Call for consortia applications
This call for applications is now closed.
Further information
A note has been drawn up for applicants to clarify application procedures and the letter of intent evaluation process.
Call for consortia applications
The aim of the call for applications (AAC) for the interdisciplinary research program on the end of life is to form interdisciplinary consortia to structure and develop research projects of international ambition around one or other of the following thematic axes:
- Suffering, lived experience at the end of life (of patients, loved ones, healthcare professionals), death requests.
- Anticipation of end-of-life issues through healthcare pathways, palliative care needs and different moments of vulnerability.
This AAC is open to any team or researcher potentially interested in these themes, with a view to joining an interdisciplinary end-of-life research consortium. It concerns only those working in a French institution, whatever their institutional affiliations and disciplinary roots.
The AAC will be conducted under the aegis of an international Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which will select candidates and assign them partner teams with which to form a consortium.
Through the Agency for Health Research Programs, each consortium will receive start-up funding of €500,000 to €800,000 over 3 years to launch its program.
Timetable
March 10, 2025 > launch
June 10, 2025 > closing
July-August 2025 > consultation of the scientific advisory board (SAB)
September 2025 - January 2026 structuring of consortia
February 2026 > validation of consortia projects
March 2026 >agreement and starter funding
Contact
For any questions about this call for applications, consult our FAQ :
or write to:
programme.findevie@inserm.fr
The different stages
The AAC will take place in three stages:
- Phase 1: drafting of letters of intent and evaluation of proposals from researchers or research teams by a scientific advisory board.
- Phase 2: bringing together converging proposals in the form of consortia, working within the consortia to structure a 5-year work program with the help of the program manager.
- Phase 3: launch of consortia after validation of projects, appointment of two interdisciplinary (SHS/Health) consortium leaders or coordinators, funding.
Letters of intent may be submitted by a team, or by one researcher alone. By team, we mean a project team made up solely of members of the same research unit. In the case of a letter of intent submitted by a single researcher, he or she must present the network of researchers with whom he or she is collaborating or plans to collaborate. After evaluation by the SAB, the selected teams and researchers will form a consortium focusing either on the theme of "suffering and experience at the end of life" or on the theme of "anticipation".
In a second phase, each of these interdisciplinary consortia will draw up a common, coherent program of work. This research program will be made up of several projects divided between the different teams involved in the form of work packages (WP). These projects are to be programmed over a 5-year period.
Researchers, research teams and then consortia will be supported and accompanied by the head of the Interdisciplinary End-of-Life Research Program.
Phase 1: the letter of intent
Each researcher or research team is invited to propose in a letter of intent a research project around one of the two priority themes selected, i.e. either "suffering and lived experience at the end of life", or "anticipation". A researcher or team may submit only one letter of intent in its name under this call for applications.
Each researcher or team must:
- Be able to demonstrate the scientific interest of the proposed project within the priority theme.
- From the outset, aim for multidisciplinary interactions to prepare for key innovations in the field of end-of-life, palliative care and support.
- Integrate an analysis in terms of sustainability. The future of end-of-life care raises the question of the sustainability of our palliative care and support model.
- Be part of an open science approach.
Download the letter of intent template
The letter of intent must be in unprotected PDF format, font size: 11, Arial, line spacing 1. Any document exceeding 5 pages will automatically render the application inadmissible.
The complete letter of intent must be submitted via the form below before June 10, 2025 at 5pm.
Phase 2: Formation of consortia
The letters of intent written will be analyzed by the international jury made up of members of the SAB of the Interdisciplinary Research Program on the End of Life. The jury will assess the scientific quality of the proposals on the following criteria:
- Excellence and scientific ambition of the application described in the letter of intent.
- Clarity of research objectives and hypotheses.
- Innovative character, ambition, originality, methodological or conceptual break with the state of the art.
- Relevance of methodology.
- Suitability to AAFC themes.
- Quality of project manager(s): competence, expertise and involvement of the project manager.
- Interdisciplinary ambitions.
- Inter-regional implications and territorial scope, including overseas territories.
- Potential synergies within a consortium.
- Relevance of the application to the consortium project.
- Relevance of the tools and human resources that can be mobilized for the consortium project.
The jury will evaluate the scientific quality of the proposals, will pronounce on their adequacy with the objectives of the Program and on their capacity to be integrated into a work program within a multidisciplinary consortiumre.He will draw up a list of proposals, culminating in the formation of two or three consortia, on suffering and anticipation respectively. Within each consortium, the selected teams will then be invited to draw up a joint work program under the responsibility of two coordinators, one in health, the other in SHS.
Webinars
A series of webinars is being organized to support researchers throughout the process.