Funding, News and Announcements

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) soliciting human research proposals for biomedical experiments to be implemented on the Concordia Antarctic station, that address human research questions that are relevant to ESA's overarching goal to enable a human mission to the Moon, Mars or beyond.

The Concordia AO is soliciting proposals for biomedical experiment addressing one or several of the following topics:

• Research on physical countermeasure protocols (exercise, nutrition, etc.);
• Research on the psychological and physiological adaptation processes to isolation, confinement and high altitude;
• Research on remote or on-site medical assistance and psychological support (incl. MD training);
• Biomedical research in the area of life support;
• Biomedical research in the area of habitability of stations;
• Research on the survivability in hostile environments (e.g. microbiology and human health);
• Biomedical research on radiation.

ESA will conduct the technical peer review and make the final selection of the applications. For this Announcement of Opportunity (Concordia) the deadline to submit a full proposal is May 3, 2021. The preliminary steps of letter of intent, as well as attendance to the Information Workshop are not mandatory for submission of an application.

While this ESA AO is not a funding opportunity, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) encourages Canadian researchers from universities and post-secondary institutions to submit proposals, either as Principal Investigator or as co-applicant to a European Investigator. Though no commitment can be made, the CSA is exploring the possibility of funding Canadian researchers whose proposals would be selected from this specific ESA AO and would meet the CSA objectives to advance knowledge on space health risks mitigation strategies and countermeasures, while contributing to improve remote medicine and health benefits here on Earth. Precursor investigations for the International Space Station (ISS) or other space research platforms are encouraged.

This Notice is subject to change. These changes will be published on the CSA website. Any question related to the ESA Opportunity should be addressed directly to ESA. Please consult their page for instructions on this announcement.