Application deadline: 23 September 2024 at 12:00 (noon) Brussels time
The EPAA aims to promote the development, validation and acceptance of 3Rs alternative approaches (replacement, reduction and refinement of testing on animals). The 3Rs science prize is granted every two years to a scientist with an outstanding contribution to the 3Rs. We want to promote positive contributions from industry or academia and encourage more scientists to focus their research on the 3Rs goals.
Scientists working on relevant methods for regulatory testing (e.g. safety, efficacy, batch testing) that provide an outstanding contribution to the use of the 3Rs may apply for the prize.
A selection board (composed by EPAA members and representatives of the EPAA Mirror Group) will evaluate the submissions, provide the EPAA steering committee with the results of the evaluation and give a recommendation on the ranking of the submissions.
Based on this recommendation, the Steering Committee will select the winner, to whom the prize of €10,000 will be awarded.
The prize will be granted to the institution of the winner to be announced at the EPAA Annual Conference, on 13 November 2024. The winner will have the opportunity to present his/her work at the 2024 EPAA Annual Conference, gathering regulators, industry stakeholders, academia and civil society.
Applicants should therefore confirm that they will be available on 13 November 2024 to present their work at the Annual Conference if they win.
Scientists working on alternative methods for regulatory testing purposes may apply. Applicants should be based in Europe and have up to 10 years of postgraduate experience (i.e. after obtaining their bachelor’s or master’s degree). Applicants should submit a written case study based on actual research - this should not be older than 5 years and not a project on future research - where their role and involvement are shown. The application should make the following points clear
- how the above criteria are met (e.g. how the method or approach relates to regulatory testing)
- which regulatory requirements the applicant's approach can be used for
- the applicant's postgraduate experience, role and involvement in research
The EPAA Secretariat will screen applications for eligibility criteria and inform the selection board of their findings. Applications that do not comply with the eligibility criteria are not eligible.
The selection board, applying 6 selection criteria as shown below, will assess the eligible applications. Each member of the selection board will evaluate the submissions and assess each criterion individually with a rating from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good). Criteria 1 and 3 will be double-weighted (i.e. maximum of 10 points each). Every selection board member may rate applications between 0 and 40 points, thus the total ranking of an application will be between 0 and 240 points.
- impact on the 3Rs (reduction, refinement, replacement of animal uses) *weighted x2*
- innovation / contribution to meeting an urgent, yet unmet scientific need
- the possibility to apply this method/approach to regulatory testing (including for safety or potency) *weighted x2*
- the impact on predictive safety science (better data/science is obtained thanks to the work of the applicant compared to the current animal method)
- the potential for this work to be applied widely e.g. to other methods and endpoints and across sectors
- international recognition (previously published work, number of publications, rankings in peer-reviewed journals, etc.)
If no application gets at least 160 points, then the EPAA steering committee may decide to not grant the prize.
To submit an application, please send an email to GROW-EPAA
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (GROW-EPAA[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu) by Monday, 23 September at 12:00 (noon), Brussels time with the following documents
- CV with a list of publications
- a cover letter explaining why your work is relevant and how it contributes to the 3Rs
- a case study description (max. 2500 words) that introduces that work or project you have chosen for this application and its achievements/results. Pictures, illustrations and videos may also be used if relevant. The case study should clearly define the targeted regulatory endpoint, the implemented method and the results that were obtained.
- letter of support/endorsement from your current organisation/employer.
Please send any questions or enquiries you have to GROW-EPAAec [dot] europa [dot] eu (GROW-EPAA[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)