Fall Seed Grant 2026 in partnership with Patient Associations – Call for Applications

The Fall Seed Grant 2026 initiative, in partnership with Patient Associations, is now open. This initiative funds single-center research seed projects focusing on the following rare genetic disorders:

Methylmalonic acidemia with homocystinuria, type cblC, with a maximum budget of € 75.000 anda duration of 18 months.
SLC6A1-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder, with a maximum budget of € 50.000 anda duration of 12 months.

For this Call, Fondazione Telethon established a collaboration agreement with the cblC aps – Associazione Italiana Acidemia Metilmalonica con Omocistinuria and Slc6a1 Connect Italia Patient Associations.

These calls will allow the generation of data and the creation of new knowledge for the rare genetic diseases targeted by the calls, paving the way for the development of new therapeutic approaches.

Researchers working at public or private Italian non-profit research institutions, including Fondazione Telethon Institutes (SR-TIGET and TIGEM), are eligible to apply, regardless of their funding status with Fondazione Telethon ETS.

Applicants can submit only one project within the Fall Seed Grant 2026 initiative, as Lead Applicant.

All the documents related to the Fall Seed Grant 2026 Call are listed below and are accessible through the links or on the Fondazione Telethon Grant Management System portal at this link.

Key Dates

CALL OPENING: 14^th October 2026, at this link.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 16^th November 2026, at 1:00 PM (CEST).
STUDY SECTION: by the end of January 2027.
NOTIFICATION OF RESULTS: by the end of February 2027.

Although not mandatory, Applicants are kindly encouraged to register on the platform here and insert the project title, research type, research step, disease name, and ORPHA code of the proposed project by 30^th October 2026.