Additional Cefic-LRI Grants for 2013 Announced

The Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) is a major voluntary initiative of the European chemical industry to support its competitiveness and innovation potential. The LRI programme aims to identify and fill gaps in the understanding of the hazards posed by chemical substances and to improve the methods available for assessing the associated risks. Requests for proposals in a range of research areas were published in June and now two further topics have been published for research commencing in 2014.

LRI sponsors high-quality research, published in peer-reviewed journals, and seeks to provide sound scientific advice on which industry and regulatory bodies can draw to respond more quickly and accurately to society’s concerns.

In addition to the LRI programme for 2013 announced in June, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) is now accepting further grant applications to carry out research in the following areas:

• LRI-AIMT4: Use of non-animal data to supplement and strengthen read-across
• LRI-C3: Epigenetics - Normality in Toxicologically Relevant Species

Further details of each research area can be found by following the links on each topic.

Applications
The submission deadline for these two extra research areas is 10 January 2014. Project specifications, budget details and application forms can be found on the Cefic LRI website. Only proposals that fit the project specifications and are submitted via the official LRI application form will be considered.

The scientific evaluation and selection of applications for funding are managed by a scientific committee provided by ECETOC. In particular, within LRI, ECETOC has the responsibility of maintaining three “core teams”: health effects, human exposure & risk assessment and environment.

LRI events
Dr. Bruno Hubesch, Cefic-LRI Manager  will be chairing the session on low dose toxicity at the 34th Annual European Meeting of the Toxicology Forum (ToxForum) that takes place on 22 to 24 October in Brussels.

ToxForum aims to be recognised as the leading international toxicological organisation promoting and encouraging dialogue amongst all stakeholders on public health issues.

And don’t forget the 15th Cefic-LRI Annual Workshop that takes place on 20 to 21 November 2013, also in Brussels. The 2013 workshop will discuss how a science-informed approach to decision-making can contribute to relevant policy initiatives. The event will showcase the results and outcomes of several LRI projects completed in 2012-2013. The key areas of discussion will be thresholds of concern, bio-monitoring, domestic exposure, endocrine disrupters, nanomaterials, toxicogenomics and sediment testing.

You can find more information on the workshop here or go straight to registration here.

More information on LRi
For further information, please contact Dr. Bruno Hubesch, Cefic-LRI Manager, or the LRI Secretariat or visit the Cefic-LRI website.