Call for proposals Translational Medical Research

The project will investigate a clinical or health problem from an original angle including pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention or therapy. It must associate clinical and basic research.

The project must include a human research component. The proposal must stand on its own; however, it may be embedded in the context of an existing study.

Preference will be given to projects attesting a new collaboration between researchers from at least two academic institutions or hospitals in the Lake Geneva region (CHUV, UNIL, Unisanté, HUG, UNIGE, EPFL). Two partners of the Lake Geneva region may seek the collaboration of a third partner belonging to another region/country.

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

The primary applicant (principal investigator) will be a clinical scientist (MD, MD-PhD, or PhD), below age of 45, with an established research track, who has demonstrated her or his capacity as an independent investigator to lead original clinical research.

The project’s co-applicants (max. 2), preferably also at a relatively early stage in their careers, will have shown their skills in their respective fields. Their contributions in the project must be clearly specified.

All applicants must hold a «stable position» for the entire duration of the project.

Principal investigators and co-applicants who have been granted the «Leenaards Prize for Translational Medical Research» during the last 3 years (2022-2024) are not eligible, and the project cannot be an extension of a previous Leenaards project.

For the first evaluation round, applicants need to submit the following documents (in English and pdf format):

• a letter of intent (max. 4 pages)
  layout: arial font, size 11, single-spaced, margins 1.5 cm on all sides;
• a budget (and other sources of funding, if any) ;
• short curricula vitae (CV) of the principal investigator and co-investigator(s).

The evaluation of projects will take place in two stages: