Refinement Grants were part of our 2021-2024 Funding Scheme – now complete
Background
The term Refinement in the context of the 3Rs principle refers to methods, which alleviate or minimise potential pain, suffering and distress, and which enhance animal well-being.
The Swiss 3RCC believes that Refinement applies to all aspects of animal care and use, including: housing conditions, handling methods, anaesthesia and analgesia, habituation to procedures, execution of procedures, monitoring of health and well-being, humane endpoints, and euthanasia. The term may also refer to the development of better (i.e. more accurate, reliable, sensitive) tools to assess an animal’s suffering and well-being.
Objective of the call
To encourage the implementation of established refinement techniques and approaches, the Swiss 3RCC is offering project grants of up to CHF 20’000.- in the 3Rs area of refinement. We are looking for proposals which also emphasise training and dissemination of methods. As such we would emphasise the use or further development of established refinement approaches (as opposed to research developing novel techniques).
This may be used to train existing staff in a particular group in the implementation of a new approach; assist in purchasing and training for new equipment; further optimise / validate an existing approach and teach and communicate the results; organise open Swiss-wide workshops to promote the use of one or more refinement approaches; or organise other efforts to encourage widespread use of an existing technique.
Funding and Eligibility
Researchers from academic institutions and research organisations are invited to apply for funding. Collaborative projects and interdisciplinary approaches are highly encouraged, as are cross-sector collaborations with industry. Grant sizes typically lie between 230’000 and 460’000, but will depend on the scope and quality of the proposed research. We strongly encourage the applicants to calculate realistic budgets to complete the project, and not simply indicate the maximum amount of funding. The grants may last up to 4 years, but there is no minimum duration.