How to apply

Please read the following instructions carefully.

Eligibility Criteria

Any research laboratory in the Île-de-France region can apply with a project focused on synthetic biology. The DIM will only fund the collaboration between two academic research laboratories, one of which will be the leader. An industrial partner can participate in the project but will not be funded under this call. The leading laboratory will be the project coordinator. A researcher can only participate in one project in this call, either as a leader or as a collaborator. Presenting an identified candidate profile is not mandatory for applying to this call.

What is Synthetic Biology?

Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary field that combines biology, engineering, and computer science to design, build, and modify biological systems. It goes beyond classical molecular biology by enabling not only the study of natural systems but also the creation of new metabolic pathways, genome modifications, or the construction of artificial cells. Common tools used include molecular biology, computer modeling, and systems biology. The goal is to program organisms to perform specific tasks, such as producing medicines, new materials, or therapies.

This call will only fund synthetic biology projects with potential applications in the health field.

Only laboratories associated with DIM BioConvS are eligible for this call. Starting January 2024, all laboratories must submit the membership application form to DIM BioConvS, which can be found at this link:

>>Join DIM BioConvS <<

The membership application must be submitted before the deadline of the call. The DIM BioConvS team will inform you of the result of your membership application once it has been processed.

Please note: Laboratories that have already received a doctoral or postdoctoral grant from DIM BioConvS as a leading or collaborating laboratory are not eligible for this call.

Objectives

The goal of this call is to promote new collaborations or strengthen ongoing ones in synthetic biology, focusing on:

• Engineering of life sciences and bioproduction
• Development of therapeutic proof-of-concepts
• New high-throughput and standardized analytical methods
• Digital tools or AI to improve data analysis or modeling in quality control and production methods
• Ensuring inclusive, responsible, and sustainable BioConvergence

Details of the Postdoctoral Grant

The call will fund two postdoctoral grants amounting to €55,000 per year for a maximum duration of two years, along with an additional €15,000 per year for complementary costs (to be detailed in the project submission file), totaling €140,000 per grant.

The candidate’s contract must begin no later than October 1, 2025, to ensure eligibility for the funds.

Application and Selection Process

The application form and project presentation document can be downloaded from the platform in Word format, available on the left side of this page (under the Navigation > Templates to download menu). Please use only the downloadable templates (.docx files) to apply.

1. Pre-proposal submission online (deadline January 31, 2025). The leading laboratory must submit the following documents:

   • Mandatory application form (includes general information, project summary), using the available template (do not modify the structure of the template). Accepted file type: .docx
   • Project description (according to the available template). Accepted file type: .docx
   • For the two main researchers, 2-page CVs highlighting their 5 most significant publications. Accepted file type: .pdf
   • If available, the CV of the identified postdoc candidate. Accepted file type: .pdf

   Please note: The summary, questionnaire, and possibly the project description will be shared with certain members of the DIM community for feedback, suggestions, and exchanges with the candidates to further improve the project. These exchanges are protected by a confidentiality agreement.

2. Pre-evaluation period ends (February 13, 2025). Written feedback will be sent via email to improve the submitted project.

3. Final call deadline (March 2, 2025) with submission of the final version of the project, taking into account the feedback and suggestions from the community.

4. Evaluation: The submitted projects will be evaluated in two steps.

Step 1: Preselection

The call’s jury will preselect 12 to 15 submitted projects based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to synthetic biology and DIM objectives (50%)
• Excellence and interdisciplinarity of the researchers' profiles (any collaboration between synthetic biology and biotherapy will be favored) (25%)
• Scientific quality of the proposed project and health impact (25%)

Step 2: Scoring

The preselected projects will be evaluated by experts chosen by the call’s jury based on the following criteria:

• Previous scientific achievements of the two teams (25%)
• Scientific quality of the project and health impact (75%)

5. Final selection (April 15, 2025) will be made by the DIM’s scientific committee and approved by its executive committee.

6. Once the postdoctoral candidate has been identified, at the time of recruitment, the postdoc will participate in a welcome interview by the DIM operational team, which will present the activities and the BioConvS network.

Commitment

The beneficiary commits to citing the Île-de-France Region and DIM BioConvergence for Health in any publication where experiments were conducted thanks to the grant received, by adding the following wording in the acknowledgments section:

"This work has been supported by Region Ile-de-France in the framework of DIM BioConvS."

Communication obligations

The Region’s logo must appear on all information, communication, and/or event-related materials concerning the supported project, whether printed, digital, or audiovisual.

Personal Data Management

DIM BioConvS is committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which encompasses the rules related to the protection of individuals regarding the processing of personal data, the free movement of such data, and the right to protect this data.

Applicants to this call for projects authorize DIM BioConvS to process personal data collected during submission for the purpose of processing their application. The data collected will be retained for the duration of the selection of winning projects and shared with the personnel of the host institution of DIM (Université Paris Cité) responsible for the smooth running of this call for projects, and with the project call jury, composed of researchers from the DIM BioConvS network (French or international), members of the DIM BioConvS executive committee, and those responsible for managing DIM BioConvS at the Île-de-France Region. In the event of a grant, the winners' data will be retained until December 31, 2028.

At any time, it will be possible to contact the DIM BioConvS manager (chiara.fracassi@u-paris.fr) to request the deletion of their personal data.