Announcement of Research program in Women’s Health
Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bergen, together with Helse Bergen and Trond Mohn Research Foundation (TMF), announces a Research program in Women’s Health.
Hovedinnhold
It is widely recognized that research related to women’s health traditionally has received less attention and has been poorly funded. Further research on women's health and women's bodies is essential to provide women with good and accurate health care. TMF has set aside a maximum of 24 MNOK for this research program, which will be matched by UiB and Helse Bergen.
This joint initiative between TMF, UiB and Helse Bergen, aims to intensify and strengthen research on women’s health in Bergen and Norway.
In particular, the program is intended to contribute to the scientific and strategic development of the newly established Center for Research on Women’s Health, Driv, at the Faculty of Medicine, UiB.
The goal of the center is to strengthen research on women’s health in Norway, and to bring together transdisciplinary expertise and facilitate scientific breakthroughs that in time will improve quality of life for women.
Thematic scope of the program
Funded projects shall contribute to Driv, Center for Research on Women’s Health. The specific aim of this call is to develop better diagnostics and treatment for one or more of the following:
- Diseases that affect women more often than men.
- Diseases in which women get different variants than men.
- Diseases that only affect women.
The project proposal must bridge biomedical or early translational research with clinical questions. The proposed research must be in line with the scientific scope of Driv.
In addition to the scope as outlined above, proposals must meet the following technical requirements:
- For successful project proposals, its PI shall become affiliated to Driv and contribute to the center’s overall goal in collaboration with Faculty of Medicine (MED), UiB and Helse Bergen.
- The project proposal must be led by one dedicated principal investigator (PI) of high academic standing and with proven project leadership experience.
- At the time of submission, the PI must have a permanent main position at MED UiB or at Helse Bergen.
- Each project may be granted TMF funding for either three or four years. The maximum contribution from TMF is 6 million NOK (for projects lasting 4 years) or 4,5 million NOK (for projects lasting 3 years). The minimum grant for any project is 3 million NOK.
Any TMF funding must be matched by resources at about the same level from the participating institution(s). Please note that the inclusion of relevant national and international partner institutions is encouraged and expected.
For further information, see below:
How to apply for funding under this program.
There will be a two-step application process as follows:
Step 1: Pre-qualification
Step 1 will be organized and implemented jointly by MED UiB and Helse Bergen. Eligible proposals will be evaluated by an external expert panel appointed by MED UiB and Helse Bergen.
Step 1 Proposals must be written in English and contain the following:
- The research plan
- The budget sheet
- A letter from the center leader Marit Bakke confirming that the proposed research is in line with the aims and scientific scope of Driv. We encourage applicants to make contact for a support letter as soon as the project is conceptualized, and latest May 27. For a support letter to be issued, it must be clearly stated how the project addresses the criteria in the call.
- A commitment letter from the host institution describing the nature and level of its contribution to the project and its willingness to host the project. The letter must be signed at departmental level at MED UiB and Helse Bergen.
- In cases where institutions other than the host institution are expected to contribute with resources to the project, a letter signed at the appropriate level of the contributing institution should be included. The letter should describe the nature of the resources to be committed and confirm institutional support of the proposal and its budget.
Questions about Step 1 and the requested support letter can be directed to Ramune Midttveit at UiB (Ramune.Midttveit@uib.no). Application deadline for Step 1 proposals is 31.05.2024 at 12:00 (noon).
One copy of the proposal and the required attachments, compiled into one (1) PDF file, is to be submitted to Ramune Midttveit at UiB, regardless of whether the project is anchored at MED UiB or Helse Bergen (Ramune.Midttveit@uib.no). Receipt of submitted applications will be confirmed by email.
Proposals that are submitted after the deadline and/or that do not meet the formal requirements will not be evaluated.
Following the Step 1 evaluation, PIs of successful Step 1 proposals will receive an invitation from TMF with information on how to proceed with the Step 2 applications.
Step 2 Final
Step 2 – final - will be organised and implemented by TMF. Eligible Step 2 proposals will be evaluated by an international panel of experts appointed by the TMF. The expert panel will make recommendations to the TMF board. Depending on the expert's quality assessments and recommendations, TMF may grant a maximum of 24 MNOK to projects under this program.
Applications must be written in English and contain the following:
- The project description (template to be provided by TMF).
- The budget sheet (template to be provided by TMF).
- A commitment letter from the host institution describing the nature and level of its contribution to the project and its willingness to host the project. The letter must be signed at the appropriate institutional level.
- In cases where institutions other than the host institution will contribute with resources to the project, a letter signed at the appropriate level of the contributing institution should be included. The letter should describe the nature of the resources to be committed and confirm institutional support of the proposal and its budget.
Please note: Any documents/information not specifically asked for, will not be made available to evaluators.
How to submit Step 2 proposals:
Application deadline for Step 2 proposals is 13.09.2024 at 12:00 (noon).
One copy of the proposal and the required attachments, compiled into one (1) PDF file, is to be submitted to grants@mohnfoundation.no. Receipt of submitted applications will be confirmed by email.
For questions about Step 2 proposal preparations please contact:
- Anja Hegen: Phone: +47 464 69 416, ah@mohnfoundation.no
- Oddveig Åsheim: Phone +47 416 63 164, oa@mohnfoundation.no
Evaluation criteria
The basic reference for the evaluation is as follows:
| Assessment Criteria | Description |
| Significance | The extent to which the chosen objective and approach may lead to progress beyond the current state-of-the-art. |
| Feasibility | How may the proposed research activities contribute to realization of the described goals and the subject area. The extent to which the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses are appropriate for the aims of the proposed research. |
| Environment and consortium | The extent to which the available resources, the institutional commitments, and any other unique features, will contribute towards the success of the proposed research. The quality of the consortium (incl. complementarity/balance). Extent of uniqueness of expertise on the proposal topic. |
| Investigators | The extent to which the investigators' experience, track record, training, preliminary data and/or past progress may contribute towards the success of the project. |
| Scientific leadership | The extent to which the need for strategic leadership is addressed. Plans for recruitment of young research talents and building collaborative capacity. |
| Innovation and translation | The suitability of the described approach towards translation and innovation. Is there an identifiable potential to improve methods, the utilization of equipment/data and/or clinical practice? |
Details on project funding and project grant agreements
It is a prerequisite for funding that any TMF contribution is matched by resources (in kind and fresh) from the participating institutions at about the same level. The overall budget of each project should allow for the establishment of a research team and for collaborative and/or cross- disciplinary research to take place.
Each project may be granted TMF funding for either three or four years. The maximum contribution from TMF is 6 million NOK (for projects lasting 4 years) or 4,5 million NOK (for projects lasting 3 years). The minimum grant for any project is 3 million NOK.
Matching resources from the host institution may include salaries, consumables, equipment, overhead related to positions funded by TMF and "leiestedskostnader" (e.g., the use of labs/equipment).
Funding from the foundation may not be put towards overhead and/or other expenses not directly incurred by the project. For this program, TMF funding may not cover the salary nor "frikjøp" of the project leader (PI). Exeptions may be made for PIs in clinical positions.
In the event a grant application is successful, a project grant agreement will be entered into by TMF and the host institution, in which their respective responsibilities will be detailed in full.
In conjunction with the grant agreement, consortium agreements between the collaborating institutions must be put in place as well as an agreement ensuring the project's affiliation to Driv and access to the relevant research infrastructures/data.
