Multinational and Translational Research Projects in the European Partnership for Brain Health
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), an ad-hoc funder of the new European Partnership for Brain Health (EP BrainHealth), is pleased to announce the launch of the first two joint calls for multinational and translational research projects.
54 partners across 33 countries and the European Commission contribute a total volume of around €500 million for the whole European Partnership. The first two calls of this partnership represent a significant milestone in collaborative brain health research across neurological, mental, sensory, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Both calls aim to explore the biological, social and environmental factors that impact the trajectory of brain health across the lifespan – with a specific focus on:
Call 1: Neurological, mental and sensory disorders
Call 2: Neurodegenerative disorders
The EP BrainHealth particularly wishes to promote multi-disciplinary work and translational research proposals that combine basic and clinical approaches. The involvement of clinical research groups is strongly encouraged. The consortia should submit novel, ambitious ideas that can only be achieved through the complementary collaboration between partners. Research proposals should cover fundamental and/or clinical research in the field of brain health. The translational value for human disease must be addressed explicitly in the proposals. If used, the choice of the animal model must be justified in the context of human pathology.
Only transnational projects with three to six eligible research partners from at least three different participating countries will be funded. No more than two consortium partners can be from the same country. Attention should be paid to respecting gender balance among the partners of a consortium. Involvement of promising early career researchers (see below) as consortium partners is highly encouraged. Furthermore, proposals need to adequately involve patients, relevant patient organisations, carers and the public, whenever appropriate. To increase impact at the European level, the use of European Research Infrastructure Networks as valuable resources and platforms for knowledge exchange, is strongly encouraged. The consideration of sex differences in the studies is mandatory. An explicit justification is required if only one sex is considered. In the case of human studies, gender effects must be considered where appropriate. To promote equity, diversity and inclusion in the proposals submitted under these calls, applicants are strongly encouraged to consider further diversity aspects of the target groups where relevant.
Proposal Procedure
The calls will be conducted simultaneously by the respective national and regional funding organisations and coordinated centrally by the Joint Call Secretariat.
There will be a two-stage procedure for joint proposals: pre-proposals and full proposals. In both cases, one joint proposal document (in English) is to be prepared by the partners of a joint transnational consortium and must be submitted by the coordinator solely to the Joint Call Secretariat. Full details on eligibility criteria and application guidelines are available her(externer Link).
STEP 1: The submission deadline for pre-proposals is 10 March 2026, 14:00 CET.
STEP 2: By mid-May 2026, the coordinators of selected pre-proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal to the Joint Call Secretariat by 30 June 2026, 14:00 CET. Proposals will be accepted only from those applicants explicitly invited by the Joint Call Secretariat.
Changes between pre-proposals and full proposals are only allowed in exceptional cases.
The individual research partners in a consortium will be funded by the respective national/regional funding organisation(s). Eligibility criteria are defined by the individual partner funding organisations and additional national/regional regulations and requirements may apply (see funder-specific regulations). Funding duration is up to three years. The fundable amount for the German part of the consortium is available up to a maximum of €400,000 (including “Programmpauschale” [programme allowance for indirect project costs]) based on justified project needs.
Research projects from Germany selected for funding will be assigned to the DFG and the BMFTR by the management organisations. Applicants from non-university research institutions are strongly advised to follow the BMFTR regulations (e.g. regarding the calculation of overheads, see funder-specific regulations), whereas applicants from universities should refer to the DFG guidelines. Applicants will receive a personalised invitation to submit the joint full proposal via the electronic systems of the respective funding organisation (see below). Funding recommendations will be subject to approval by the partner organisations and DFG decision bodies, taking into account the availability of funds.
Funding is expected to start early to mid-2027.
Equity and Diversity
The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.
Good Research Practice
According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practic(externer Link) in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Porta(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity tea(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office.
Further Information
Full details on scope, eligibility criteria, and application guidelines are available her(externer Link).
More Information on Call (externer Link)
More Information on Call (externer Link)
Early Career Researchers (as defined by the EP BrainHealth)
Up to 7 years of experience since completion of PhD or medical specialisation diploma at the date of the launch of these calls and a scientific track record showing great promise. Allowed maximum extension: 18 months documented maternity/paternity leave for each child born (an official document must be submitted only upon explicit request), duration of long-term illness or national service, duration of clinical training with a maximum of 4 years).
Clinical Studies
Please note that interventional clinical trials, including feasibility studies, confirmatory interventional trials or observational studies with the primary aim to prove the efficacy of a therapeutic, diagnostic or prognostic method cannot be funded by the DFG within EP BrainHealth.
Ethics
All applicants conducting experiments in/with humans or human material have to submit an ethical approval and/or a positive vote from the relevant national or local ethics committee(s). If an ethics vote is required for the German or foreign part of the project, it must be submitted with the full proposal. However, an ethics vote by the local German ethics committee can, as an exceptional case, be submitted no later than three months after proposal submission. Otherwise, the funding organisations may stop processing the proposal. Please note that the submission of a German ethics vote is also necessary if only the project part abroad is affected as it is a cooperation project. German ethics committees can adopt the vote of the foreign ethics committee as its own.
Only for selected proposals personally invited by the DFG Head Office:
Please use the elan porta(externer Link) and refer to the Guidelines Research Grants Programme, DFG form 50.0(interner Link). The FAQ on Proposal Submissio(interner Link) may also be helpful.
If this is the first time you are submitting a proposal to the DFG, please note that you must register in the elan portal before you can submit your proposal. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day.
Contact Persons at the DFG Head Office
Programme contact: Dr. Anke Ley, Life Sciences II, Tel. +49 228 885-3197, anke.ley@dfg.d(externer Link)
Administrative contact: Runa Schmachtel, Life Sciences II, Tel. +49 228 885-2153, runa.schmachtel@dfg.d(externer Link)
Contact of the EP BrainHealth Call Secretariat
Privacy Policy
We, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), take the protection of your personal data and its confidential treatment extremely seriously. Therefore, please refer to the DFG’s Privacy Polic(interner Link). If you intend to transmit personal data of third parties, please make sure to do so only if the necessary legitimation under data protection law exist. Before transmitting data of third parties to the DFG, please forward the DFG’s Data Protection Notice to the individuals affected (data subjects). If there is a legitimate interest not to inform individuals beforehand (e.g. for reasons of secrecy or in case of a nomination or candidate proposal), these individuals should be informed no later than at the time of publication.