ESCMID Operating Procedures

Study Group Projects


1 General Rules

Study Groups (SGs) may request support from ESCMID for the conception, preparation and execution of a research project. This may be a smaller project conducted by the SG alone or in collaboration with another SG (for funding, see § 2.1) or a larger project, in which SG members act as coordinator or partner (for funding, see § 2.2). In addition, special rules apply for projects with industry sponsoring involved (see § 2.3).

In general, ESCMID strictly reinforces unbiased study design, data collection and interpretation.

The SG(s) designs the project:

  1. title, concept, description and aim of the project
  2. protocols and procedures
  3. groups/organisations/people involved and their roles (principle investigator and affiliation is most important)
  4. timelines
  5. budget plan
  6. preliminary agreement with sponsoring partner(s)

Additional rules for requests of SGs to be part of an EU-funded project:

  • Contact the ESCMID EC/Scientific officer/manager before the consortium is decided
  • Summarise your planned project on one A4 page and include
  1. call to which the proposal will be applied
  2. main project coordinator
  3. possible consortium members
  4. the planned role of your SG and/or ESCMID
  5. other participating organisations and their roles
  6. planned main objectives of the project and tentative workpackages
  • Send your summary at least two months before the EU Call deadline
  • Include other ESCMID Study Groups and their experts where applicable
  • Inform about the planned budget as soon as available

The ESCMID Executive Committee reserves the right to be involved in the final decision on the consortium, the exact role of the SG and/or ESCMID in the project, the definition of workpackages and the definition of the final budget.

ESCMID evaluates the project proposal: This is the responsibility of the Scientific Affairs Officer who will present his/her conclusion to the Executive Committee for approval. He/she is assisted in the evaluation by the members of the Scientific Affairs Subcommittee and other experts from the Society, if needed.

SGs which have not been supported during the preceding two years will receive special attention when in budgetary competition with applications from SGs which have received support during this time period.

Upon approval, a study contract is signed between ESCMID and the principle investigator appointed by the SG(s) to ensure rights and responsibilities.

A clinical trial must be registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov. Where necessary, members of an independent trial monitoring committee must be nominated by the SG(s).

In investigator-/SG-initiated projects, the project itself is performed by the principle investigator with the help of the SG(s), data analysis is done within the SG(s), data and results are intellectual property of the SG(s) and the SG(s) must have control of publication output from the study (published in the name of the SG(s) and acknowledging ESCMID’s support).

In EU-funded projects, the same as above is applicable for all workpackages, where the SG is involved.

2 Project Funding

2.1 Investigator-/SG-initiated project

For these projects, SGs can apply for a Research Grant of up to EUR 30’000, which is specifically reserved for collaborative projects undertaken by the SG(s). These applications are defined along the lines of the currently available Research Grants for individuals and can be submitted online on the ESCMID website. Applications will be accepted throughout the year.

SG Research Grant Application

2.2 EU-funded projects

Please carefully consider the additional rules for these projects listed in paragraph §1.

ESCMID support can include – to be defined for the individual project – financial support, advice on proposal writing and project execution, the actual proposal writing in close collaboration with the SG(s) and/or administrative and logistical support. ESCMID has ample experience with education and dissemination within EU-funded projects and therefore can also offer to be responsible for such a workpackage, if requested.

In the drafting phase, ESCMID can offer funding. For the project conception, ESCMID funding may be used for the honorarium for a scientist on a short-term basis (maximum two month full-time) to prepare a grant application for submission to a funding agency (e.g. to the European Commission), or for the organisation of preparatory meetings to develop a research project. Precondition is a letter of intent that the SG(s) through ESCMID becomes official partner in the project.

Funds may not be used for internal institutional or entirely national research projects. Funds are intended to support transnational collaborative research projects in Europe.

The maximum support for a single project is limited to EUR 30’000 with applications to be submitted at any time throughout the year to the Scientific Affairs Officer (CC Science Manager).

IMPORTANT for projects with European funding agencies: Since SGs itself are not a legal entity, the participation of SGs in European projects are only possible by ESCMID becoming official legal partner in the project. ESCMID as a professional society offers a variety of expertise in dissemination, medical guideline development and educational activities for European projects.

2.3 Industry-sponsored projects

For industry-sponsored projects, the following additional rules apply: In addition to the study contract, a funding contract is signed between ESCMID and the sponsor. The funding is unrestricted from the sponsor side and ESCMID confirms using the funding solely for the intended study until the study is finished. ESCMID runs the financial part of the study (receipt of funding, disbursement to the study site as per budget and invoices). This means that individual study sites will need to fill out a costing template, ESCMID will collate the costs and then inform the company of the payment required. This will require an overhead to be paid to ESCMID because it will involve considerable administrative work (5%). The balance – if available by the end of the project – will be shared by the SG(s) (50%) and by ESCMID (50%).

Where necessary, members of an independent trial monitoring committee must be nominated by the SG(s), not by the company. The research output must under the control of the SG. The publication plan should be presented to the ESCMID Executive Committee for approval.


January 2013