The government has approved the call for proposals for the " ISCIII " R&D&I platforms, with 27.5 million allocated over the next 3 years
The Carlos III Health Institute is refocusing and strengthening its platforms to support R&D&I in Biomedicine and Health Sciences
On Tuesday, at the request of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Council of Ministers approved a resolution authorizing the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) to issue a call for grant applications for the ISCIII platforms, which support R&D&I in biomedicine and health sciences, as part of the implementation of the 2017–2020 Strategic Health Action Plan.
ISCIII platforms are a network of research centers and/or groups that, under the coordination and territorial cohesion provided by the ISCIII, share their high-level scientific and technical capabilities with those research groups within the National Health System (SNS) that request them, always with a clear focus on health sciences, patients, and their families. Together with the Thematic Collaborative Research Networks s (RETIC), the consortia (CIBER), the foundations (CNIO, CNIC, and CIEN), and the Health Research Institutes (IIS), the platforms represent the National Health Research Network ( ISCIII )’s commitment to networked research, this time by providing a structured framework for access to scientific and technical capabilities for SNS research groups that require them.
Specifically, the funding call approved on Tuesday will provide more than 27 million euros to three platforms to be disbursed over the next three years. Thus, the platforms will receive 9.4 million in 2020, 9 million in 2021, and another 9 million in 2022.
This call for proposals coincides with the reorientation of the platforms at the National Health Research Institute ( ISCIII ) to address three major challenges. First, it aims to provide one of the necessary links in the chain for generating tangible industrial value from the scientific research produced within the Spanish National Health System (SNS). Second, it ensures the necessary geographic distribution and cohesion for access to scientific and technical services and collaboration in the development of high-level Projects , which will help the new teams of scientists emerging from the Human Resources initiatives of the 2019 and 2020 Strategic Action in Health to acquire real technological capabilities that will enable them to compete internationally.
Finally, these platforms were created with a view toward Horizon Europe, with the goal of making our groups more competitive in the new program. Furthermore, the three platforms will form part of a governance structure that will allow for the integration of all their actual capabilities under the coordination of the ISCIII, while the coordination of each platform will be subject to an individual competitive selection process.
Specifically, each of these platforms is a continuation or consolidation of the previous ones, adapted to the current scientific policies of the ISCIII. In this regard, and following the significant and sustained support from the Spanish National Research Council ( ISCIII ) for independent clinical research and the need to support the important observational studies currently underway, the Spanish National Research Council ( ISCIII ) is expanding the capabilities of the Clinical Research and Clinical Trials Platform (SCREN), which is now renamed the “ ISCIII ” Platform for Clinical Research Support. Furthermore, as part of its commitment to fostering industry and as an evolution of the Technological Innovation Platform (ITEMAS)—which has been active for a decade—the National Health System ( ISCIII ) is investing in a platform designed to facilitate the industrialization of the National Health System’s (SNS) research and developments through effective technology transfer to the productive sector that must be built around the SNS.
Finally, a new platform is being created to comprehensively manage biological disease samples by coordinating services for the supply and generation of organoids and/or animal models, 3D printing of organs and tissues, as well as conventional samples through virtual biobanks. In the latter case, the biological sample—which will be made available to researchers—must be linked to the donor’s clinical information.
The recipients of the grants approved today will be the following entities: accredited Health Research Institutes (IIS), whose “ Projects ” will be given special consideration in the selection process; hospitals, primary care centers, and other healthcare facilities; private, nonprofit healthcare entities and institutions affiliated with or contracted by the National Health System (SNS); Public Research Organizations (OPI); other public R&D centers, other than OPIs, affiliated with or dependent on the General State Administration or other public administrations and their agencies; public universities, university institutes, and private universities; and public and private nonprofit organizations.
Similarly, the future call for applications in Precision Medicine is expected to include additional areas of expertise, such as bioinformatics and omics technologies.
In short, through this initiative, the platforms ISCIII are expanding their capacity—both by maintaining existing services and by incorporating new scientific and technical services—and are updating the technologies they offer, thereby enabling groups within the Spanish National Health System (SNS) to compete with greater confidence in the new European Union program. Ultimately, this represents yet another commitment by the Spanish National Research Council ( ISCIII ) to networked research, stemming from its role as a funding and unifying agent.
🔗 More information: Government of Spain
