Joseph Fourier University - "Vivier de la Recherche Médicale" Grants

What the Vivier de la Recherche Médicale grant gives you

You will receive up to 10,000 EUR for one year to fund an early-stage medical research project. The funding comes from the Faculty of Medicine at the Université Grenoble Alpes in France. It covers the running costs of your research, such as consumables and laboratory costs. The grant will be paid into a budget account held by the university and is therefore intended to fund the project, not to supplement your personal income. It does not cover the costs of equipment or salaries.

Who can apply

• Your role: You are a junior doctor (internal medicine), a chef de clinique or a university hospital assistant (Assistant hospitalo-universitaire) and are still at the start of your research career.
• Project stage: Your project is still in its very early stages. It is, at most, at stage M2 (in the second year of your Master’s degree) or in the first year of your PhD.
• Type of research: Only pre-clinical research projects are eligible for funding, i.e. laboratory work carried out prior to trials on patients. Clinical research is not eligible for funding.
• Where you work: You are carrying out the project in a recognised and accredited research laboratory (INSERM, CNRS or a laboratory that has a contract with these organisations).
• Field: Your topic is medical.
• Nationality: All nationalities can apply.

How to apply

You must submit a dossier of no more than 10 pages to the Faculty of Medicine. It must include your CV, the project title, the objectives, the methodology, the expected results, the feasibility assessment and a funding plan, as well as a statement from the head of your laboratory. The Research Committee (Commission Recherche) will select the successful applicants on the basis of these documents, with the originality of the project playing a decisive role. The deadline is 9 November.

How realistic are your chances?

This funding scheme is narrowly defined: you must be a junior medical researcher in Grenoble carrying out a pre-clinical project in an approved laboratory. This keeps the pool of applicants small. If you meet these criteria and can present a compelling, original project with a clear methodology and a clear budget, your chances are good. A compelling, well-substantiated application is more important than one that is perfectly formatted.