The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) has launched a call for working groups on ‘concepts for health and social care research for neurodegenerative diseases’. Forte co-funds this call.

Grant type

One grant type is available within this call: working groups. The Working Groups will be funded for up to 9 months with 50 000 EURO. The grant will not fund direct research activities instead it will fund working groups and cover their expenses (e.g., meetings and travel costs). The working groups must provide outputs of value to the broader research community, such as best-practice guidelines and methodological frameworks.

Focus of the research

People with neurodegenerative diseases face a reduced ability to manage daily-life challenges along with a loss of independency and social participation. The factors that contribute to social inclusion, civil participation, dignity and quality of life for these patients and their families are not fully understood.

In consequence, the supply offered by the health care systems of individual countries, if any, does not adequately meet the needs of patients. Furthermore, the availability of and the access to support varies considerably across Europe and beyond and there is inefficient and inequitable coordination between health and social care systems. Deeper analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of existing supply, the social factors contributing to cognitive decline or stability as well as new concepts and ideas for enhancing health and social care are therefore needed in order to assess the problems and needs of patients, carers and relatives.

To address this challenge, JPND will launch a call for leading scientists in the field to establish Working Groups dedicated to discuss and align the specific needs of patients and currently available supply by the health and social care system, thereby outlining strategies to improve support for people at moderate, advanced and end of life stages of disease progression.

Practical requirements

For Forte to approve Swedish applicants, the applicant must have completed a doctoral degree. To be able to apply for a grant, a Swedish university or another research funding body must administrate the funding and have an organisational account in Prisma. The administering organisation should apply for this in due time via Prisma.

Forte’s criteria for administering organisations »