EuroSTELLS began in June 2005 and will run until September 2008.

The programme is overseen by a Management Committee (MC) formed by one representative of each of the participating national funding agencies and the EUROCORES Programme Coordinator in Medical Sciences. The Assistant to the EUROCORES Programme provides support to the Management Committee and attends the meetings.

An independent international Review Panel (RP) formed of leading experts in the field, with a mandate from the funding agencies, oversees the scientific aspects of the programme.

ESF supports networking activities to facilitate communication between the different projects, leading to an effective exchange of information and dissemination of results.  To this aim, scientific workshops, conferences, symposia and training sessions are organised during EuroSTELLS's lifetime.  Web-based resources are used to support the exchange of technical and scientific information and expertise, and to promote effective collaborations with other European researchers working in the field.

Networking and coordination of the EuroSTELLS Programme are funded through the EC Sixth Framework Programme, under Contract no. ERAS-CT-2003-980409.

Development of the EuroSTELLS EUROCORES Programme

Following agreement with a group of funding agencies from Europe, the European Science Foundation launched a first Call for Proposals for research projects to be undertaken within a EUROCORES programme on the Development of a Stem Cell Tool Box (EuroSTELLS).

The deadline for receipt of Outline Proposals was 30 April 2004. The Guidelines are still available for information here. Some special national requirements are given here.

33 outline proposals were received and assessed by an independent international Review Panel formed of leading scientists in the field. Seven proposals were invited to be submitted as full applications; the deadline for submission of full proposals was 31 October 2004. The Guidelines and Application Form for Full Proposals are still available for information here.

Full proposals were peer-reviewed by international leading experts in the field selected by ESF; suggestions were received from the Review Panel and the participating funding agencies.  The full list of referees contacted by ESF can be downloaded here.
The investigators were given the opportunity to respond to the referees’ comments. 
The Review Panel met in Brussels on 24 February 2005 to assess the full proposals; the RP prioritised and recommended the best applications for funding taking into consideration the referees’ comments, the investigators’ rebuttals and the judgment of the RP members.

Based on the total amount of made available in each country by the national funding agencies supporting the programme, three programmes were funded:

• Novel Approaches to Enhance Animal Embryonic Stem Cell Research (STELLAR)
• Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal in the Embryo (HSC-SR) 
• Translational stem cell research: from basic biology to regenerative medicine

The use of funds in a programme is subject to the rules of each national funding agency supporting that project as well as to the national laws of those countries. 

Last Updated June 2007