GUIDANCE FOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES
An Indo-Foreign Cell (IFC) was set up in the Indian Council of Medical Research in the early 1980s to coordinate collaboration in biomedical research between India and other countries/ international agencies. The IFC was upgraded to the Division of International Health (IHD) in 2000. By and large, biomedical research / health sciences have figured in practically every bilateral agreement in the field of Science and Technology. In addition, there have been a few specific agreements signed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with other countries as well as those signed directly by the ICMR. The purposes of these agreements have been for :
(i) exchange of scientific information; (ii) exchange of scientists/technicians and joint execution of scientific projects, including support in the procurement of scientific equipments; and (iii) organisation of joint scientific meetings, seminars, workshops, symposia on identified subjects of cooperation.
Applications for research projects involving foreign assistance / collaboration in biomedical / health research are to be submitted to ICMR(IHD) for approval of Govt. of India through Health Ministry’s Screening Committee (HMSC). The ICMR is the secretariat of HMSC.
The procedures / instructions as well as application format vary from country to country and from agency to agency. The information provided in this write-up is based on the experiences of investigators and ICMR to assist the scientists in developing Indo-Foreign collaborative proposals for research in biomedical sciences.
Forms and Other Details :
1 For assistance from France
i. Under IFCPAR mechanism: Director, Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR), 5B,Ground Floor, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003.(Tel. 24682251, 24682252 , Fax 24648632)
ii. Under ICMR-INSERM MOU-International Health Division of ICMR (through joint call for proposals on ICMR / INSERM websites & ICMR Bulletin from time to time)
2. For Indo-German, Indo-UK & Others : No specific format is prescribed. Proposals are to be prepared using ICMR format. DOWNLOAD
3. For Indo-US collaboration : Office of Health Attache & HHS Office, US Embassy in India, Shantipath, Chankayapuri, New Delhi - 110 021. (Tel. 24198213, Fax 24198770)
Indo-US collaboration for which the following procedures are to be adopted :
Ascertain from US Collaborator whether he/she would be willing to submit the proposal for NIH Grants (R01 projects) or other funding agencies
If the US Collaborator agrees to do so, they may obtain form no. PHS 398 (latest version) from the NIH Website http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html and prepare the proposal in that format.
They may also fill in the ICMR summary sheet for foreign projects up to item no. 43.
The US collaborator could submit the proposal to the NIH, USA for simultaneous processing on their side.
4. For assistance from WHO: The prescribed form from SEARO, WHO, New Delhi, its website is to be used (Tel. 23317804, 23317823, Fax 23318607, 23327972).
5. For assistance from Foreign Foundations: The prescribed format of the concerned Foundation is to be used. If there is no prescribed format, proposals are to be prepared using ICMR Format DOWNLOAD
6. National Funding Agencies:
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
V. Ramalingaswami Bhawan, Ansari Nagar,
New Delhi - 110029, India
Tel. 26589794, 26588980 Extn. 237,
Tele fax. 26589492
E-mail: icmrhqds@sansad.nic.in
Website: http://www.icmr.nic.in
Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
Block 2, 7th Floor,
CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,
New Delhi –110003
Tel. No.011-24363939, 24363012
Fax No.011-24362884
Website: http://www.dbtindia.nic.in
Department of Science & Technology (DST)
Technology Bhavan,
dstinfo@alpha.nic.in
New Mehrauli Road,
New Delhi –110016
Tel. No. 011-26567373, 26962819
Fax. No. 011-26864570, 26862418
E-Mail:
Website: http://www.dst.gov.in
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)
Anusandhan Bhavan,
2, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg,
New Delhi-110001
Tel. No. 011-23737889, 23710138
Fax. No. 011- 23710618
E-Mail: root@csir.res.in
Website: http://www.csir.res.in
The following general information is to be given while submitting proposals for foreign collaboration/ assistance after identification of foreign collaborator and its role:
(i) Role/Status/Expertise of the Indian Principal Investigator.
(ii) Availability of infrastructure and manpower in the institution .
(ii) Justification for foreign collaboration/funding.
(ii) Relevance to India’s national health priorities.
(iv) Role, Consent and biodata of foreign collaborator.
(vi) Budget with justification and year-wise break-up in single currency i.e. Indian currency including training as well as foreign exchange component, if any.
Apart from the technical details such as rationale for the studies, objectives, review of literature, materials and methods, techniques to be used etc, the following additional information is required for any Indo-Foreign collaborative project:
(i) Nature of work to be done in Indian lab/institution and foreign collaborator’s laboratory/institution.
(ii) Number of international collaborative projects (approved by HMSC) being undertaken by the Indian PI and the outcome of such approved projects (publications, patents, etc.)
(iii) Whether there would be transfer of technology as an outcome of the project.
(iv) Whether there would be transfer of human biological material from India to the foreign lab, or vice-versa and if so the requisite details for the same, such as nature and quantity of material to be sent abroad; purpose/need of transfer; nature of investigation to be done utilizing the material; institution(s)/scientist(s) to whom material to be sent; along with their addresses; copy of Material Transfer Agreement (MTA).
(DOWNLOAD FORMAT)
NOTE : Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, New Delhi, vide O.M. No.L.19015/53/97-IH (Pt.) dated 19th Nov. 1997 are to be followed for proposals involving transfer of human biological material for biomedical research purposes. These guidelines have been reproduced in full in the ICMR Bulletin (Vol. 28 January, 1998). Indian J. J. Prev. Soc. Med. (Vol. 29 No. 1 & 2, 1998), Current Science (Vol.74 No. 2, pp 179-180, 1998), and AIDS Research & Review (Vol 1., pp 34-37, 1998).
With the progress in the cell and molecular biology the following points also become very important for careful consideration by scientists in preparing their proposals, as these have a bearing on the approval process :
(a) Safety during transfer – risk of transportation;
(b) National security – the research should not lead to development of biological weapons;
(c) Risk (relative) from the defence and internal security point of view of the country;
(d) Intellectual Property Rights;
(e) Potential for commercial exploitation, such as by development of vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, drugs, etc.
(v) Information pertaining to likely visits (year-wise) by Indian and Foreign scientist(s) including duration and purpose of each visit.
(vi) Institutional ethical clearance to be submitted at the time of submission of the proposal to ICMR
(vii) Appropriate clearances for research involving human subjects, radio-tagged material (for clinical and/or experimental purposes), recombinant DNA/genetic engineering work.
(viii) The proposals involving ICMR institutes / centres should be submitted with the recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of the concerned institute/centre.
(ix) Mutual agreement on IPR claims.
Documents to be submitted to International Health Division, ICMR by Indian Investigators only
1. 30 copies of Research Proposal (in the ICMR format).
2. Five copies of ICMR Summary Sheet (Download summary sheet). All items (upto item no 43) of summary sheet are to be filled up by the Indian Investigator.
3. Five copies of signed DST Project Summary Sheet (Download Form)
4. Five copies of signed DST Check list (Download Form)
5. Five copies of MTA, in case any transfer of biological material is involved in the study.
6. The proposals to be submitted by Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs) should be accompanied with the following documents/justifications:
The annual reports, statement of accounts, achievements and their role in the project.
Justification for the budget with exact amount to be used under different heads with full explanation.
The composition of the Ethical Committee as per the ICMR Ethical guidelines for biomedical research on human subjects.
* The Investigators are required to submit an electronic form of the above documents ( at Sr. nos. 1-6) in a Compact Disc in addition to the prescribed numbers of printed form of documents.
* The proposals can be submitted throughout the year.
* In case of any deadline prescribed by the concerned funding agency, the proposal must be submitted to ICMR at least six months in advance, as the case may be. Normally time taken for peer review & processing is 6-9 months in ICMR.
CONTACT PERSONS AT ICMR
Dr. Mukesh Kumar
Scientist E
International Health Division (IHD)Dr. Harpreet Sandhu
Scientist D
International Health Division (IHD)
Indian Council of Medical Research
V. Ramalingaswami Bhawan,
Ansari Nagar,
New Delhi - 110029, India
Tele fax. 91-11-26589492
E-mail: icmrhqds@sansad.nic.in
Tel. 26589794, 26588980 extn. 237
Website : http://www.icmr.nic.in ___________________________________________________________________________