JPND — Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Disease Research

Overview

JPND (Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research) is a European research initiative co-funded by EU member states and the European Commission, established in 2009 under the ERA-NET framework. It coordinates and co-funds transnational research calls targeting Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, Huntington’s, prion diseases, and related conditions, with 30+ participating countries as of 2024.

Structure and Funding Mechanism

JPND operates through transnational joint calls (JTC, or Joint Transnational Calls), in which national funding agencies co-fund multi-country consortia addressing shared research priorities. Funded categories include basic research into molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, translational research covering disease models, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets, clinical research involving trial platforms, digital biomarkers, and prevention, and health and social care research addressing care systems, patient registries, and quality of life.

Open Science Alignment

JPND has established an Ethics Board addressing open data and responsible conduct standards across its funded programmes. Its open science commitments include:

• Data sharing is mandated in all JTC project agreements.
• All funded projects are required to produce FAIR data management plans.
• Alignment with EOSC and European open science infrastructure is promoted across funded research.
• Collaboration with EBRAINS for neuroimaging data sharing is an explicit programme priority.

JPND is also a member of the EBRA (European Brain Research Area) project, which coordinated European and global brain initiatives including HBP/EBRAINS, ERA-Net NEURON, and ENIGMA Consortium.

Connections

• relatedTo: EOSC (JPND data sharing aligns with EOSC open science infrastructure)
• relatedTo: EBRAINS (key infrastructure partner for neuroimaging data sharing in JPND-funded projects)

Resources

• https://neurodegenerationresearch.eu
• https://neurodegenerationresearch.eu/initiatives/annual-calls-for-proposals/ (JTC funded projects)
• https://www.ebrains.eu (EBRAINS — key JPND infrastructure partner)