Joint Dutch-German call for alternatives to animal testing

'Innovative Systems Toxicology for Alternatives to Animal Testing' (InnoSysTox) is a joint call by ZonMw and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. German and Dutch joint research teams are eligible to apply. A maximum budget of € 750,000 is available for each granted project consortium on a timescale of three years maximum. A total budget of up to € 2,900,000 is available for the call. The application deadline is Tuesday December 16th 2014.

InnoSysTox is a joint call aimed at development and application of innovative new and existing systems-biology-based 3R methods in toxicology. In the Netherlands it is part of the ZonMw programme More Knowledge with Fewer Animals (MKMD). The joint project must be based on an international public-private partnership in a broad-based strategic consortium. Each project consortium must have at least three partners: one German public partner, one Dutch public partner and one private partner. Applicable proposals should be interdisciplinary: systems biology, toxicology, 3R research and predictive modelling must play a part.

The total budget of up to € 2,900,000 is divided as follows:
• ZonMw will contribute up to € 1,400,000 of this sum and will allocate grants to the Dutch groups;
• The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research will contribute up to € 1,500,000 and allocate grants to the German groups.

The initiative responds to the growing realization in science and society that the most appropriate model for human biology is the human and not the animal model. Innovative methods based on human biology will accelerate developments in Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (3R’s) of animal testing and greatly improve insight into the mechanism in human and animal disease processes.