Medical technology to detect cardiovascular diseases earlier, to monitor these diseases and for improved treatment is desperately needed to safeguard access to care and sufficient bedside personnel. Researchers can submit their research proposal for new medical technology until 9 April 2019 through the open call “Heart for sustainable care”. This call has been initiated by the Dutch CardioVascular Alliance (DCVA) and the Innovative Medical Devices Initiative (IMDI) and is being realised with funds from the Dutch Heart Foundation, NWO Responsible Innovation, NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES) and the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw). The budget for this call is 5 million euros.

Aim of the programme

The research programme focuses on the development of medical technology for the earlier detection and improved treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Safeguarding the accessibility of care and keeping care affordable and sufficiently staffed are key aspects of this call. The aim is to prevent damage from occurring, that a patient transitions to a more severe stage of cardiovascular disease or ends up in the chronic phase, and consequently to reduce the demand for care.

Collaboration

The ambition and strategy of the DCVA and the vision of IMDI strengthen each other in this joint call. The programme Heart for sustainable care ties in directly with DCVA’s strategy, aimed at the early detection or earlier recognition of (an exacerbation of) cardiovascular diseases, and aligns with IMDI’s objectives aimed at medical technology which enables healthcare that is affordable and sufficiently staffed. The programme also falls within the knowledge and innovation agendas of the Top Sectors Life Sciences and Health and High Tech Systems and Materials, which are realised by NWO. Furthermore, the programme fits within the societal challenge Health and Care and the strategy of the Dutch Heart Foundation. The call is being realised by ZonMw.

Cross-domain collaboration

NWO Domain AES, NWO Responsible Innovation and ZonMw are contributing to the call. The ethical and societal aspects of technological innovation will be examined from the NWO Responsible Innovation perspective. NWO has developed the Responsible Innovation approach to realise responsible innovations that can count on widespread support. Societal aspects (such as ethical, legal, sociological, economic and (behavioural) psychological aspects) are included from the start of the design process of a (technological) innovation. Researchers from the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences work together and approach the issue jointly from their different areas of expertise.
NWO Domain AES connects people and resources to stimulate the development of technology and technological knowledge. Research projects must contribute to solving societal issues. NWO Domain AES does this through funding excellent technical-scientific research, by bringing users and researchers together, and by supervising projects towards optimal opportunities for knowledge transfer.
ZonMw finances health research and stimulates the use of the developed knowledge. In this way it contributes to improving health and health care.

Important information about the call:

• The maximum grant that can be applied for per project is 800,000 euros. All consortium partners contribute to the project in cash or in kind.
• Research projects will only be eligible for funding if they fall within the thematic framework of the programme.
• Given the phase of development, a contribution from private parties is a condition for funding.
• The Responsible Innovation approach is part of the research. A multidisciplinary character of the project group is important for an integral approach. From the start of the project, researchers with different backgrounds (humanities, natural sciences and social sciences) work together on the problem. The extent to which different researchers are involved and how they collaborate can differ and should be explained in the proposal.
• The medical technology to be developed must align with the expectations, wishes and situations of the (end) user (patient, informal carer, healthcare personnel).
• The project idea and full proposal should demonstrate that proper use is made of the knowledge already available (national and international ). NWO, ZonMw and the Dutch Heart Foundation stimulate the optimal use of data.
• If existing partnerships (e.g. DCVA consortia and IMDI CoREs) are able to accelerate the research based on their knowledge or the established infrastructure, then collaboration is a condition for funding.
• The deadline for submitting research proposals is 9 April 2019 at 14.00 hours.
• An information network meeting will be held on Friday 15 February 2019 from 13.30 hours to 16.00 hours in the Holland Heart House in Utrecht. You can register for this meeting here.
• A decision about proposals awarded funding will be made at the end of October 2019.

Who can apply

This call is open to consortia involving collaboration between knowledge institutions and businesses (companies and healthcare institutions).

More information about this call

More information about this call can be found here.

Next call
A second call will be held within this research programme during the course of 2019.

Matchmaking
Register now for the matchmaking.