Funding the future of imaging in Europe, Central Asia, and Africa

The European Society of Radiology (ESR) in cooperation with the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR) invite applications for the ESR Research Seed Grant Global.

The purpose of this program is to stimulate and provide funding for innovative projects and pilot studies that will subsequently lead to larger studies and further funding applications.

Project proposals must align with one of the ESR Research Seed Grant Global thematic areas. The funding priority 2025 is for research on sustainability in radiology.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Green radiology departments: reducing carbon footprint of imaging equipment, digital workflows, contrast media sustainability, waste management, etc.
Cost-effective radiology: value-based imaging, quality assurance, standardization, optimised imaging protocols, etc.
Workforce sustainability: professional issues, workload management, workflow automation, retention, education & training, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

– The Call for Proposals is open to researchers of all ages working in a radiology department in a European, Central Asian or African country[1].
– Applicants must be members of the European Society of Radiology (Become a member now!).
– The project proposed should not have previously received funding from another grant or form part of another ongoing project application.
– Seed projects will generally have a single Principal Investigator (PI) who will be the grant recipient. However, collaboration with contributors is not excluded.
– The direct supervisor or department head must confirm their support of the project.
– Applicants are only eligible to receive one seed grant per cycle.

Funding

Applicants may request seed grants amounting to €14,000 for a period not to exceed 24 months. Proposals must detail how awarded funding will be allocated for the duration of the project, and how the project is envisaged to continue once the funding period ends.

Up to 3 seed grants will be awarded in 2025. The ESR and EIBIR reserve the right to select fewer proposals or to not award the grant if the proposals received are not of sufficient quality.

Recipients will be announced in July 2025.

The 2025 ESR Research Seed Grant Global has been kindly supported by an unrestricted, exclusive grant from Siemens Healthineers.

Recipient Requirements and Guidelines

Use of Funds: The funds approved are to be used exclusively for the purpose of the project and its implementation.

Payments: Grants will be transferred to recipients in two instalments.

Presentation of results: A paper or poster introducing the project must be submitted to and, if accepted, presented at ECR 2026.

Publications: Any papers resulting from this work should be submitted to one of the ESR’s journals: European Radiology, Insights into Imaging or European Radiology Experimental. Only if rejected by these journals, papers may be submitted to other journals.

Acknowledgements: Recipients are expected to acknowledge the support of the ESR Research Seed Grant Global in all publications.

Evaluation Process

All proposals will be peer-reviewed by a selection committee composed of leading, independent scientists with expertise in the related fields. The evaluation and award decision will be carried out under the auspices of EIBIR in collaboration with the ESR Research Committee.

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria:
– Clarity and significance of the rationale
– Objectives are in line with the scope of the fund
– Originality and soundness of hypotheses
– Quality and suitability of the implementation methods
– Feasibility of timeline and cost-effectiveness of the budgetary plan
– Expected impact and prospects for continuation of the project beyond the term of the seed grant

Application Documents

The completed Seed Grant application must be submitted in English via the application website including a letter of support by the PI’s supervisor at their home institution.

Apply now

Key Dates

Application Deadline: June 15, 2025 (11:59 am CET)
Outcome Notifications: End July 2025
Grant Award Session (incl. presentation of projects) at ECR 2026: March 4-8, 2026
Funding Period: October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2027

Inquiries

Further inquiries should be addressed to seedgrants@myesr.org.

[1] Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, and all African countries.