Annual applications: ~70 - 170 (2022: 126)

Acceptance rate: ~8 - 25% (2022: 22,2%)

Total funding (cumulative since 1997): 5.5 Mio EUR

Grantees 2022: 28

Reviewers for 2022 Research Grants: 230

ESCMID research grants help young outstanding investigators pursue ground-breaking research in the fields of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases. The call to apply for the ESCMID Research Grants 2024 will officially open 21 June 2023 and the deadline for submitting your applications is 13 September 2023, 17:00 CEST.  

Results of the applications will be sent out to applicants mid to late January 2024.

For any further info, please read our FAQ document.

For the Research Grant programme 2024, only projects dealing with Bacterial Infections & Diseases (incl. diagnostics, pathogenesis, antibacterial susceptibility & resistance, antibacterial stewardship, vaccines) will be accepted.

The maximum amount granted per project is EUR 20,000. This includes any potential overhead costs charged by your institution. ESCMID’s funding may be used to support the entire project or part of it.

ESCMID has reserved up to EUR 50,000 each for two excellently rated projects, where the reviewers see a great potential and are of the opinion that they merit additional funds to take the topic further.
 

• The research project may consist of laboratory investigations, clinical studies, experimental animal studies, or a combination of these.
• For the Research Grant programme 2024 ESCMID only accepts projects dealing with Bacterial Infections and Diseases (incl. diagnostics, pathogenesis, antifungal/antiviral/antiparasitic susceptibility & resistance, stewardship, vaccines).
• Research projects usually run for 12 months (and may continue for a maximum of 24 months) and must start during the year the grant is received.

If your project does not meet the criteria stated above, it will be rejected directly without any peer review.

Projects dealing with Fungal/Viral/Parasitic Infections & Diseases (incl. diagnostics, pathogenesis, antibacterial susceptibility & resistance, antibacterial stewardship, vaccines) will be considered again next year.

Applications will be peer-reviewed and the best projects will be selected based on a ranking of the applications and research proposals (see ”Important guidance” below).

Applicants must:

• Be principal investigators of the proposed research.
• Have a valid Full or Young Scientist ESCMID membership.
• Be born on or after 1 January 1983.
• Have a medical degree (MD, MBBS, PharmD or equivalent), a PhD or be enrolled in a PhD programme.

Applicants who have received an ESCMID research grant before may only apply for a subsequent grant in the year after official completion of the first project.

Members of the ESCMID Executive Committee cannot apply for Research Grants nor submit a support letter for an application.

If the eligibility criteria are not met, your application will be rejected directly without any peer review.

You must submit all documentation electronically; no hard copies are required. Make sure you upload the correct documents. After the deadline you cannot change any part of your application. When submitting, please have the following documents ready:

1. Proposal PDF document (labelled “YourSurname”.pdf; max. 4MB) which includes:
   1. Abstract of your research project (max. 750 words; with 3-5 keywords that best characterize your project): Please enter the abstract/keywords separately into the online form (in addition to them being part of the PDF document) to facilitate reviewer selection.
   2. Introduction/background (max. 500 words)
   3. Objectives (max. 300 words);
   4. Purpose (max. 700 words) significance and potential impact of the project;
   5. Research plan (max. 2,000 words) including design, material & methods, data analysis, project timeline, co-investigators and their contribution to the project;
   6. Budget (max. 1,500 words; use tables wherever possible) including personnel, equipment, consumables;
   7. Description of your present research (max. 750 words);
   8. CV (max. 1,500 words) The CV should show that the applicant has the skills required to complete the project. If the applicant lacks qualification, the letters of support must outline that adequate mentoring is available for the project to proceed. You should discuss this with your supporters;
   9. Applicant’s publication list: should contain max. 10 publications over the last five years; they must be relevant to the project or illustrate the relevant competences.

2. Two signed supporting letters (labelled “YourSurname”_support1.pdf and “YourSurname”_support2.pdf; max. 4MB each).

Important, please read carefully:

• The supporters should know you professionally and be able to judge your work. They could include your advisor during your training or other collaboration partners, but not your current direct supervisor and/or anybody from the same department.
• Projects missing signed supporting letters will be rejected.

3. Potential reviewers: You must suggest at least two suitable potential reviewers for your application. They should not be directly involved in the project proposal or have the same affiliation as the applicant. If possible they should not be from the same country, where the applicant is based. Please specify a reason if you want a certain person not to be selected as reviewer.

4. A colour photograph file (labelled “YourSurname_Firstname”.tiff, .eps or .jpg; max. 4MB) at least 4 x 6 cm with 300 dpi resolution for publication.

For any further info, please read our FAQ document.

• Write succinctly, i.e. you do not need to use the maximum number of words;
• Bullet points are encouraged to facilitate the reviewers’ work;
• If you do not write in English fluently it is advisable to have the text reviewed;
• If your project combines different funding sources, it is essential to clearly specify what source is intended to fund what part of the project. (Omission leads to rejection).
• To be transparent about the review process, please find here the instructions and rating options the reviewers use to rate your application.

Of note, please ensure to submit your proposal well before the deadline in order to avoid the need to solve last minute technical issues.

A financial report and a scientific report should be submitted within six months after completion of the project.

In the financial report you need to provide a detailed breakdown of the funds used. The grantee’s head of department needs to sign the document. The template can be found here.

The scientific report can filled out here (max. 1,000 words) should include:

• Short introduction summarizing the current stage of knowledge for non-specialists
• Study hypothesis
• Specification of what was funded by the ESCMID grant assess output
• Main findings: these may also include how the data contributed to other projects within the department(s)
• Conclusion(s)

More info and the ESCMID templates for the scientific and financial reports will be provided to the awardees after signing the grant agreement.

If a published scientific article is submitted with the report, the report may be abridged and refer to the relevant sections in the article. The article needs to disclose work within the project that received funding from other sources.

The recipient will acknowledge ESCMID as a provider of financial support for the project in all scientific publications on the project using the wording “This study/project has been funded by a Research Grant [year of grant] of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) to [initials of grantee]”.

The society’s journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection (CMI) is the expected journal for initial submission of the manuscript(s), but alternative journals may be considered depending on the scope of the project.

ESCMID strongly encourages grantees to send proof of all published scientific articles based on the outputs of grant-funded projects to the ESCMID Office – even if the project has officially been closed and all reports have been sent. We will publish this information continuously on ESCMID's website and annually in the ESCMID Yearbook.

After signing the grant agreement, ESCMID will transfer 50% of the funds to the awarded institution. The remaining 50% of the approved funds are paid out upon receipt of the final reports (see “reporting” above).