Webinar on funding opportunities in the EFSA 2024 workplan

Summary

EFSA organised a 2.5-hour online event (webinar) to present its partnership strategy, the cooperation opportunities (i.e., the expected calls for grants and tenders) in its draft 2024 work plan, and the administrative and financial framework within which those will materialise.  

The event comprised two parts covering the following content:

• The partnership framework:
  • Strategic considerations
  • Administrative and financial aspects of EFSA's outsourcing mechanism
  • The EFSA Focal Point Network
• Overview of partnership opportunities based on (a) recently launched calls, and (b) EFSA's draft 2024 work plan. The (expected) calls presented fall into the following areas: 
  • Evidence-based risk communication
  • Capacity building
  • Training facilitator
  • EU-FORA Fellowship Programme^[1]
  • Food consumption data collection
  • Plant pest surveillance (pest survey cards, estimation of survey parameters, performance of traps and baits)
  • Contaminant risk assessment (N-nitrosamine formation in foods)
  • Novel food applications 
  • Review of nutrient upper levels
  • Risk assessment of novel proteins-protein safety
  • Vector-borne diseases (Vectornet)^[2]
  • Highly pathogenic avian influenza^[3]

The event was attended by more than 170 participants. The questions received during both parts of the event indicated strong interest and engagement from members of the audience. The presentations were positively received, and follow-up messages suggest that conducting such an outreach activity is welcomed by the MS audience.