The goal of the call is to facilitate multinational, collaborative research projects that will address critical translational and clinical questions using interdisciplinary approaches to improve the knowledge about the neuroscience of pain, bearing the potential to improve the lives of the people affected.
Chronic pain is associated with structural and functional changes in different brain regions and is linked to altered neurotransmitter levels. Such changes can also be accompanied by emotional, cognitive and behavioural impairment. People affected by chronic pain have an increased risk of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety and vice versa. The occurrence of those comorbidities hinders effective pain management and therapy. Thus, significant progress in the field of pain research can only be achieved through coordinated collaboration between different disciplines, including e.g. clinical neurology and psychiatry, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, neurobiology, physiology, genetics, or pharmacology, among others.
Research proposals should cover at least one of the following areas:
a) Fundamental research on neuroscientific aspects of the pathogenesis, aetiology, prevention, progression, and treatment of chronic pain.
b) Clinical research to develop new strategies for prevention, diagnosis, patient stratification, therapy, and rehabilitation procedures for chronic pain syndromes.
The following research areas are excluded from this call:
• Neurodegenerative disorders that are addressed by the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND).
Only international projects will be financed. Each consortium that will submit a proposal must consist of research groups from at least three different countries funded by the organizations specified in the international call text. The number of research groups in a consortium is limited to five. A maximum of two research groups can be from the same country. The number of partners in consortiums can be increased to six, including partners from countries (Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Taiwan and Türkiye) that are underrepresented up to date in the ERA-NET NEURON funding scheme. Researchers from non-funding countries can also take part in projects, if they provide their own funding sources and demonstrate their additional contribution to the consortium, not exceeding the number of research groups mentioned above.
A two-stage international evaluation will be made for the call by the ERA-NET NEURON Joint Call Secretariat. Candidates who are successful as a result of the international external reviewer evaluation from the pre-proposal proposals received in the first stage will be invited for full proposals in the second stage. Applications for preliminary proposals has been opened on 07 January 2025 and the deadline is 06 March 2025 (14:00:00 CET). Preliminary proposals and full proposals can be prepared jointly by partners, but applications should only be submitted by coordinators using the international ERA-NET NEURON electronic application system. Additionally, researchers applying from Türkiye must submit a national application. Applicants can submit and must sign electronically their applications by selecting "NEURON JTC2025 1. Aşama" from the "Çoklu İşbirliği Destek Programları (1.Aşama)" section at https://uidb-pbs.tubitak.gov.tr/ until 13 March 2025 (23:59 Türkiye time zone).
In the JTC 2025 call, researchers working in Türkiye will be supported within the scope of TÜBİTAK 1071 Support Programme for Increasing Capacity to Benefit from International Research Funds and Participation in International R&D Cooperation.
Before applying, national application rules below must be read in detail. If the application rules are not followed, the application may be returned without being evaluated.
Detailed information about the call and international application can be found on the page https://www.neuron-eranet.eu/joint-calls/bio-medical/2025-pain/ and international network tools can be found at page https://www.neuron-eranet.eu/resource-hub/networking-tools/.
Contact Persons:
For information about International Application Rules and NEURON:
Dr. Recep Emrah ÇEVİK
TÜBİTAK, Sağlık Bilimleri Araştırma Destek Grubu (SBAG)
Tel: 0 312 298 1214
E-mail: emrah.cevik@tubitak.gov.tr
For information about National Application Requirements:
Dr. Dilber AYHAN
TÜBİTAK, Uluslararası İşbirliği Projeleri Araştırma Destek Grubu (UPAG)
Tel: 0312 298 1310
E-mail: dilber.ayhan@tubitak.gov.tr
