3Rs Science Prize 2024: call for submissions

Posted on: 16/07/2024

The European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) announced its 2024 3Rs Science Prize and opened the call for submissions.

EPAA promotes the development, validation and acceptance of 3Rs alternative approaches. The 3Rs science prize is granted every two years to a scientist with an outstanding contribution to the 3Rs. EPAA aims to highlight 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) may apply for the prize until the 23rd of September 2024, 12:00 CET.

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.

Who should apply?

Scientists working on alternative methods for regulatory testing purposes. Applicants should be based in Europe and have up to 10 years of postgraduate experience. 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.

Selection criteria?

The selection board, applying the 6 selection criteria mentioned 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.

  1. impact on the 3Rs (reduction, refinement, replacement of animal uses) *weighted x2*,
  2. innovation/contribution to meeting an urgent, yet unmet scientific need,
  3. the possibility to apply this method/approach to regulatory testing (including for safety or potency) *weighted x2*,
  4. the impact on predictive safety science (better data/science is obtained thanks to the work of the applicant compared to the current animal method),
  5. the potential for this work to be applied widely e.g. to other methods and endpoints and across sectors,
  6. international recognition (previously published work, number of publications, rankings in peer-reviewed journals, etc.).

Application process?

To submit your application, send an email to GROW-EPAA@ec.europa.eu by Monday, 23 September 12:00 CET 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.

Questions?

Contact GROW-EPAA@ec.europa.eu

 

Sources

 

EPAA 3Rs Science prize