Glossary

BMBF

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (German: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), supports innovative projects and ideas in research through targeted funding programmes. Direct project funding is allocated to concrete areas of research and is implemented within the framework of specific programmes. These promote basic technologies which push forward developments in key fields of application and thus serve as a force for growth in many industrial sectors. They support German industrial companies including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as universities, institutions of higher education and other R&D institutions and are generally open for international cooperation.

EDCTP

Established under the European Union’s research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe, the Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU) is a partnership between the European Union and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Association, whose members are several European and African countries. Building on the first and second EDCTP programmes (EDCTP1 and EDCTP2), the GH EDCTP3 JU aims to deliver solutions for reducing the burden of infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa and strengthen research capacities to prepare and respond to re-emerging infectious diseases in this region and across the world. The EU’s financial contribution to the GH EDCTP3 JU will be up to €800 million. The EDCTP Association will contribute at least €400 million and another €400 million is expected from contributing partners, such as philanthropic organisations and industry.

The implementation of the GH EDCTP3 JU programme is ensured by a programme office in Brussels under the leadership of an Executive Director. The GH EDCTP3 JU will be advised by a Scientific Committee and a Stakeholders Group.

EIT Health

EIT Health was established in 2015 as a ‘knowledge and innovation community’ (KIC) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The EIT comprises various KICs who focus on a different sector or area of innovation. In the case of EIT Health it is ‘health and aging.’ The idea behind the EIT KICs is that innovation flourishes best when the right people are brought together to share expertise. EIT Health provides funding to interdisciplinary groups of experts from business, research, and education, aiming to create an optimal innovation environment.

Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 was the Eighth Framework Programme funding Research, Technological Development, and Innovation‘, implemented by the European Commission. It provided nearly €80 billion of funding over seven years (2014 to 2020) to research and innovation projects through open and competitive calls for proposals. It was organised around societal challenges and open to participation from around the globe.

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is the European Union's Ninth Research and Innovation Framework Programme, which will run between 2021 and 2027. The programme is the world's largest funding programme of its kind with a €95.5 billion budget. Horizon Europe is, just like its predecessor Horizon 2020, made up of three pillars: open science, global challenges, and industrial competitiveness.

New goals in Horizon Europe include creating a stronger impact through mission-orientation and a more active engagement of society through better dissemination and exploitation of R&I results. Another new feature in Horizon Europe is the institutionalisation of the European Innovation Council (EIC).

MRC/UKRI

Operating across the UK with a combined budget of more than £7 billion, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) brings together the seven UK research councils, Innovate UK, and Research England. UKRI works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and the UK government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. The 'Medical Research Council‘ MRC supports medical research, spending around £800 million each year by providing research grants and career awards to scientists. Funding opportunities are either researcher-led or MRC strategic. Researcher-led proposals are reviewed at board and panel meetings, with funding available for any science area relevant to the MRC, and provide support on a range of scales across career stages, from fundamental to translational research.

NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the United States government's primary agency responsible for biomedical and public health research. The NIH conducts its own scientific research through its Intramural Research Program and provides major biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program. Of that, a certain percentage must be granted to small businesses under the SBIR/STTR Program. Main areas of funding include clinical research, genetics, prevention, cancer, and biotechnology.