Many thanks for joining our online meeting on 9 December. Below is a short summary of what we agreed, plus a few links and actions we promised to share.
We discussed INTERREG NEXT MED as a strong match for Mediterranean cooperation, especially given:
A key point from the discussion: for this scheme, we should not pitch “sequencing more species” as the headline. We will need to frame proposals around a
Mediterranean challenge where biodiversity genomics is essential.
Thanks again, and best wishes for the end of the year. We will be in touch as soon as there is news on the INTERREG NEXT MED call.
If this email reaches you outside of your regular working hours, please know that I don't expect you
to respond or take any action until you're back at work.
David Brena, PhD
(he/him)
Scientific Project Manager
Strategy and Funding (SaF) Team
CRG - Centre for Genomic Regulation
Dr. Aiguader 88, PRBB Building
08003 Barcelona
Chat
with me in MS Teams or call me at +349331601208
This electronic transmission contains confidential information covered by professional secrecy. Any reproduction, distribution or disclosure of its contents is strictly
prohibited. Any content including personal opinions or judgements does not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the CRG and the responsibility for the abovementioned content lies with its author. If you are not the intended recipient, you are kindly
requested not to disseminate nor to copy this transmission and to notify us as soon as possible by phone (+34 93 3160100) or by email to
suport@crg.eu
Dear all,
Thanks a lot for providing your availability for our online meeting next week. The most voted slot is next
Tuesday, December 9, from 16:00-17:00h CET. I am sending you the Zoom link through a calendar invite in another email.
Since we didn't have any volunteers to present their experience with INTERREG EURO MED or NEXT MED proposals/projects, here's the updated agenda:
• Welcome to new participants (5 to 10 min)
• Discussion of meeting frequency, format, and potential additional participants (15 min)
• Examples of funded projects in the INTERREG EURO MED or NEXT MED schemes that are about biodiversity genomics (15 min)
• Initial discussion of potential themes for future applications, suggestions on how we can do a matchmaking exercise so that we start building groups that can collaborate on putting together a research proposal. It's important to keep in mind that, given the
diversity of expertise in the group, we might want to prepare more than one proposal (20 min)
IMPORTANT: For the ones who have not answered the form that we've sent asking you if you still want to be part of these communications and future meetings (or not), here's the link again:
https://forms.office.com/e/n6Q6mYLhS9
Looking forward to seeing you all.
Kind regards,
If this email reaches you outside of your regular working hours, please know that I don't expect you to respond or take any
action until you're back at work.
David Brena, PhD
(he/him)
Scientific Project Manager
Strategy and Funding (SaF) Team
CRG - Centre for Genomic Regulation
Dr. Aiguader 88, PRBB Building
08003 Barcelona
[crg.es]
Chat
with me in MS Teams or call me at +349331601208
This electronic transmission contains confidential information covered by professional secrecy.
Any reproduction, distribution or disclosure of its contents is strictly prohibited. Any content including personal opinions or judgements does not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the CRG and the responsibility for the abovementioned content lies
with its author. If you are not the intended recipient, you are kindly requested not to disseminate nor to copy this transmission and to notify us as soon as possible by phone (+34 93 3160100) or by email to
suport@crg.eu
Dear all,
Thank you so much for your involvement in our recently submitted BRIDGE MED COST Action proposal. It was fantastic to see such engagement across the Mediterranean basin.
Here are a few key figures from this year’s call:
• Total proposals submitted: 1090, the highest ever, and a 29 percent increase compared to 2024
• Expected funded proposals: 70
• Expected success rate: about 6 percent
Competition will be strong, but we remain confident in the quality of our proposal and in how well it aligns with the mission and values of the COST Association. Fingers crossed.
Regardless of the outcome, this process has already created a very positive impact. It brought together many colleagues from ERGA, AfricaBP, and other EBP-related initiatives, building a strong network for Mediterranean scientific cooperation.
We would love to keep this momentum and begin organising periodic online meetings. These will help us learn about each other's work, explore shared interests, and prepare for future joint funding opportunities.
One of the most relevant opportunities for the near future is the INTERREG NEXT MED programme, which supports transnational cooperation projects aimed at strengthening environmental and societal wellbeing across the Mediterranean. The call for 2026 is
expected to open between December and early January, with a likely deadline around April or May. This makes it a perfect moment to start gathering information and learning from funded examples.
To move forward, we kindly ask each of you to take two very quick actions by this Thursday, 27 Nov:
1. Please fill out this MS Form:
https://forms.office.com/e/n6Q6mYLhS9
The form lets you confirm whether you want to keep receiving updates, helps us include new colleagues who may join through forwarded invitations, and allows us to identify anyone with experience in INTERREG NEXT MED who might be willing to share insights during
the meeting.
Please also feel free to forward this email, or simply the links to the form and the Doodle, to anyone you believe would be a good fit for this community and might be interested in joining the discussions.
For the first online meeting, we propose the following agenda:
• Welcome to new participants (5 to 10 min)
• Discussion of meeting frequency, format, and potential additional participants (15 min)
• Short presentations from colleagues with experience in INTERREG NEXT MED, if available
(20 min)
• Initial discussion of potential themes for future applications. We may consider preparing more than one proposal, given the diversity of expertise in the group (20 min)
Thank you again for all your efforts and enthusiasm. We look forward to reconnecting and building on what we have started together.
Kind regards,
David & Roderic
If this email reaches you outside of your regular working hours, please know that I don't expect you to respond
or take any action until you're back at work.
David Brena, PhD
(he/him)
Scientific Project Manager
Strategy and Funding (SaF) Team
CRG - Centre for Genomic Regulation
Dr. Aiguader 88, PRBB Building
08003 Barcelona
[crg.es]
Chat
with me in MS Teams or call me at +349331601208
This electronic transmission contains confidential information covered by professional secrecy. Any reproduction, distribution or disclosure of its contents is strictly
prohibited. Any content including personal opinions or judgements does not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the CRG and the responsibility for the abovementioned content lies with its author. If you are not the intended recipient, you are kindly
requested not to disseminate nor to copy this transmission and to notify us as soon as possible by phone (+34 93 3160100) or by email to
suport@crg.eu