The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), an associated partner of the ERA-NET NEURON, is pleased to announce the launch of the 2025 joint call for research proposals on the topic of “Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Neuroscience of Pain”.

Despite its high prevalence, the mechanisms that cause and maintain chronic pain are still poorly understood. It is a highly complex and subjective experience that can only be understood by considering the dynamic interplay of biological, psychological and social factors. Interdisciplinary research approaches are needed to develop a better understanding of chronic pain, to improve its management and ultimately to alleviate pain for the people affected. 

The aim of the call is therefore to facilitate multinational, collaborative research projects that will address critical translational and clinical questions using interdisciplinary approaches to improve the knowledge about the neuroscience of pain, bearing the potential to improve the lives of the people affected. 

The call will be conducted simultaneously by the respective national and regional funding organisations and coordinated centrally by the Joint Call Secretariat (see below).

Research areas may cover a broad range of aspects such as biomarkers, clinical phenotyping, intra- and inter-individual differences, the role of neuroplasticity and plasticity in the nociceptive system, neuroinflammation, sensitisation and persistence, genetic, epigenetic and molecular mechanisms (neuronal and non-neuronal) as well as the psychological impact of chronic pain and its management. The development of (multimodal) preventive, diagnostic and/or therapeutic approaches based on pathophysiological mechanisms is within the scope of the call. Pharmacological studies and technological developments, including the integration of artificial intelligence, are also included. If clinical diagnoses are relevant to the project, the applicants should aim to use the chronic pain classification of the International Classification of Diseases 11^th Revision (ICD-11) including, among others, chronic primary pain, chronic post-surgical or post-traumatic pain, chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain and chronic neuropathic pain. Research on headache, including e.g. migraine or cluster headache, is within the scope of the call if the research proposal clearly considers cross-cutting, transdisciplinary and transdiagnostic aspects applicable to other chronic pain syndromes. Research proposals that focus solely on acute pain, without establishing a connection to chronic pain, are outside the scope of this call. It should be made clear by applicants how their projects will contribute to alleviating chronic pain for patients in clinical practice.

The ERA-NET NEURON funding organisations particularly wish to promote multidisciplinary work and translational research proposals that combine basic and clinical approaches. The involvement of clinical research groups is strongly encouraged. Each consortium should have the critical mass to achieve ambitious scientific goals and should clearly demonstrate added value from working together.

Research proposals should cover at least one of the following areas:

1. Fundamental research on neuroscientific aspects of the pathogenesis, aetiology, prevention, progression and treatment of chronic pain. This may include the development of innovative or shared resources and technologies considered of relevance in the context of this call.
2. Clinical research to develop new strategies for prevention, diagnosis, patient stratification, therapy and rehabilitation procedures for chronic pain syndromes. 

Research on pain-related aspects of neurodegenerative disorders that are addressed by the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) is excluded from this call.

Only transnational projects with three to five (six for partners from countries that are to date underrepresented in this funding scheme, see call text for details) eligible research partners from at least three different participating countries will be funded. No more than two consortium partners can be from the same country. Attention should be paid to respecting gender balance among the partners of a consortium.

Applicants are expected to engage patients, their caregivers or patient organisations as appropriate in the research. Meaningful patient engagement can occur at the level of research planning, conducting research or disseminating research results. 

The consideration of sex differences in the studies is mandatory. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consider further diversity characteristics of the target groups where appropriate. 

Proposal Procedure

There will be a two-stage procedure for joint proposals: pre-proposals and full proposals. In both cases, one joint proposal document (in English) is to be prepared by the partners of a joint transnational consortium and must be submitted to the Joint Call Secretariat by the coordinator.

STEP 1: The submission deadline for pre-proposals is 6 March 2025, 14:00 CET.

STEP 2: By mid-May 2025, the coordinators of selected pre-proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal to the Joint Call Secretariat by 26 June 2025. Proposals will be accepted only from those applicants explicitly invited by the Joint Call Secretariat.

The individual research partners in a consortium will be funded by the respective national/regional NEURON funding organisation(s). Eligibility criteria are defined by the individual partner funding organisations and additional national/regional regulations and requirements may apply (see funder-specific regulations). 

Research projects from Germany selected for funding will be assigned to the DFG and the BMBF by the management organisations. Applicants from non-university research institutions are strongly advised to follow the BMBF regulations (e.g. regarding the calculation of overheads, see funder specific regulations), whereas applicants from universities should refer to the DFG guidelines. Applicants will receive a personalised invitation to submit the joint full proposal via the electronic systems of the respective funding organisation (see below). Funding recommendations will be subject to approval by the partner organisations and DFG decision bodies, taking into account the availability of funds.

Funding is expected to start early to mid-2026.

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness.

Further Information 

NEURON JTC2025 website: www.neuron-eranet.eu/joint-calls/bio-medical/2025-pain

Call text: www.neuron-eranet.eu/wp-content/uploads/NEURON_JTC_2025.pdf

Eligibility criteria and national regulations: www.neuron-eranet.eu/joint-calls/bio-medical/2025-pain/funder-specific-regulations

The general DFG rules and conditions as defined in the current “Guidelines Research Grants Programme” (DFG form 50.01) apply: www.dfg.de/formulare/50_01

Ethics:

All applicants conducting experiments in/with humans or human material have to submit an ethical approval and/or a positive vote from the relevant national or local ethics committee(s). If an ethics vote is required for the German or foreign part of the project, it must be submitted with the full proposal. However, an ethics vote by the local German ethics committee can, as an exceptional case, be submitted no later than three months after proposal submission. Otherwise, the funding organisations may stop processing the application. Please note that the submission of a German ethics vote is also necessary if only the project part abroad is affected as it is a cooperation project. German ethics committees can adopt the vote of the foreign ethics committee as its own.

Only for selected proposals personally invited by the DFG head office: 

DFG elan portal for proposal submission accessible at https://elan.dfg.de/en

Applicants must be registered in elan prior to submitting a proposal to the DFG. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration within the next two days.

Good Research Practice:

Please note that according to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, since 1 August 2019, DFG funding may only be awarded to institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice in their own regulations in a legally binding manner. This means that also for international proposals, funding from the DFG can only be received if the guidelines for ensuring good research practice (see link below) have been implemented by the institution of the German applicant. If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team at the DFG Head Office (see contact below). Further information regarding implementation can be found on the webpage on Research Integrity:

https://wissenschaftliche-integritaet.de/en/code-of-conduct/implementation-of-the-guidelines

Contact of the DFG´s Research Integrity team (Good Research Practice): gwp@dfg.de

Privacy Policy:

Please note the DFG’s data protection notice on research funding, which can be viewed and downloaded at 
www.dfg.de/privacy_policy. If necessary, please also forward this information to those individuals whose data will be processed by the DFG due to their involvement in your project.

Contacts:

DFG Head Office: Dr. Anke Ley, Life Sciences II, Phone: +49 228 885 3197, anke.ley@dfg.de

NEURON Joint Call Secretariat: Dr. Sophia Schach & Dr. Vera Mönter-Telgen, German Aerospace Centre Project Management Agency, DLR-PT, Phone: +49 228 3821 2148, neuron-eranet@dlr.de