Info_Otros-Programas-Internacionales

OTHER INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES AND FOUNDATIONS

NARSAD - Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Summary The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation is committed to alleviating the suffering caused by mental illness by awarding grants that will lead to advances and breakthroughs in scientific research.
Objetive

The focus of this foundation is to understand, prevent, and treat brain and behavioral disorders including autism, anxiety, depression, and others.
Modality

There are three funding types as follows:

 

Young Investigator Grants
• For investigators at the post-doctoral or assistant professor level.
• Two-year awards of US$35.000/year for pilot projects.
• Annual call for applications in January-February

Independent Investigator Grants
• For independent researchers at the associate professor level.
•  Two-year awards of US$50.000/year.
• Annual call for applications in November-December

Distinguished Investigator Grants
• For the full professor level.
• One-year awards of US$100.000
• Annual call for applications in June-July
Link https://bbrfoundation.org/grants

 

European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO)
Summary EMBO is an organization that promotes excellence in life science careers, with an emphasis on molecular biology.
Objetive

EMBO helps young scientists to advance their research, promote their international reputations and ensure their mobility. Courses, workshops, conferences and EMBO Press publications disseminate the latest research and offer training in techniques to maintain high standards of excellence in research practice. EMBO helps to shape science policy by seeking input and feedback from our community and by following closely the trends in science in Europe.
Modality

It provides support through the following mechanisms:

Short-Term and Long-Term, and European Respiratory Society (ERS) Fellowships
• Intended for postdoctoral-level researchers
• Funding to return to a home lab (short-term), to work abroad (long-term), or to recruit more respiratory clinicians into research (ERS)
• Application deadlines: Ongoing (short-term); annually, February 12 and August 12 (long-term); and annually, January, April, and October (ERS)

Young Investigators:
• For the assistant professor level
• Funding of 15.000€ and an extensive network of opportunities for mentoring and professional development.
• Annual application deadline, April 1

Travel and Lecture Grants
• Funding to attend or organize EMBO events
Link http://www.embo.org/funding-awards

 

U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Summary The U.S. National Institutes of Health fund a wide variety of biomedical projects in fields such as cancer biology, vaccine development, mental health biology, drug and alcohol addiction treatments, bioinformatics, and many more, with new opportunities announced weekly.
Objetive

Non-U.S.-based research groups must either provide evidence that they can contribute a unique resource that is not available in the U.S. (e.g., a unique collection of samples) OR they may act as the sub-contractor of a U.S.-based collaborator.
Modality NIH offers funding for many types of grants, contracts, and programs.
Link https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html

 

Worldwide Cancer Research
Summary Translational cancer research
Objetive

This foundation provides financing for projects that could reduce the incidence of cancer or improve cancer survival.
Modality

Projects of 12-36 months will be funded for up to 250.000 £.

 

Applications are due annually in April or October.
Link http://www.worldwidecancerresearch.org/funding/make-an-application

 

For more information: proyectoseuropeos@ehu.eus

Life Sciences Projects

MetaCrystal: Metabolic principles of intracellular crystallization

Specific programme: Human Frontier Science Programme

Project RGEC28/2025 has been funded by the Human Frontier Science Programme.

The Human Frontier Science Programme (HFSP) is an international initiative that funds innovative basic research in the life sciences, focusing on transnational and interdisciplinary collaboration to address fundamental biological problems. It supports teams of scientists from different countries to develop novel approaches in ambitious, high-risk projects with no guarantee of success, which individual laboratories would not be able to tackle.

Code: RGEC28/2025

UPV/EHU: coordinator

IP UPV/EHU: Noemí Jiménez Rojo

Project start date: 01/09/2025

Project end date: 31/08/2028

Brief description:

Many living organisms are capable of producing organic crystals inside their cells to fulfill a variety of functions. For example, the compound eyes of certain crustaceans use crystals to amplify their light sensitivity in dim-light habitats. Another well-known example is the chameleon, which takes advantage of the light-reflecting properties of crystals to swiftly alter its skin color.

Therefore, failure to regulate crystal formation properly can be detrimental to tissue and organ function, severely affecting theability of the organism to survive and reproduce. The zebrafish, a vertebrate model organism, also produces crystals that play a key role in pigmentation. These are formed within specialized cells called iridophores, inside dedicated subcellular compartments, or organelles, known as iridosomes. Here, control of crystal size, shape, and assembly take place with a precision that currently far exceeds our abilities to grow such structures synthetically. In the proposed study, we plan to uncover how this process occurs, considering an essential, but so far unexplored, structure: the lipid membrane that encloses each crystal inside the cells. We want to understand which molecules are found at the iridosome membrane, their biochemical nature, and to what extent those can contribute to such exquisite crystal formation. For this purpose, we will apply a highly interdisciplinary approach combining cutting-edge techniques from molecular biology, such as CRISPR-Cas9, with biochemistry, like mass spectrometry, and molecular modeling We will make use of novel chemical biology methods to measure and manipulate iridosomal membrane biophysical properties and track protein function in vivo in zebrafish, and in iridophore cell cultures. The data obtained will inform us on how to generate and reconstitute synthetically a biomimetic system able to produce crystals at scale and morphology to those of zebrafish, using a combination of biological and chemical transformations under physiological conditions. We expect that the results we obtain will facilitate the development of therapeutics to treat diseases where aberrant crystallization occurs, such as kidney stones and gout. In addition, they will contribute to new protocols to synthesize organic crystals for a variety of applications in the areas of optics and material science.