AH-INF MCA: how to apply

Background

The Giovanni Armenise Harvard Foundation and INF-ACT Foundation plans to offer up to three Armenise-Harvard INF-ACT Mid-Career Awards in Unmet Needs on Emerging Infectious Diseases (“AH-INF MCA”) of $150,000 EUR each, to support basic (and translational) research projects in the field of emerging infectious diseases. The Armenise Harvard Foundation and INF-ACT Foundation share the common goal to support a category of basic scientists, i.e. the Mid-Career researchers, who are currently insufficiently supported, with the common objective to set a new trend and inspire other foundations, private and public institutional donors to help with this critical need.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applicant must:

• be Principal Investigators or Group Leaders with affiliation, at the moment of publication of the call, to one of the 25 Eligible Institutions 1 that are members of the INF-ACT Consortium;
• have been responsible for their independent laboratory (“PI”) for at least five years but no more than 12 years at the time of the application deadline. The calculation of the five and 12 years is made by comparing the date the applicant’s title was conferred to the AH-INF MCA application deadline (i.e. October 15, 2023), so this year the title should have been received no earlier than October 15, 2011, and not later than October 15, 2018. Please note: the actual elapsed time since the award of the title as PI considered for eligibility can be reduced in the following properly documented circumstances. For maternity, the actual elapsed time since the award of the title will be considered reduced by 18 months for each child born during the time after having received the title of PI. For paternity, the actual elapsed time since the award of the title will be considered reduced by the documented amount of paternity leave actually taken for each child born during the time after having received the title. For long-term illness, clinical training or national service the actual elapsed time since the award of the title will be considered reduced by the documented amount of leave
  actually taken by the applicant for each incident which occurred after receiving the title of PI.
•  have obtained their PhD no more than 20 years before the date of the application deadline. The calculation of the 20 years is made by comparing the date the first PhD degree was conferred to the AH-INF MCA application deadline (i.e. October 15, 2023), so this year the degree should have been received no earlier than September 30, 2003. Please note that the actual elapsed time since the award of the first PhD considered for eligibility can be reduced in the following properly documented circumstances. For maternity, the actual elapsed time since the award of the first PhD will be considered reduced by 18 months for each child born during PhD study or after the PhD award. For paternity, the actual elapsed time since the award of the first PhD will be considered reduced by the documented amount of paternity leave actually taken for each child born during PhD study or after the PhD award. For long- term illness, clinical training or national service the actual elapsed time since the award of the first PhD will be considered reduced by the documented amount of leave actually taken by the applicant for each incident which occurred after the PhD award.
• have demonstrated their ability to secure research funding (i.e., through competitive grants
  or fellowships) as Principal Investigators.
• have published more than one research paper as last/corresponding or co-last/corresponding author (without the PI’s post-doc supervisor) since becoming a PI.
• are based primarily in Italy at one of the eligible institutions. In cases where the PI has multiple affiliations and positions, the PI must spend at least 80% of her/his time in the eligible Italian Host Institute during the grant period, if awarded.

⁽¹⁾ Eligible Institutions are: University of Pavia, University of Bari Aldo Moro, University of Bologna, University of Cagliari, University of Catania, University of Milan, University of Naples “Federico II”, University of Padua, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, University of Siena, University of Turin, Italian National Institute of Health, Italian National Research Council, Association of Experimental Zooprophylactic Institutes, Bruno Kessler Foundation, National Institute of Molecular Genetics Foundation, Humanitas University, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Institute IRCCS, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research IRCCS, Mediterrenean Institute for Transplants IRCCS, Foundation Policlinico Unoversitario Campus Bio-Medico, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambin Gesu’, and IRBM S.p.A.

Projects

The proposed research projects should be focused on Unmet Needs on Emerging Infectious Disease, specifically in one of the following areas:

A) Emerging and re-emerging viral diseases (with a focus on respiratory viruses and zoonotic viruses);

B) Arthropod vectors and vector-borne pathogens (with a focus on VBDs most at risk of expand or emerge in Italy, such as arboviruses);

C) Diseases sustained by bacteria and fungi resistant to multiple antibiotics (AMR, with a focus on the molecular mechanisms of MDR).

D) Integrated one health epidemiology (man, animal and man-animal), monitoring and mathematical models;

E) Development of new therapeutic treatment strategies (identification of molecular targets, generation of small molecule libraries for drug discovery, testing of lead compounds and their optimization).

Please note that clinical research is NOT supported by this award (basic and translational are), and that the project can either be a new research direction or a new part of a large ongoing program. In both cases, the applicant must provide specific aims of the research project and the budget showing current and/or pending support (if applicable)

Maximum External Grant Support
PIs must have less than Euro 100.000/year of secured external funding for the next 24 months (i.e., years 2024-2025), as of the application deadline.

FUNDING

• All allocated funds (up to EUR 150’000 per grant, transferred in the form of additional budget allocation to the beneficiary host institution from the NRRP/PNRR budget originally assigned to the INF-ACT foundation, CUP B13C22002440006) must be spent by the end of October 2025. Should MUR allow time extensions to the NRRP/PNRR INF-ACT project, extensions will be also provided to the AHI MCA award.
• Funds can cover salaries for fixed-term technicians, junior scientists, research supplies. Funds can also cover specialized equipment not normally available at the Host Institute.
• The Host Institute must provide the salary for the Applicant, the facilities, equipment, infrastructure and administrative support necessary to carry out the proposed research.

CHANGES IN STATUS OF THE AWARDEE

• If, after the AH-INF MCA is awarded, the recipient moves from Italy before completion of the grant period, the award will be forfeited
• If the Award recipient wishes to change host institute before taking up the grant, the original grant may be forfeited. This circumstance would be handled on an individual basis
• Please be aware that any change in status of the recipient must be notified promptly to the Armenise Harvard Foundation and INF-ACT Foundation.  The Armenise Harvard Foundation and INF-ACT reserve the right to terminate the AH-INF MCA should the time and effort dedicated to the AH-INF MCA-sponsored project be deemed inappropriate

Please note that failure to disclose change of status may result in the loss of the AH-INF MCA and repayment of prior funds.

REPORTING AND OTHERS

• Award recipients will comply to NRRP/PNRR reporting rules as per the indications that will be made by the INF-ACT Foundation to the host institutions
• Award recipients will also be expected to provide an annual progress report, including a financial report and a brief summary of their research activity
• INF-ACT Foundation and The Giovanni Armenise Harvard Foundation should be acknowledged in all publications emanating from the research carried out during the award period together with NRRP/PNRR funds using the following statements: “This research was supported by EU funding within the NextGenerationEU-MUR PNRR Extended Partnership initiative on Emerging Infectious Diseases (Project no. PE00000007, INF-ACT). [BENEFICIARY NAME] was recipient of a Giovanni Armenise Harvard Foundation – INF-ACT Foundation Mid Career Grant (AHI MCA 2023).”

APPLICATION DEADLINE:

October 15, 2023 (11:59pm EDT)

NOTE:

Applicants should note that short-listed candidates will be required to attend a remote interview in mid the first week of December, 2023. The interview will include a presentation of the candidate’s work and proposal, of no more than 15-20 minutes, in addition to an informal dialogue about the candidate’s aspirations as well as Q&A.

WARNING

FAILURE TO DISCLOSE ALL-INCLUSIVE AND ACCURATE INFORMATION IN THE APPLICATION WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION. SHOULD THE MISREPRESENTATION EMERGE AFTER THE AH-INF MCA AWARD IS RECEIVED, THE GIOVANNI ARMENISE HARVARD FOUNDATION AND INF-ACT FOUNDATION RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REVOKE THE AWARD AND TO ENFORCE THE OBLIGATION OF THE AWARDEE TO REIMBURSE IN FULL THE FUNDS ALREADY RECEIVED.  THIS MAY BE INVOKED AT ANY TIME. BY SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION YOU GUARANTEE THE INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE IS EXHAUSTIVE AND TRUE, AND THAT YOU ACCEPT THE CONDITIONS ABOVE.

INSTRUCTIONS

Application’s documents must be typed using a 12pt font, with double-spaced pages and one-inch side margins on each side (excluding Bibliography and Images). Please put your name in the title of each pdf document (e.g. MillerL CV.pdf, MillerL Publications.pdf, etc.) and the document title, date, and page number in the header or footer of each separate document.

The application consists of several elements, some of which need to be uploaded, while others must be emailed. Click on “Application Form” below to begin the application process. Please have everything ready before you start.

1. Application Form: Complete all information requested. At the end of the form you will be prompted to upload the following  documents from 2 to 8 in pdf format
2. Curriculum Vitae including all affiliations and positions, and the list of publications since becoming Principal Investigator or Group Leader (i.e. responsible for your own laboratory). Please make sure to specify also the exact date of your PhD (MM/DD/YYYY), and the exacts date of your appointment as Principal Investigator or Group Leader (MM/DD/YYYY)
3. Description of selected publications: a document listing up to four research papers published since the applicant became a PI, including a short explanation (maximum 500 characters including spaces per publication) of the significance of the selected publications, the role of the applicant in producing each of them, how these publications demonstrate the applicant’s capacity to successfully carry out and lead their proposed project and/or a short explanation of the importance of the listed examples of significant peer recognition.
4. List of Grants: list all grants received since becoming Principal Investigator or Group Leader, specifying amount/year and duration, and list all the ongoing. Please indicate also the number of grant applications you have submitted as PI in the last 24 months prior to the deadline (including unsuccessful applications, as well as those pending publication of results)
5. Proof of eligibility: specify the yearly secured external funds for the next 24 months, as of the application deadline, indicating the name and amount of the grant and the title of the associated projects (the Proof of Eligibility must be on the Host Institute’s letterhead and signed by the relevant administrator)
6. Synopsis: Description of the previous research and an abstract of the proposed project (the Synopsis should not exceed one, double-spaced page with a one-inch margin on each side, excluding bibliography).
7. Scientific Proposal: This should be described in English in sufficient detail to enable the reviewing committee to appraise it. A level of detail typical of a scientific journal article is appropriate. The narrative should not exceed five pages (double-spaced with one-inch margins on each side, excluding bibliography and images). Include the following sections:
   1. Introduction: a brief summary of preliminary work or other background
   2. Objectives: a description of what is to be accomplished over two years, including an explanation of why the candidate considers this important for the advancement of this scientific area.
   3. Scope of Research: a summary of the design and methodologies to be applied, and experimental plan:
8. Budget: a detailed budget (including assumptions) of the project outlined per the above (7), including:
   1. Fixed-term personnel to be recruited specifically for the project. Possible options will depend on the host institution. Please note that AHI MCA funds can be used exclusively to cover personnel costs during the grant period (i.e., from project start until Oct 2025), hence contracts with extended duration should be covered by co-funding from the applicant or from the applicant’s host institution
   2. Equipment and supplies, following the same rules as the NRRP/PNRR INF-ACT project PE00000007
   3. Travel and meeting costs, only for activities allowed by the NRRP/PNRR INF-ACT project. Please consult the host institution administration for details.
   4. Please note that the Applicant’s salary as well as valorization of any other permanent staff already present at the host institution (independent of his/her prior involvement in the INF-ACT consortium) CANNOT be covered by this award
   5. Likewise, please note that the AHI MCA cannot include overhead costs
9. Letter from Host Institute: the Letter should include the following information at minimum:
   1. Indicate the continuing support to the Applicant
   2. Illustrate the plan, next steps and the timeline of the career development of the Applicant at the Host Institute
   3. Confirm that the institution/department is willing to take on the administrative responsibilities involved in accepting the grant and furthering the career of the Applicant
   4. Confirm that the Host Institute and the Applicant are in complete agreement as to the terms indicated in this letter and in the Application

This letter is considered a binding commitment of the Host Institute, in partnership with Giovanni Armenise Harvard Foundation and INF-ACT Foundation, in furthering the career development of the grantee.

On-line applications can be submitted between September 15 and October 15, 2023. It will not be possible to submit an application for 2023 later than October 15, 2023 11.59pm EDT. Only applications that are complete and fully compliant with the Instructions will be considered. You should receive an email confirming that your application has been delivered successfully. If you do not receive a confirmation, please send an email to Elisabetta Vitali (email address below).

If you have any questions concerning this application or the program, please contact: