The Angelman Syndrome Alliance (ASA) supports research on Angelman syndrome with up to 350.000,- EUR to be awarded at the next International Angelman Syndrome Scientific Conference. The Angelman Syndrome Alliance is an initiative of the following parent organizations ASB (Belgium), ASFA (France), Angelman e.V. (Germany), ORSA (Italy), AIA (Ireland), AV (Netherlands), Angel (Portugal), Angelman UK (United Kingdom), AVO (Austria), Israeli AS Foundation (Israel), JASSG (Japan), Spain (ASA) and the Nina Foundation (Netherlands) who have created an international organization on AS science. Their mutual aim is to join forces and funds to increase the financial support of dedicated research projects and thereby intensify research on Angelman Syndrome.
Angelman Syndrome is a genetic disorder that results from a loss of UBE3A gene activity which encodes the ubiquitin E3 ligase E6-AP. Angelman Syndrome is characterised by severe intellectual disability, lack of speech, motor coordination deficits, sleep disturbance, and usually a happy demeanour.
Researchers of any country are invited to apply for research grants covering preclinical (basic) research as well as translational research such as mechanism based controlled trials. Applications for behavioural therapies are not eligible at this point.
Grants awarded for up to 175,000 EUR per grant. The duration of the grant is flexible, but the maximum duration is 4 years. There will be an evaluation of the project after completion of 50% of the anticipated grant duration; this should be in form of a detailed written scientific report for the Scientific Advisory Board and a report with pictures in simple language to share with the funding parents organisations in more general terms.
The application procedure is two-step: first, a short application has to be submitted on the ASA website (Deadline 1st of July 2021, before 23.00 hours CET); a detailed application will then be invited from those proposals passing step 1 (Deadline 31st of October 2021). The applicants will be informed about the outcome of the call on the 7th of March 2022. The awardees will be invited to give the ASA-AWARD LECTURE at the next bi-annual ASA scientific conference in Vienna on the 15th of September 2022.
Registering for the grant can be done via the ASA website www.angelmanalliance.org
The short application should include the following:
- Cover letter including the title of the proposal and the name of the principal investigator
- Two-page summary of the proposed research including paragraphs on the hypothesis, background, research plan, principal methodology, and the significance of the proposed research. An overview of the budget must also be included (indirect costs cannot be applied for).
- Curriculum vitae of the applicant
All applications should be written in English language using Times New Roman, 10 point, 1.5 spaced.
Proposals involving laboratory animal testing must be approved by the respective institutional review boards before funding can be released.
All proposals, including cover letters, should be uploaded at the ASA website: www.angelmanalliance.org
Questions about the process of the grant should be directed to the ASA Board at: Manuel Duarte - direccao(at)angel.pt
Questions about research on Angelman Syndrome should be directed to the Scientific Advisory Board at: Harald Sitte - harald.sitte(at)meduniwien.ac.at
