Call now open: Human Data and Translational Research Linking Data theme

The Linking Data theme of the Science tier focus area of the Human Data and Translational Research is now open. Below is all the information you need to apply.

Objectives and call requirements

The Human Data and Translational Research ambition of the ELIXIR 2024–2028 Scientific Programme is to provide the infrastructure to support the discovery, access, sharing and analysis of human genomics data and linked data on a massive scale, building on progress made in this priority area by ELIXIR since 2014.

We will achieve our ambition via projects focussed around three themes, which will be implemented as part of the new HDTR project plan. The recently funded projects (from the previous 2024 open call) cover the areas of Data Deposition and Federated Data Analysis.

Applicants are now invited to submit their proposals for the Linking Data theme.

General information

• Call opening: 30 September 2024
• Call closing: 10 November 2024, 17:00 CET
• Expected Starting Date: 1 January 2025 – 31 March 2025
• Expected Completion Date: 31 December 2026 
• Duration: Up to 24 months
• Maximum number of funded projects: One
• Financial Allocation per project: Up to €200,000, including indirect costs

Linking Data theme

Data linking is understood to be the technical integration of heterogeneous data sources through identifiers or common attributes, enabling the aggregation, comparison and analysis of data across different domains, formats and structures to enhance data interoperability.

Objectives:

1. Partnerships linking human genomics data to other -omics and/or other heterogeneous data (for example, imaging) using/relying on existing ELIXIR-supported infrastructures/data portals/repositories/toolkits are well established.
2. Mechanisms for data deposition across data types are defined and agreed across Nodes/consensus is gained across Communities to ensure interoperability across ELIXIR-supported technical infrastructure.
3. Drive towards ontology-based data integration to effectively combine data or information from multiple heterogeneous sources.

Description:

The expected outcome is that other data types can be accessed and linked at scale to human genomic data research studies and that relevant data infrastructures and data spaces are interoperable. 

We encourage proposals that outline specific strategies for linking genomic data with other -omics and heterogeneous data types (for example, imaging), emphasising methods ensuring meta-data alignment. Proposals need to demonstrate achieving interoperability across different ELIXIR Nodes.  

While it is preferable to use real genomic data, if this is not available then synthetic data will be considered in order to move forward with demonstrating capabilities and solutions.

Call requirements 

The ELIXIR Hub will assess proposal eligibility before submitting the proposal for formal review. Applicants will be notified if there are issues with their submission. All steps of assessment, including review panel and evaluation criteria, can be found below.

Eligibility:

• Projects must be sponsored by at least one ELIXIR Community, and more where applicable. This sponsorship will be verified after submission by contacting relevant Community co-leads.
• Projects must include and fund at least three Nodes with a minimum level of funding equivalent to two person-months per funded Node, as well as a diverse mix of gender and geographical range. This is to encourage cross-Node collaboration in proposals.
• A balance of the involvement of the four Human Data Communities may be considered to ensure a portfolio spanning use cases.
• Any institute that receives more than one person-month of funding should be responsible for at least one deliverable or milestone.
• In-kind contributions are acceptable, but must be defined in terms of person-month equivalents, and can’t be more than 20% of the overall person-months budgeted in the proposal.
• Applicants must submit a fully-costed budget and also include person-month allocations (a minimum of 1PM ideally, and 0.5PM if the task allows). It should be attached as a spreadsheet (template) with a complete costing form during submission, following Section 3 of ELIXIR Guidelines for Commissioned Services, and adhere to budgeting principles outlined in the Guidelines.
  • Funding may be used for travel, where necessary, even for participants allocated zero person-months. However, amounts must be declared in the overall proposal budget (i.e. the total budget should also include travel and other costs, beyond the person-month allocation).
• Proposals must not duplicate existing funded efforts, such as Platform Work Plans or Implementation Studies, but can build on prior studies.
• Proposals should also consider how they complement, connect with and avoid duplication of activities within external partners and projects (international organisations, ESFRI, EU agencies and EC funded projects).
• Applicants may submit multiple applications but must ensure clear differentiation.
• Applicants may not submit an application identical to that submitted in any other funding call that is open at the same time.
• Only ELIXIR Node members covered by a Node’s Collaboration Agreement may receive funding through this call.
• Declarations of Support from Heads of Nodes are not required in advance; but submitted applications will be made known to the respective Head of Node (HoN) during the eligibility assessment.
• Deliverables and milestones must be realistic, but have to reach beyond typical coordination activities that exist within ELIXIR Community functions. For example, some encouraged outputs include:
  • Standards
  • Services
  • Guidelines
  • Training
  • Connections
  • Datasets
  • Benchmarks

Proposal details:

• Proposals should be concise and include ELIXIR context. Do not assume that all reviewers will be fully acquainted with ELIXIR context.
• Proposals should be made up of only a few key work packages, each with identified leaders that all align towards the one or two specific topics chosen to address.
• Proposals should have an appropriate number of milestones and deliverables, given the expected duration and budget.
• Proposals should provide a person-by-person justification for requested person-months, tying their expertise to specific deliverables.
• Proposals should put the Consortium of those applying in context. For example, why is this group of people the best for this project?

Submission process:

• Participants planning to submit a proposal must refer to the ELIXIR Guidelines for Commissioned Services, section 3.6 on open calls, and any other formal announcements made through the usual channels.
• Proposals must be submitted through the Oxford Abstracts platform link. Each section that will be completed, has its own word limit visible on the platform.
• For each proposal, one project lead should be nominated and agreed among the applicants responsible for submitting the application.

Review panel:

The Review panel reserves the right to propose small amendments to project budgets or time frames after review, but before issuing funding. This is in order to accommodate the overall restrictions of the call and maximise the number of funded projects.

Evaluation criteria:

Proposals will be assessed according to the following criteria.

• Ambition – The novelty, expected outcomes and impact of the proposed research; whether the proposal pushes the boundaries of current knowledge.
• Scope – The proposal's alignment with the call objectives and ELIXIR's objectives and research priorities in the 2024–28 Scientific Programme.
• Context – The extent to which the proposal complements, connects with and avoids duplication of activities within ELIXIR (Platforms, Communities or Services), and ELIXIR’s external partners and projects (international organisations, ESFRI, EU agencies and EC funded projects).
• Balance – Whether the proposal adequately balances the involvement of member Nodes and Communities, while staying within realistic resource limits. To what extent the proposal includes a diverse team, including a mix of gender, geographical range and new and mature Nodes.
• Implementation – Whether the budget is appropriate for the project's scope and goals and if the proposed timeline would allow for realistic project completion.
• Scientific and Technical Rigour – The scientific soundness, methodology and technical approach of the proposal.

The review process is described in the ELIXIR Guidelines for Commissioned Services, section 3.6 on open calls. In short: reviewers will be allocated to each proposal for assessment and scoring. The scored proposals will be assessed and ranked based on both overall score and alignment with the Science tier ambitions.