Application and selection criteria

The Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI) and Anesvad Foundation are pleased to announce the second round of call for proposals for RESILIENTD grant funding commencing in 2026. We invite research proposals on the social determinants of health in the context of skin neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) with a focus on Sub-Saharan African endemic countries.

The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.” Examples of social determinants of health are: income and social protection, education, unemployment and job insecurity, working life conditions, food insecurity, housing, basic amenities and the environment, early childhood development, social inclusion and non-discrimination, structural conflict, and access to affordable health services of decent quality.

• Para a versão do edital em português, favor clicar aqui!
• Pour une version française de l’appel à propositions, cliquez ici!
• ¡Para obtener una versión en español de la convocatoria de proyectos, haga clic aquí!

Eligibility criteria: 

• The project should primarily focus on social determinants of health in the context of skin NTDs.
• The project should involve two or more skin NTDs, and leprosy must be included.
• The project may span multiple endemic countries and continents, but at least half of the project countries must be in Sub-Saharan Africa. This focus should be reflected in the resources, activities and impact.
• At least half of the members of the research team (defined as Lead applicant +
  Co-applicants + Partners) should be based in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Women should make up at least half of the research team.
• Project duration must not exceed four years (48 months).
• The average annual budget should be between €30,000 and €70,000.

Please note: if your project does not meet these eligibility criteria, it will be rejected without review.

Encouraged to apply are projects with:

• high potential for positive impact on skin NTD services or to the wellbeing of persons affected by skin NTDs, preferably also beyond the project countries.
• an innovative approach.
• a female Lead applicant and/or a Lead applicant based in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• meaningful involvement of persons affected by skin NTDs.
• a focus on gender.

Researchers interested to apply for RESILIENTD grant funding are invited to complete and submit a Letter of Intent (LoI), giving an outline of the intended research. The LoIs can only be submitted using the LRI grant application portal – which can be accessed via https://leprosyresearch.flexigrant.com/. The online portal will open on Monday December 2^nd, 2024.  

LoIs should be submitted by Friday January 24^th, 2025 at 17:00 (CET) after which the application portal will be closed. We strongly advise you to take sufficient time to enter all the required data in the system. Only applications in English will be considered.  

LoIs will be screened by the LRI Steering Committee (SC). Applicants will be informed about the outcome of the LoI by March 14^th, 2025. If the feedback by the SC is positive, the applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal by May 2^nd, 2025. Please note, unless requested, major deviations from the LoI in terms of objectives, scope or budget will not be allowed. The final funding decision will be communicated by mid-December 2025.

SUBMIT LETTER OF INTENT

Timeline budget round 2026