Biophysical Society Newsletter | August 2017

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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 15
AUGUST 2017
mously please researchers working in France. Some think
that the government should first commit to funding
French laboratories properly before inviting American
colleagues to work in France. Such funding has been
enacted, but may fall short of the mark. One example is
the "grand emprunt," an investment scheme for fund-
ing research initiated by President Sarkozy in 2010 and
continued by President Hollande. In this scheme, fund-
ing is given to joint ventures between institutions and
departments, usually involving large numbers of research
teams. However, one major issue for such funding
schemes is the lack of oversight on how the funding is
distributed internally within the consortium since there
are no clear rules or deliverables associated with such ini-
tiatives. Therefore, there is a risk that this funding may
be misused or unfairly distributed. We can only hope
that President Macron will be made aware of this risk.
At least I have expressed my fear concerning this issue
through the "Make Our Planet Great Again" website.
At the very least, “Make Our Planet Great Again” is a
powerful symbolic move, reminding us all that science is
an international endeavor, and that climate change has
no borders. Now more than ever, foreign scientists are
welcome in France, especially when political conditions
in their home countries are not favorable to the develop-
ment of science.
— Cecile Sykes, Institut Curie
Grants and Opportunitiesi i
Advanced Development and Validation of
Emerging Molecular and Cellular Analysis
Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer
Research
Objective: Further development and valida-
tion of emerging technologies offering novel
capabilities for targeting, probing, or assessing
molecular and cellular features of cancer biology
for basic or clinical cancer research. Well-suited
applications must offer the potential to accel-
erate and/or enhance research in the areas of
cancer biology, early detection and screening,
clinical diagnosis, treatment, control, epidemiol-
ogy, and/or address issues associated with cancer
health disparities. Technologies proposed for de-
velopment may be intended to have widespread
applicability but must be focused on improving
molecular and/or cellular characterizations of
cancer.
Deadline: September 26, 2017
Website:
files/RFA-CA-17-011.html
Innovative Molecular and Cellular Analysis
Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer
Research
Objective: Exploratory research projects focused
on the inception and early-stage development
of highly innovative, molecular and/or cellular
analysis technologies with transformative poten-
tial. Applications involving an existing technol-
ogy not yet demonstrated for the proposed
cancer-relevant applications are within the scope,
but must involve additional technical modifica-
tions and development to allow for the proposed
cancer-relevant context of use or some signifi-
cant question of feasibility exists for achieving
the proposed aims.
Deadline: September 26, 2017
Website:
files/RFA-CA-17-010.html