This scheme aims to improve clinical and public health research ecosystems in India to bridge gaps in human resource, supervision, mentorship, equipment, and administration by establishing virtual Clinical/​Public Health Research Centres (CRCs). The CRCs are envisioned as research-oriented centres established with focus on major biomedical research problems and preferably involving multiple institutions. 

The CRCs can be based on either crosscutting or vertical research themes, within the remit of India Alliance. Big data, population-based interdisciplinary cohorts, disease modelling are examples of crosscutting themes while antimicrobial resistance, nutrition, cardiometabolic diseases, mental health, respiratory infections, and environmental health are examples of vertical themes. These themes are provided only for illustrative purposes; proposals need not be restricted to these areas. 

Though not mandatory, this scheme encourages international collaboration. The projects would require external evaluation at regular intervals; therefore, the proposal should have in-built milestones for evaluation and reporting. India Alliance would also reserve the right to periodically review the funded program, which may include site visits. 

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India Alliance would invite applications for the said scheme in the prescribed format, which would be made available on its website from 16 May to 17 June 2019, 2:00 PM IST. 

Screening: The India Alliance Office would screen the received applications against the eligibility criteria (as mentioned in the scheme). A Screening Committee (SC) would carry out a hard triage of eligible applications so that only selected applications go for a peer review and interview. This Committee would be external to, but facilitated by India Alliance and would have basic, clinical, public health and interdisciplinary researchers. The SC is not expected to provide elaborate feedback on research merit of the project and would evaluate it based on aforementioned eligibility and competition in the cohort of applications received. India Alliance would not be able to provide reviews to applicants at this stage. 

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