ERDERA announces a new call for proposals!

The European Rare Diseases Research Alliance (ERDERA)— a partnership aimed at coordinating and funding transnational research on rare diseases— will launch a joint transnational call for proposals titled “Catalysing Collaborative Research for Recently Identified Rare Diseases” in early December 2026 . 

The aim of the call is to:

• to support research and initiate new collaborative research activities focused on recently identified rare diseases that have not yet been sufficiently studied scientifically. 

To be eligible, the disease must meet both of the following conditions:

1. The disease must have been described for the first time in peer-reviewed scientific literature on or after January 1, 2010, including a description of the link between the disease and the presumed causal mechanism (e.g., the link between a gene and the disease). Applicants must cite the original publication in which this link was first described (using the PMID or DOI identifier).
2. At the time of application, the disease must be registered in the Orphanet database (or the registration process must be underway). For diseases that are not yet registered, applicants must provide proof that a registration application has been submitted.

Project proposals may focus on a single disease or a small group of closely related diseases (e.g., diseases that share a common set of causative genes or a common molecular pathway), provided that each of these diseases meets both of the above conditions.

Proposed areas of focus: 

• Natural history studies and patient registries, including those designed to support clinical trial readiness. Where feasible, these should incorporate the development and application of patient-reported outcome measures. The exploration of standardized health-related surveillance instruments and patient-entered data as means of capturing natural history information is also encouraged;
• Identification and validation of biomarkers of disease pathophysiology or progression, including biomarkers that support patient stratification, characterization of natural history, or readiness for future clinical trials. Biomarker discovery and validation are within the scope of this document when they support mechanistic understanding or disease monitoring; the development of a biomarker-based test or assay intended for clinical diagnostic use is outside the scope (see 4.2);
• The development of in silico, cellular (including patient-derived iPSC and organoid models), and animal models that faithfully replicate the human condition—including the creation of new disease models where none currently exist—to be established during the course of the project;
• Elucidation of pathophysiological pathways, including studies aimed at identifying disease mechanisms that may inform future therapeutic strategies.

The Ministry of Health / Agency for Health Research ČR will participate in this call!

National rules and conditions for Czech applicants are currently being drafted; these will be based on the Program to Support Applied Health Research for 2024–2030: Subprogram 3: European Partnerships in Health, and will be published on the websites AZV andČR by the time the call for proposals is announced. We recommend regularly checking the websites AZV andČR —the Czech Health Research Agency (azvcr.cz) —as well as the official call for proposals page here.

The MoHCR will support Czech applicants through the national budget allocation. The total amount for the call will be EUR 500 000. 

Important: The standard project duration for Czech principal investigators is a maximum of 3 years / 36 months. All projects will be funded under the Program to Support Applied Health Research for the period 2024–2030 and must therefore be completed no later than December 31, 2030, as the program itself ends on that date.   

Only transnational projects will be funded. The call will be a two-round call. 

Provisional timetable of the call:

More information about the call’s objectives, topics, excluded areas, consortium composition, other conditions, or the list of countries participating in this call is available on the official ERDERA website and in the supporting document HERE.