Transnational Access Projects:
Call for proposals

The European Sequencing and Genotyping Infrastructure (ESGI) is a consortium that includes leading European sequencing, genotyping and bioinformatics centres, with the aims to harmonise technologies and support outstanding genetics, functional genomics and systems biology research in Europe.

As a major part of its programme, ESGI will provide transnational access for external users to its nucleic acids analysis technologies, including covering full costs for data generation and associated personnel at ESGI facilities for supported projects. Additionally, European guest scientists involved in access projects will be supported by grants to visit the relevant ESGI facilities to work on data analysis covering travel, lodging, and subsistence.

Proposals for biomedical research projects to access ESGI facilities will be evaluated in three calls, one each in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The 1st call 2011 was already successfully finalised. The 2nd call will be opened 1 December 2011. Deadline for the submission of proposals for the 2nd call is 16 January 2012.

Start of 2nd call: 1 December 2011
Submission deadline: 16 January 2012

ESGI users are encouraged to go beyond established frontiers of knowledge and the boundaries of disciplines, and propose high risk and innovative projects. This can also involve development of new methodological sequencing approaches, which goes beyond standard applications. ESGI particularly encourages applications from groups without access to equivalent technologies.

Topics for this call are:

1. Human Population Genetics: The focus shall be on European population genetics. These studies shall involve both, sequencing and SNP genotyping applications.

2. De novo mutation discovery in complex diseases: The focus must be on environmental or autoimmune diseases. Applicants need to have at least 30 parent-offspring trios (i.e. 90 samples) with informed consent on whole-exome sequencing, known family history status, spontaneous disease, and large available resources for replication. These studies shall involve both, sequencing applications for discovery studies and SNP genotyping applications for replication studies.

3. Functional genomics in cancer research: The proposals shall focus on molecular data integration and in particular work on modeling cancer disease processes using patient-or model-organism derived biological material.

4. Linking Chromatin and Gene Expression: The focus shall be on human intervention, model animal or cellular studies designed to shed light on metabolic and aging processes.

5. Deciphering molecular networks: The focus shall be on standardised mouse models designed to investigate by genetic approaches complex molecular networks of fundamental biological or disease-related processes.

ESGI will not support extension of existing large scale projects such as the 1000 Genomes Project or the International Cancer Genome Project. Proposals must be consistent with scientific expertise at one of the ESGI facilities. For further information and eligibility requirements, please read carefully the information package.