MINI-GRANT PROGRAMME CALL 2024

The Guido Berlucchi Foundation Mini-Grant Programme 2024 aims to support young Principal Investigators performing basic research in oncology by financing laboratory running costs.

Applications can be submitted from April 17th to May 17th, 2024, at 13:00 (Central European Time). Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

PI eligibility
The Guido Berlucchi Foundation Mini-Grant Programme is open to researchers here referred to as Principal Investigators (PI) with a doctoral degree (PhD) or medical speciality, and at least 5 years of postgraduate research experience.
Applicants can be of any nationality and must be 40 years old or younger by the time of the call deadline (i.e., the Applicant’s birth date must be May 16th, 1984, or after). One-year age limit extension is allowed for each parental, sick and military duties leave, declared into the Application Form.

The PI at the time of the submission:
1.    must have at least 5 original articles as first/last/corresponding author;
2.    cannot have funded grants of a total amount higher than 40,000 euros valid in the 12 months after the call deadline.

The PI is not eligible when he/she:
1) is a winner of the 2023 Mini-Grant call;
2) in the past 3 years has worked with-or currently works with a member of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation Technical Scientific Committee ((CTS described here: https://fondazioneberlucchi.org/it/governance);
3) in the past 3 years has published with a member of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation Technical Scientific Committee, and both persons hold a relevant position (first, last, or corresponding author) in the publication.

Project eligibility
The project should be knowledge gain-driven and focused on basic oncology research. There are no pre-defined priority research topics, but priority will be given to fundamental research projects with focus on cancer onset and progression mechanisms.
The project must be commensurate with the candidate's experience and with the grant duration and funding amount.
The project will start from 1 November 2024 to 31 January 2025.

Funding rules
The Guido Berlucchi Foundation Mini-Grant is a fixed contribution of 37,000 euros to support laboratory running costs to be spent within maximum 24 months from the first instalment.
The Hosting institution must be an Italian public or private non-profit Organisation and the PI must have an employment relationship with the Hosting institution at the time of the Mini- Grant activation.
The Grant will end automatically if the employment relationship between the PI and the hosting Organization is terminated, and the unspent Grant amount will be returned to the Guido Berlucchi Foundation. Brief interruptions in the PI’s contract must be discussed with the Guido Berlucchi Foundation.
The hosting Organization must not withhold more than 7% overheads on the Mini-Grant and must guarantee the availability of working space and materials for the PI’s project.

Eligible laboratory running costs:
•    Consumables such as materials and reagents.
•    Services such as the use of the Organisation core and animal facilities and external services, as for sequencing, imaging, cloning, etc.
•    PI’s missions such as travelling costs and scientific events attendance fees.
•    Publication costs, such as editorial fees, limitedly to publications in which the PI is first, last, or corresponding author and in which the Guido Berlucchi Foundation is acknowledged.
•    Small equipment such as common appliances within the limit of 10% of the grant.

Application procedure
Applicants should submit their Application in the “Bandi” area of the www.fondazioneberlucchi.org before the deadline.

In order to be considered eligible, Applications must include:
- Application Form, duly filled in all its parts;
- Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae, preferably in Europass format, including a complete list of grants and publications reporting the Impact Factor of the latest Journal Citation Reports;
- Privacy statement, duly filled in all its parts;
- Hosting Organisation Engagement Letter, signed by the legal representative.
The templates of the Application Form, Privacy statement, and the Hosting Organisation Engagement Letter are annexed to this Call.

Evaluation procedure
Applications will be subjected to an administrative eligibility check. They will then be evaluated by the Technical Scientific Committee of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation, plus an eventual external referee chosen on the basis of the topic of the research project.
Applications will be evaluated according to the Evaluation Criteria published as annex to this Call. In the present Call, the Guido Berlucchi Foundation will support a maximum of six Mini-Grants.
The application to the Call implies the acceptance of the unquestionable decisions concerning the selection of projects and the subsequent awards.

Funding and Payments
The successful PI will receive from the Guido Berlucchi Foundation the first instalment equivalent to the 50% of the Mini-Grant, within three weeks from the receipt of the “Dichiarazione di accettazione del finanziamento” signed by the hosting Organization.  
The balance payment request can be submitted to the Guido Berlucchi Foundation, jointly with the Mini-Grant Progress Report, at any time after month 6 of the project. The balance payment is subject to unquestionable evaluation of the Mini-Grant Progress Report by the Technical Scientific Committee of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation. If the Mini-Grant Progress Report is approved, the balance payment will be made within three weeks from the approval. If the Mini-Grant Progress Report is not provided or approved by the Technical Scientific Committee, the PI will not receive any further payment.
Within one month from the end of the project, the Mini-Grant Final Report should be sent to the Guido Berlucchi Foundation.  

Contact
If you have any query regarding the Call or the application process, please contact the Guido Berlucchi Foundation at info@fondazioneberlucchi.org. In your email indicate also a phone number, where you could be reached, if needed, during working hours. You will receive a written answer within three working days.

The awarded PI will be given access to a personal area in the Fondazione Guido Berlucchi web portal to be used for any contact with the Guido Berlucchi Foundation, including document uploading.

Annexes
Application Form -Template
Privacy statement -Template
Hosting Organisation Engagement Letter - Template
Evaluation Criteria - for vision
Progress/Final Report -Template –for vision
Dichiarazione di Accettazione Finanziamento – for vision