BMFTR funds "In silico research for the medicine of the future"

The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) is funding a scouting competition consisting of a feasibility phase followed by a realization phase.

Data-driven research alliances on diagnostics, therapy and prevention are being funded. The projects should demonstrate the use of digital information and systems (computer-aided modeling, innovative AI methods or software tools, etc.) in terms of their benefits, reliability and conformity in specific medical applications through to validation. Use cases should be able to cover the entire biomedical translation chain in order to enable the transfer of in silico solutions into clinical application. Possible projects include, for example

• Methods for the in silico identification of new active substances, for the search for new indication areas for existing active substances (drug repurposing) or for assessing the potential for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of diseases;
• data-driven diagnostic methods for more precise diagnosis and stratification of patient subgroups;
• computer-aided simulations for predicting disease progression;
• simulations of the benefit of active substances in preclinical or clinical models or on virtual patients;
• models for risk assessment and clinical decision support systems;
• Software for planning clinical trials based on omics data.

Feasibility phase
In a feasibility phase lasting up to ten months, the feasibility and practicability of possible use cases will be examined and an implementation strategy developed for the realization phase. The implementation strategy should include research and development plans for the scientific and technical realization as well as the clinical utilization of the use cases.

Realization phase
The prerequisite for participation in the realization phase is prior funding in the feasibility phase and the successful selection of the project in a competition after six months. The use cases can be implemented over a period of up to three years.

Clinical studies and projects focusing on the de novo generation of biomedical data and/or the establishment of biomaterial collections as well as the development of new methods/technologies are not eligible for funding.

The procedure is two-stage. The deadline for submitting the project outline for the feasibility phase is 27.08.2026.

The call for proposals can be found on the BMFTR website .