CFPs: Ophthalmology Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Goals

• The projects foster and contribute to the development of local biomedical ophthalmology research institutions in LMICs through partnerships, scientific network development and research capacity strengthening.
• The projects contribute to develop the scientific expertise and reputation of the involved institutions.
• The knowledge produced is of direct relevance for LMICs.
• The new knowledge can be applied by the scientific community or other stakeholders for the benefit of patients and populations in LMICs in the medium to longer term.

Thematic Areas

• Institutional research capacity strengthening projects: projects aiming at sustainably building, developing, or strengthening institutional structures enabling biomedical/clinical ophthalmology research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
• Interdisciplinary biomedical research projects in ophthalmology aiming to develop and validate new diagnostic, prevention, or treatment methods for eye diseases adapted to the local context and environment of LMICs. Such projects must also contribute to some extent to strengthen research capacities of the institutions in LMICs.

Funding Information

• Scale of funding: from CHF 50’000 to CHF 100’000 per year, for one to four years, with at least 50% of the funding to be used in LMICs.
• Duration of the projects: 1 to 4 years.

Uses of the Fund

• Salaries (including university fees for students based in LMICs)
• Consumables (not more than 20% of the total amount, exceptions must be duly justified)
• Equipment
• Knowledge transfer (Travels, conference participation, workshop organisation)
• Other costs (including budget posts for research capacity building that do not fit in the previous categories)

Eligible Projects

• Institutional research capacity strengthening projects for biomedical/clinical ophthalmology research in LMICs.
• Interdisciplinary research projects in biomedical/clinical ophthalmology also contributing to strengthen research capacities of institutions in LMICs.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible, the applicants should also demonstrate the following:
  • The necessary due diligence is in place to ensure that the project can take place as described in the application. In particular, every institution applying for funding must have all legal rights to receive international funding and should provide a justification (e.g. Indian institutions must submit a copy of their current FCRA approval).
  • All involved institutions must act not-for-profit and should provide a justification of their tax-exemption.
  • The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for verifying and ensuring compliance with any internal approval processes required by their institution for submitting research funding proposals. This includes confirming that the institution can agree to the general funding terms of the foundation.
  • An institution can only submit a maximum of two applications per call as institution of the PI or co-PI, otherwise all applications will be excluded. PIs should contact their institution’s grants office in good time before submission so that the grants office can coordinate submissions from the same institution.
  • Every involved institution should provide a support letter.
• In addition to these general criteria, it is mandatory that:
  • Applications contain sufficient elements aiming to strengthen research capacity of institutions in LMICs.
  • Applications convincingly highlight the relevance for and integration into the local context.
• Geographical requirements:
  • Their reference for identifying if a country belongs to the category of LMICs is the Development Assistance Committee List of Official Development Assistance recipients from the OECD.
  • Preference will be given to projects from countries with political stability. As an organization based in Switzerland, Velux Stiftung has to comply with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
• Collaboration requirements:
  • Consortia of research groups with at least one partner based in a LMIC are invited to apply. The involvement of a HIC partner in the consortium is welcome but however not mandatory. Project partners should be embedded at least in two different institutions.
  • NGOs can be part of the consortia if research institutions are also involved.
  • In order to maximize outreach as well as knowledge and skills transfer, at least one PI or co-PI of the consortium has to be an established (R3) or a leading researcher (R4) in ophthalmology according to the European Framework for research careers. Further information about the framework can be found here.
  • To enhance the sustainability of the institutional research capacity strengthening, at least a member of the LMIC research institution’s executive/leadership team (member of senior management and decision-making body) should be included in the project team as PI or co-PIs. Specify in the application who in the team has this position.
  • The project should mainly take place in one or several LMICs.
  • In case the PI is based in a high-income country, there must be a clearly delineated partnership with, and scientific leadership from the co-PI(s) based in the LMICs where the project will take place.

For more information, visit Velux Stiftung.