, driving innovations that enable them to contribute to a sustainable future. In this endeavor, they are seeking research proposals in the field of green chemistry. Progress is currently made e.g in the field of catalysts, prevention of waste and emissions, renewable feed stocks, use of AI for the design for reactions with more efficient synthesis.
- Sustainability in healthcare R&D: The pharmaceutical R&D value chain that can tangibly improve sustainability aspects in R&D. The proposals should address the following search scope and suggest a way forward.
Funding Areas
Grants of up to 500,000 € per year for up to 3 years are available in the areas as further specified below.
- Drug discovery – 3 grants comprising up to 500,000 €/year for 3 years with the option of extension.
- AI for predictive diagnostics & therapeutic target discovery – grant comprising between 100,000 – 300,000 $/year for 2 years with the option of extension
- Chemistry in the cloud – Rapid synthesis through automation – 1 grant comprising 100,000 €/year for 3 years
- Innovation within green chemistry – 1 grant comprising 100,000 € for 1 year with potential further collaboration
- Sustainability in healthcare R&D – 1 grant comprising 100,000 € for 1 year
Stages
- In the first stage of the Research Grants applications process, applicants submit their application containing non-confidential information only. You may apply for more than one grant or submit your application for more than one category. If your application is successful, you are invited to submit a full proposal under confidentiality and join a deep-dive workshop.
- The second stage of the Research Grant process is a collaborative step, the deep-dive workshop. Finalists submit their full proposals and then work together with Merck managers and scientists to jointly optimize submitted project proposals. All teams reaching this stage will be informed in October. The deep-dive workshops will take place in November 2022.
- The third stage of the Research Grants process is the Research Grant funding phase. To enable pay-out and project start, Merck enters into bilateral collaboration agreements with the winning recipients. The collaborative Research Grants are a unique opportunity for researchers who are interested in working with Merck‘s scientists and receive guidance from industry.
Eligibility Criteria
The Merck research grants program is open to scientists in all career stages who are affiliated with any research-based institution, university or company.
For more information, visit https://www.merckgroup.com/en/research/open-innovation/research-grants.html