Grants

Wednesday, 25 October 2023

Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics Foundation Grants 2023 - Round two now open

Overview
Funding
Eligibility 
Key dates
How to apply 
Selection criteria and assessment 
Scheme documents

Overview

In 2022, the Doherty Institute received a significant philanthropic donation from Mr Geoff Cumming to establish the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics (Cumming Global Centre).

This mission-driven, globally connected research centre will enable rapid design and development of treatments for pathogens of pandemic potential. The Centre will provide long-term research funding through a variety of research programs, transforming the management of future pandemics and saving lives.

In alignment with the Cumming Global Centre mission, the 2023 Foundation Grants have been launched to fund projects which aim to identify approaches to develop novel therapeutics at far greater speed than current technologies allow. Internal investigators were invited to apply through the first round, which has now closed and was open exclusively to Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne, and Royal Melbourne Hospital applicants. The second round has the same research parameters but is open globally, with support for three years of funding.

Work on all pathogens is welcome, providing the research is directly relevant to a pathogen of pandemic potential. High throughput screens for small molecules or rational drug design that are only focused on a single pathogen and not families of pathogens will not be funded. Clinical trials will also not be funded.

Main focus areas will include:

• Development of platform technologies that will develop therapeutics for pathogens of pandemic potential at speed
• Fundamental virology, bacteriology or immunology that will identify novel targets for therapeutics for pathogens of pandemic potential
• Development of therapeutics that have activity across viral or relevant bacterial families e.g. therapeutics that have activity against all sarbecoviruses not just SARS-CoV-2
• Innovation in relation to enabling capabilities such as animal models, organoid systems, assay development, bioinformatics, genomics or biomarkers or other capabilities that can support therapeutic development

This second round is open to investigators from organisations and institutions globally.

Funding

Funding is available up to $200,000 (Australian Dollars) per annum for a maximum of three years.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, the following criteria must be met. Please refer to the Funding Guidelines for full details.

The applicant:

• This round is open to investigators from organisations and institutions globally. Chief Investigators from the Doherty Institute, Royal Melbourne Hospital or the University of Melbourne are not eligible to apply, but may be included as a Co-Investigator.

The project:

• The Foundation Grants fund applications that support excellence in research projects that align with the Cumming Global Centre mission. Applications that are not primarily oriented towards research will not be considered.

Key dates

• Expressions of Interest open: Wednesday 25 October 2023 
• Expressions of Interest close: midnight AEDT, Wednesday 29 November 2023 
• Invitation to submit full application issued:  Monday, 8 January 2024
• Full applications due: midnight AEDT, Monday, 18 March 2024
• Outcomes: June 2024

How to apply

Applicants must complete and submit their EOI form via the Smarty Grants online application form. These EOIs will be reviewed for alignment with the Cumming Global Centre mission, and for distribution across subject areas. A shortlist of applicants will then be invited to submit a full proposal.

The full application will be similar in format to the EOI stage, and will be submitted via Smartygrants. The full proposal will require:

• Completed budget and justification (budget template available in scheme documents further down on this web page).
• Completed certification form from an authorised representative of your institution

You will also need to upload a PDF of your project description. This description should include:

• Project aim/s
• Research plan
• Expected outcomes
• Significance and innovation
• Role of collaborators
• References

Selection criteria and assessment

1. Applications will be assessed by a panel of assessors under the oversight and broad direction of the Cumming Global Centre Scientific Advisory Panel, against the following criteria:  
   • Scientific Quality (35%)
   • Innovation (25%)
   • Alignment with the Cumming Global Centre Mission (20%)
   • Feasibility (20%)
2. Detailed selection criteria are available in the program scoring rubric.

Scheme documents

• Foundation Grants 2023 Round 2 Funding Guidelines
• Foundation Grants 2023 Round 2 Information Slide Deck
• Foundation Grants 2023 Round 2 SmartyGrants Application Form
• Foundation Grants 2023 Round 2 Scoring Rubric
• Foundation Grants 2023 Round 2 Conditions
• Foundation Grants 2023 Round 2 FAQs
• Foundation Grants 2023 Budget Template
• Foundation Grants 2023 Certification Form
• Foundation Grants 2023 Co-Investigator Authorisation Form

Enquiries

Please refer to our frequently asked questions. Can't find an answer? Contact the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics team for enquiries.

Email: cgcpt-grants@unimelb.edu.au