Call for Applications for Full Membership of Evimalar and FP7 NoE funded by the European Commission

A.   Purpose of the Call
The European Virtual Institute for Malaria Research consortium (Evimalar, www.evimalar.org) a European Commission-funded FP7 Network of Excellence (NoE), announces the opportunity to apply for full membership of the network. The call addresses two categories of new NoE members:

1. African scientists acting as Principal Investigators with an excellent research record who hold an employment contract with a research institute based in Africa. 

2. Scientists with significant expertise in the area of the immunology of malaria infection who hold an employment contract with a research institute based within the EU or an FP7- Associated Country.

B.   Areas of Research Interest
1. African Scientists.  The research interests of the successful applicant will coincide with those of the Network and offer the potential for a significant strengthening of the research activities of the Network.  For a full description of the activities of the network please refer to extracts the Work Plan of the Network which is available in the Network website Evimalar.org.

2. European Based Scientists.  The Network seeks senior scientists / group leaders with an excellent track of research of the immunology of malaria infection and/or the immunological interface between the mosquito vector and the malaria parasite.

For further details, please consult the Evimalar web site (www.Evimalar.org).  A maximum of two applicants for each category will be appointed after external independent review of the applications.

C.   Nature of the Awards
Successful candidates will be integrated as Full Members.  Full membership for Principal Investigators entails:

• Membership in the NoE of the selected PI implies his home institution joining NoE as full member including acceding to the grant agreement with the EU
• Reimbursed attendance of the Annual Network Meeting and Annual Cluster Meetings of the Network
• Eligibility to participate as a co-supervisor in collaborative PhD projects funded through the NoE's Malaria Graduate Research School.
• Annual research stipend

D.   Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for membership, the applicants must:

• hold a PhD or MD or equivalent degree from an established University
• have an excellent track record of research in the stipulated areas
• have an employment contract with a research institution in the stipulated regions
• demonstrate his home institution's willingness to join the NoE
• cat.1 applicants must hold  an employment contract with a research institute based in Africa, cat.2 applicants must hold an employment contract with a research institute based within the EU or an FP7- Associated Country

E.   Guidelines for the Proposal
The proposal must clearly identify the targeted call category. Applications should be written in Calibri, font size 11 with a line spacing of 1.5. The proposal should be divided into the following sections:

1. title page
2. extended abstract of research interests
3. plan for integration with, and added value to, the Evimalar network
4. a complete CV and list of publications
   1. Frontspiece (one page)
      including name of the applicant, affiliation, contact address (phone number, email, fax number)
       
   2. Extended abstract of research interests (one page)
      should include a comprehensive summary of the research activities and outputs of the applicant.  Special emphasis
      should be paid in preparing the abstract as it will be used for an initial pre-screening of the proposal
       
   3. Plan for integration with, and added value to, the Evimalar network:
      the applicant should provide detailed description of how the applicant intends to integrate his/her research project into the research agenda of Evimalar. The benefits for both, the applicant, the host institution and Evimalar should be made explicitly clear. If necessary, provide a chart. Integration may include joint research with Evimalar partners, joint training/ teaching activities, providing a research and/or technological platform for Evimalar.
   4. Complete CV and list of publications
      • Personal information including name, birth date, nationality, current place of residence, current employer, current working address
      • Education Previous employment and experience
      • Major research interest
      • Fellowships, prizes and awards
      • Research grants
      • Other scientific and administrative activities (teaching, supervision of students, peer review activities, lectures at meetings, coordination of research activities, lecture series and workshops)
      • Complete list of publications including chapters, books, reviews and original articles (no abstracts).

F.   Evaluation Criteria
All eligible proposals will be treated impartially on their merits, subject to an independent peer review process. The evaluation will be conducted by an independent evaluation committee with the assistance of two independent experts appointed by the European Commission. The proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the criteria outlined below:

• Scientific excellence and competence of the applicant (weight 70%)
• Scientific excellence of the integration plan (weight 30%)

G.   Deadline
The full proposal should be sent as an e-mail document file (*.doc) to the coordination office of Evimalar (evimalar.org) no later than 20 February 2010