Program Overview

Sidaction and Aidsfonds are jointly launching a call for scientific proposals for 2025, aimed at accelerating advances in HIV cure research. This initiative fosters collaboration between researchers, institutions, and communities from France, the Netherlands, and African countries. The focus is on interdisciplinary and collaborative research towards an HIV cure.

The program addresses the challenges of persistent HIV infection despite effective antiretroviral treatments. It seeks to fund research exploring mechanisms or strategies that will contribute to achieving a cure or remission for HIV. This includes targeting the viral reservoir, enhancing immune-driven control, and developing new therapeutic concepts.

The ultimate goal is to fund research leading to biomedical breakthroughs, social acceptance of cure interventions, and promotion of an HIV cure available to the maximum number of PLHIV worldwide. Proposals pursuing either a cure (total elimination of infected cells) or ART-free control of persistent virus will be considered.

Funding Details and Eligibility

The total available budget for this Call for proposals is €2,000,000. The funders aim to fund 4 to 6 projects, with individual project budgets ranging between €300,000 and €600,000. Proposals with budgets below €300,000 will not be considered.

Research projects can take place anywhere in the world, but the researchers must be based in France, the Netherlands, or countries with limited resources in the African region (as defined by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee). African research must be scientifically coordinated and financially managed by a legally registered entity with recognized experience in managing research funds.

Eligible applicants include researchers from various disciplines, representatives of PLHIV, HIV counselors, and physicians. Multidisciplinary and multi-country collaborations are preferred. A researcher can only be a lead investigator once but can be a collaborator on other proposals.

Application Process

The application process involves two stages: a Letter of Intent (LOI) and a Full Proposal. The LOI should describe the background, objective, design, and relevance of the project to HIV cure research. The LOI must be completed in English, though French may be acceptable if the principal investigator is from Africa and not fluent in English.

The deadline for submission of Letters of Intent is May 17th, 2025. If the LOI is accepted, applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. The full proposal must be written in English (or French under the same conditions as the LOI).

Full proposals must be submitted via the Synto web application. Applicants must create an account on the Synto platform, and any account creation or update must be validated by Sidaction. Contact aps@sidaction.org for assistance with Synto.

Selection Criteria and Priorities

An ad-hoc committee of international experts and community representatives will evaluate the proposals. The primary criteria are scientific and impact quality. Proposals must meet a minimum threshold for scientific quality to be eligible for funding.

Additional factors considered include interdisciplinarity, collaboration between at least two countries, innovation, feasibility, budget appropriateness, and strong prospects for biomedical, social, and economic impact. Projects involving early career lead investigators and collaboration between research teams from the Netherlands, France, and African countries are also prioritized.

Final selection will be based on the ranking and budgetary fit with available funds, as well as a balance between types of research (basic science, clinical research, social sciences) and countries. The deadline for submission of full proposals is September 11th, 2025.

Key Dates and Contact Information

Here are the important dates to remember:

• Letter of intent submission opening: March 10th
• Informative webinar: March 25th, 2025
• Deadline submission of Letters of Intent: May 17th, 2025
• Announcement of pre-selected projects: June 19th, 2025
• Deadline for submission of full proposals: September 11th, 2025
• Selection of winning projects: October 2025
• Announcement of winners: December 2025

For specific questions about this call for proposals, contact Simon Fretel at Sidaction (s.fretel@sidaction.org) or Remko van Leeuwen at Aidsfonds (rvanleeuwen@soaaids.nl). For technical questions about the Synto web application, contact Julia Grolère (j.grolere@sidaction.org). For budget and eligibility questions, contact Nadia Abid (n.abid@sidaction.org).