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Preparation of the 10th CMMC Funding Period

01/2023 - 12/2025

Evaluation procedure
for the Individual Project Funding Program (IPFP)
has been initiated


We are pleased to announce that 63 project proposal were submitted by members of the Faculty of Medicine or the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
After reviewing the formal criteria, all 63 applications have now entered the internal evaluation process (stage 1) in preparation for the external evaluation by the Scientific Advisory Board (stage 2), in accordance with the 2-stage reviewing process. On November 03-04, 2022 the on-site assessment of the SAB will take place.

The strategic concept of the CMMC Individual Project Funding Program (IPFP)

The Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC) is an interdisciplinary biomedical and educational research center embedded in the Life Science Campus of the University of Cologne. It is an innovative joint venture of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, affiliated with the University Hospital Cologne, and collaborates with the Max Planck Institutes (e.g. MPI-Age and MPI Metabolism) among other non-university institutions. For further information, please visit the CMMC Image Brochure.

A key cornerstone of the CMMC is that it transcends the traditional borders of individual disciplines and faculties, allowing researchers and clinician scientists to join ranks and bring new synergies to basic biomedical research and clinical translation. The CMMC has therefore made it its mission to create the optimal research conditions and places a strong emphasis on highly collaborative, internationally competitive top-level biomedical research.

The CMMC is dedicated to advancing our current understanding of the underlying molecular and cellular mechanism of human diseases as a prelude to clinical translational research. Our ultimate goal is to develop novel tools for prevention, diagnosis, and the treatment of many common as well as rare diseases and disorders. To achieve this goal the CMMC has implemented various funding supports, and the Individual Project Funding Program has been a cornerstone of the CMMC funding policy since the foundation of the center in the early 1990s.

The support of the Individual Project Funding Program aims to promote the development of innovative, long term and high-risk research projects with clinical relevance in an individual or collaborative setting. To facilitate the integration of a wider range of research groups at the Faculty of Medicine as well as the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences the submitted proposals have to fit into one of the three CMMC research areas:

A)     Mechanisms of tumor development: intrinsic and extrinsic control of cell proliferation and tissue invasion

B)     Principles of immunity, inflammation and infection

C)    Molecular mechanisms and metabolic control of tissue degeneration and regeneration

The number of funded projects as well as the funding amount depends on the overall number of excellent research proposals that receive the final recommendation for funding.

Project funding will range from 70.000 € - 90.000 € per year for three years for personnel and consumables which may be reduced depending on funding available, with a funding period of three years (01/2023 - 12/2025). The use of the funds - except the purchase of equipment - is flexible and thereby providing the most powerful support for the individual research groups.

Research proposals that meet the formal criteria qualify for the scientific evaluation process.

The evaluation of the submitted research proposals integrates an internal and external procedure, that we consider to be instrumental in setting high standards for the CMMC research activities.

Please find the general information and the eligibility requirements for the applicants here

February 17, 2022 - CMMC Annual Retreat, General Meeting
Announcement of the preparation of the CMMC new funding period (01/2023-12/2025)
Information for the sumission of research proposals of the Individual Project Funding Program

March 10, 2022
Call for the submission of research proposals

June 15, 2022
Submission deadline for research proposals for the IPFP

June 16 - 26, 2022
Verification of eligibility and preparation for the internal evaluation process

June 27 - August 22, 2022
Internal evaluation

August 23 - Sept. 08, 2022
Preparation of the external evaluation
Applicants with no funding recommendation will be informed

Sept. 12, 2022
Start of the external evaluation process

Sept. 14 - Nov. 02
Preparation of the site visit of the Scientific Advisory Board

Nov. 03 - 04, 2022
Site Visit of the Scientific Advisory Board with poster presentation
and final evaluation

Eligibility Requirements

  • Eligible applicants have to be members of the Faculty of Medicine or the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Cologne; also including scientists employed via third party funding.
     
  • Junior Research Groups funded by the CMMC or other intramural sources are excluded. CMMC Junior Research Groups Leaders are highly welcomed to participate as co-applicants.
     
  • Extramural funding is required: running project funded by the DFG including CRC projects, the German Cancer Aid or ERC funding at the time of submission is required. Intramural funding will not be considered.
     
  • The maximum funding for consecutive proposals is two funding periods covering a total of six years. The submission of a subsequent application is possible and requires a progress report and a description of the clinical significance of the previous CMMC funded project.
     
  • If your project has been funded during the last funding period, it is possible to submit a research proposal covering a new research topic. Also, in this case a progress report of the previous CMMC funded project is required including the description of the clinical significance.
     
  • An applicant is eligible for leading one research proposal as principal investigator (principal applicant) that also refers to her/his publications as well as extramural funding. This applicant may be integrated in several joint applications as co-applicant. In this case the publication and extramural funding record of the co-applicant will not be considered.
     
  • A maximum of three outstanding and highly qualified research projects will be granted for a single institute or clinical department

Evaluation Criteria

  • Excellence of the research proposal
    Innovative disease-oriented project proposals with a high impact of scientific originality that integrate in one of the three research areas of the CMMC, and with a clear description of the clinical/medical relevance. The research project applied for must be of outstanding high scientific quality and should reflect the standards given by the German Research Foundation.
     
  • Research proposals reflecting significance for molecular medicine and sustainability in disease understanding
    The significance of the proposed research for a better understanding of disease mechanisms and/or the translational potential must be explained.
     
  • Scientific excellence of the investigator
    Prior scientific achievements of the applicant and her/his research group have to be demonstrated by the publication record of the applicant in peer-reviewed journals and by competitive extramural funding.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions:
Dr. Claudia Herr (claudia.herr[at]uni-koeln.de / phone +49 221 478 89534)
Dr. Debora Grosskopf-Kroiher (debora.grosskopf-kroiher[at]uni-koeln.de / phone: +49 221 478 5552)

Poster

for download

Overview - Evaluation Process

for download

November 03 - 04, 2022

Program - Site Visit of the SAB

Internal Evaluation Board 2022

Scientific Advisory Board

 

Discover more:

 
University of Cologne (Universtität zu Köln)
Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Mathematics
and Natural Sciences
University Hospital of Cologne (Universitätsklinik zu Köln)

Copyright ©
Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Benzing
Chair of the CMMC