Swiss 3RCC Awards Grants for Refinement Grant 2023 and Knowledge Transfer Grant 2024
The Swiss 3RCC is pleased to announce the successful completion of our Refinement Grant 2023 and Knowledge Transfer Grant 2024 funding schemes, which aim to further our mission of advancing the 3Rs principle in animal experimentation—Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement.
Refinement Grant 2023
The Refinement Grant focuses on enhancing animal welfare by refining techniques used in research to minimize pain, distress, and suffering. This year's funding supported the following innovative projects:
"Scoresheet for Fish" by Adrian Kalchhauser (University of Bern), awarded CHF 19,807.
"Application of non-surgical embryo transfer for the generation of transgenic models" by Ori Bar-Nur (ETH Zurich), awarded CHF 20,000.
"Refinement of anesthesia in neonatal mice" by Charlotte Calvet (University of Zurich), awarded CHF 24,000.
"How to improve the breeding success of fragile dystrophic mice – Comparison of 4 breeding schemes" by Olivier Dorchies (University of Geneva), awarded CHF 19,914.
"Evaluation of environmental enrichments for mice" by Davide Manfredini (Institute for Research in Biomedicine), awarded CHF 16,500.
"Alone - together? - Single housing of male mice" by Petra Seebeck (University of Zurich), awarded CHF 20,800.
"Personal behavior profiles - tracking dogs for welfare monitoring" by Henning Richter (University of Zurich), awarded CHF 24,800.
"Refining rodent i.v. injection training by creating, improving and disseminating realistic training models" by Felix Gantenbein (University of Zurich), awarded CHF 19,980.
"A no-stress alternative to oral gavage in mice" by Claudio Aguilar (University of Zurich), awarded CHF 14,500.
"Refining estrous cycle through non-invasive collection procedures and deep learning classification" by Ivana Jaric (University of Bern), awarded CHF 20,000.
These projects demonstrate our commitment to supporting initiatives that improve the ethical standards of animal research across Switzerland.
Knowledge Transfer Grant 2024
The Knowledge Transfer Grant is designed to bridge the gap between the development and implementation of 3Rs approaches by facilitating hands-on training and knowledge sharing. This grant targets the crucial step where new methodologies need to be successfully integrated into other labs, reducing the risk of failure during adoption.
The following projects have been awarded under this scheme:
"Mice refinement: from invasive intratracheal instillation to intubation for lung fibrosis studies" by Dr. Jimmy Stalin (University of Fribourg), hosted at the University of Zurich.
"Moving towards Personalized Medicine: Precision Cut Skin Slices to Model Gene-Responsive Signatures for Novel and Existing Therapies for Systemic Sclerosis Patients" by Ms. Astrid Hofman (University Hospital Zurich), hosted at the University of Düsseldorf.
"Implementation of the liver fibrosis AOP in a novel liver chip" by Miss Saskia Schmidt (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz), hosted at the University of Tübingen.
"Generation of vascularized liver spheroid on-chip model for in-vitro infectious disease studies" by Ms. Negar Vahdani (University of Bern), hosted at InSphero AG, Schlieren.
"Providing immunocompetence to human microtissue bladder models" by Dr. Carlos Flores (University of Basel), hosted at the Institut Pasteur, Paris.
"Development, validation, and establishment of intestinal organoids to study host-parasite interactions in veterinary medicine" by Dr. Andreas Oehm (University of Zurich), hosted at the University of Glasgow.
These funded projects are critical to ensuring that advancements in 3Rs research are effectively shared and implemented across different institutions, furthering our mission to promote humane and scientifically robust research practices.
Looking Ahead
As we celebrate the achievements of this year's funding schemes, we remain committed to supporting future initiatives. The next call for Knowledge Transfer Grant applications is expected to open in March 2025, and the Refinement Grant will follow later in the year. We encourage interested researchers and institutions to stay informed by visiting our website for updates.
For detailed information on the funded projects and how they contribute to advancing the 3Rs, please visit our project pages here.