Stage 1: An open Call for proposals is published on the IMI website, where all interested parties from academia, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organisations, regulatory agencies, large non-EFPIA companies etc. are invited to form Applicant Consortia and to submit an Expression of Interest in response to the Call.

Stage 2: Following the first stage peer review, the Applicant Consortium of the best Expression of Interest, and the EFPIA consortium already associated to the topic, are invited to form a Full Project Consortium. The Full Project Proposal contains a draft Project Agreement which is to be concluded between all members of the consortium governing their relationship, including detailed intellectual property rights based on the IMI intellectual property rights policy.

The Full Project Proposal is evaluated based on consistency with the original Expression of Interest, on scientific excellence, the quality of the implementation plan and the potential impact. Ethical issues are also considered at this stage.

Only Full Project Proposals that have been favourably reviewed in the evaluation process can be selected for funding. The selected project consortium will be invited to conclude a Grant Agreement governing the relationship between them and IMI.