EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM)

The EURL ECVAM in vitro methods facility is dedicated to the development, validation, and standardisation of innovative in vitro methods in support of the duties of the JRC’s EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing, as set out in EU Directive 2010/63 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes

EURL ECVAM is offering open access to its High Throughput Testing (HTT) laboratory to users that want to automate their in vitro methods to evaluate their transferability, reliability and overall performance and to generate large datasets on bespoke compound libraries to assess relevance for targeted applications such as non-animal approaches to toxicological testing for the regulatory safety assessment of chemicals. 

Equipped with an array of advanced technologies, our HTT lab enables the testing of large chemical libraries with remarkable precision and speed. At the core of the laboratory are three fully automated platforms of different configurations for 96 and 384 well-plate formats, equipped with liquid handling robots, robotic arms for plate transfer, automated incubators, multifunctional microplate readers (i.e. for luminescence, fluorescence, or absorbance measurements) and automated microscopes for high content cellular imaging. Supporting the HTT activities are cell culturing laboratories, facilities for managing chemical libraries and computing infrastructure for data management and analysis. The HTT laboratory is operated by an interdisciplinary and highly skilled team of in vitro method experts. 

A document outlying Technical Specifications of the HTT laboratory is available that provides detailed information on the equipment available in the HTT laboratory and the technical specifications that should be complied with in order to efficiently and effectively transfer a method to the EURL ECVAM laboratory. 

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Priority topics of the EURL ECVAM HTT Laboratory

1. Assess and improve the transferability and automation of in vitro methods that have relevance for animal-free testing and assessment of chemicals and pharmaceuticals. 
2. Identify and evaluate promising in vitro methods by generating large high-quality datasets on libraries of chemical compounds relevant to specific contexts of use.
3. Utilise automation and high throughput testing to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of validation to accelerate the uptake of non-animal methods in the regulatory domain.
4. Assist in developing integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATA) to support regulatory decision-making and address specific regulatory needs and data gaps.
5. Facilitate scientific and technical knowledge sharing, develop collaboration opportunities and provide hands-on training to encourage and facilitate the uptake of automation and high throughput testing to advance non-animal approaches in science. 

Definition and conditions of access

Access to the research infrastructure is provided in terms of Units of Access, which are specific to the type and nature of each JRC research facility. In general, the Units of Access can represent measures like days or weeks of use, hours or sessions of instrument time, processing time, or gigabytes of data transmitted.

At the HTT laboratory, the Unit of Access is Days, and comprises operational access to perform one of the experimental tasks constituting a complete in vitro study, such as programming of automated liquid handling robots, chemical exposure on a high-throughput platform, and output measurements using plate readers or our high content imaging microscope.

In vitro studies usually performed in our HTT laboratory are described in the Technical Specification documentation. For more information related to your specific proposal, feel free to contact the Open Lab team to the e-mail address: JRC-OPEN-ECVAM@ec.europa.eu

• Estimated total Days allocated to the call:  32
• Estimated average number of Days per User Access Project: 16 
• Estimated maximum duration of the User Access Project: 12 months 

Estimated additional costs excluding consumables and other expenses: 

• Research infrastructure operated by JRC staff: 0 € / Day* 
• Research infrastructure operated by users: not possible 

* Payment of additional costs, excluding consumables and expenses, are waived for the present call. 

Support to users for travel and subsistence

The JRC may provide a financial or in-kind contribution to support Users from User Institutions located in a country eligible for the Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence actions under the Horizon Europe programme to cover their costs of travel and subsistence (T&S) related to the User Stay Days, subject to the availability of funds, personnel and other resources. . 

Namely the countries are: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and all Associated Countries with equivalent characteristics in terms of R&I performance (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and once associated Morocco, as well as the Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 TFEU). 

A User Stay Day is a day of physical presence of a User at the concerned Research Infrastructure for Access related to the User Access Project. A User Stay Day counts as a registered entry to the JRC site where the Research Infrastructure is located. 

• Estimated total number of short-term User Stay Days eligible for T&S allocated to the call: 0
• Estimated total number of long-term User Stay Days eligible for T&S allocated to the call: 0 

A short-term stay corresponds to a stay of up to 10 User Stay Days. 

A long-term stay corresponds to a stay exceeding 15 User Stay Days, up to a maximum of 200 User Stay Days. 

For more information on the support offered to users please consult the Rules on the contribution to travel and subsistence expenses of external users. 

Allocation of intellectual property rights:

• The JRC and the entitled party (person or organisation that has been granted access) become co-owners in equal shares of all raw data, treated data and documentation data developed with respect to the access.

Eligibility criteria

• The Lead User Institution and User Institutions (see definitions in the Framework) must be from an EU Member State, or country associated to the Horizon Europe programme  (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland*, Türkiye, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom).
• The Lead User Institution must be from a university, research or public institution, or from a Small-Medium-Enterprise (SME).
• User Institutions belonging to international organisations provided that the JRC has concluded a Collaboration instrument that ensures reciprocity for Access of Users from the JRC and User Institutions to their respective Research Infrastructures. The JRC Director General may exceptionally authorise the participation of User Institutions belonging to international organisations in the absence of a Collaboration instrument under the conditions specified in the Framework.
• User Institutions established in an EU Member State or in a country associated to the Horizon Europe programme must not be directly or indirectly controlled by non-associated third countries, or by legal entities of non-associated third countries. The JRC Director General may exceptionally authorise the participation of User Institutions controlled directly or indirectly by non-associated third countries, or by legal entities of non-associated third countries.
• Individual Users must be nationals of an EU Member State or a country associated to the Horizon Europe programme. The JRC Director General may exceptionally authorise the participation of Users that are not nationals of EU Member States, or of a country associated to the Horizon Europe programme, for overriding justified reasons.
• Ethical considerations in accordance with EU Law, in particular Art. 19 of Regulation (EU) 2021/695, and applicable laws and regulations in the EU Member States.
• The proposal submission form is complete and complies with the instructions.

* Swiss institutions can apply as from now. However, the actual participation in the activities will be subject to the conclusion of the agreement between the EU/Horizon Europe and Switzerland on Union Programmes, currently in the process of formal adoption.

Selection criteria

Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the following selection criteria: 

• Scientific implementation (50 points) 
• Collaboration and access by new User Institutions (20 points) 
• Strategic relevance (30 points) 

How to apply

The proposal must be prepared using the Relevance-driven Proposal Submission Form (Template updated on 18.02.2025).

During preparation of the proposal, applicants are encouraged to:

• Read the "Framework for Access to the Physical Research Infrastructures of the JRC" and all related documents in the Framework for Access page.
• Contact the research infrastructure to assess feasibility aspects related to the capacity of the research infrastructure at the e-mail address: JRC-OPEN-ECVAM@ec.europa.eu

The proposal should be submitted to JRC-RI-OPEN-ACCESS@ec.europa.eu by the closing date of the call.