IMI 4th Call 2011
IMI’s 4th Call for proposals was launched [1] 
on 18 July 2011 and attracted 86 Expressions of Interest (EoIs). The best Applicant Consortia from Stage 1 of the call were invited to progress to Stage 2 and form joint project teams with the respective industry consortia. Following a thorough review by independent experts, 7 Full Project Proposals (FPPs) worth a total of €237 million were selected to receive funding.
Details of the successful projects [2] were announced in December 2012. More information on all IMI projects can be found here [3].
Independent observers monitored the evaluation of both stages of the Call for proposals. Download their reports of Stage 1 [4] and Stage 2 [5]
The list of experts involved in the evaluations of Stages 1 and 2 of the 4th Call for proposals is available here [6]
Stage 1 – documents and procedures
Based on the recommendations of the IMI Research Agenda, the IMI Governing Board [7] approved the IMI Annual Implementation Plan 2011, including the Scientific Priorities 2011. These priorities have been incorporated into the IMI 4th Call Topics (see the Call documents below). Applicants intending to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) in response to the IMI 4th Call were advised to read the Guide for Applicants, the Call Topics, the Rules for Participation, the Rules for Submission, Evaluation and Selection of EoIs and FPPs, the IMI IPR rules and the IMI JU model Grant Agreement.
Call Identifier: IMI-JU-2011
Publication Date: 18 July 2011
Call status: Closed
Budget: A maximum financial contribution from the European Community to IMI for the support of research activities of € 105 million, matched by the in-kind contribution by the research based companies that are members of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
Restrictions for Participation: see the Rules for Participation
Entities eligible to receive funding: see eligibility criteria to receive funding in the Rules for Participation
Selection of Expressions of Interest and Full Project Proposals: see Rules for Submission, Evaluation and Selection of Expressions of Interest and Full Project Proposals
Compliance with ethical issues: information is available on http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ethics_en.html [8]
Call documents: The key documents required for the preparation of an Expression of Interest (EoI):
- Call 4 topics text (IMI-GB-DEC-2011-09.1) [9]
- Guide for Applicants Expressions of Interest (IMI-GB-DEC-201109.4) [10]
- Rules for Participation (IMI-GB-DEC-2011-09.5) [11]
- Rules for Submission, Evaluation and Selection of Expressions of Interest and Full Project Proposals (IMI-GB-DEC-2011-09.2) [12]
- IMI 4th Call Evaluation Form - Stage 1 (IMI-GB-DEC-2011-09.3) [13]
- IP Policy [14]
- Model Grant Agreement [15]
Submissions start date (for submitting EoIs): 19 September 2011
Submissions deadline (for submitting EoIs): 18 October 2011, 23:55 Brussels time (CEST)
Only the IMI electronic submission tool could be used for submitting an Expression of Interest in response to a topic of the 4th Call; no other means of submission were accepted. Updates of the Expression of Interest could be submitted online until the Call deadline. Only the most recent version was considered for the evaluation procedure (including eligibility check).
Stage 2 – documents and procedures
Further to the evaluation of eligible Expressions of Interest (EoIs) submitted in the first stage of the IMI JU 4th Call, the IMI Governing Board decided to launch the second stage of the Call process. Accordingly, the first-ranked Applicant Consortia from Stage 1 were invited to form Full Consortia with the corresponding EFPIA participants and to prepare and submit Full Project Proposals (FPPs) to IMI JU by 13 March 2012 at 23.55 (Brussels local time, CET).
Application forms
The IMI electronic tool SOFIA [16] (Submission OF Information Application) was to be used for submitting the Full Project Proposal (FPP); no other means of submission was accepted.
- Part A (Administrative part)
All Part A forms except forms A2.6, A2.7, and A4 were to be completed in the electronic submission tool.
Forms A2.6, A2.7 and A4 were to be printed, signed and uploaded in the electronic submission tool; Word versions of these forms could be downloaded from the electronic submission tool.
Specimens of all Part A forms can be found in the Guidance Notes below. - Part B (Project description)- pdf version [17] - Word 97-2003 version
[18] - Word 2010 version [19]
Part B was to be completed by the applicants and uploaded in the electronic submission tool. - Guidance Notes [20]
Information package
The key documents required for the preparation and evaluation of FPPs
- Rules for Submission, Evaluation and Selection of Expressions of Interest and Full Project Proposals (IMI-GB-DEC-2011-09.2) [12]
- Rules for Participation (IMI-GB-DEC-2011-09.5) [11]
- Evaluation Form Stage 2 [21]
- Ethical Review Report [22]
Independent experts evaluated the FPPs; following this peer review, 7 projects were selected to receive funding.