DVES 2025 Prize — CALL FOR APPLICATION
The unique French prize dedicated to non-animal research
Created in 2013 by the Pro Anima Scientific Committee, the EthicScience Prize became the Descroix-Vernier EthicScience (DVES) Prize in 2023, marking the convergence of the objectives and values of Pro Anima and the Fondation Descroix-Vernier.
With a total endowment of 110,000 euros rewarding 3 categories, the DVES prize is one of the best endowed prizes in Europe entirely dedicated to the most advanced, most convincing scientific and technological knowledge for alternatives to animal experiments.
Categories and selection criteria
A total of 3 research projects / laureates will be awarded for this edition, one for each category. The funding is intended to support (material costs / publications / contracts, etc.) current or future research projects.
Innovation €50,000
Open to all fields of research (biomedical and toxicology), to reward and promote innovative research tools and/or groundbreaking discoveries.
- Eligibility : The principal candidate must be attached to a French institution, in the private or academic sector. He/she may be a researcher, postdoc, engineer, team or project leader. The project may be led by a co-candidate. The co-candidate may be attached to an international structure / organization (this is even encouraged and will be a plus).
- This category aims to reward an ongoing / advanced research project ; with solid preliminary data and results.
- Keywords : human-centered, animal-free, in silico and/or in vitro, transdisciplinary, high-risk, sustainable, innovative
Development and Applicability €50,000
Seeks to enhance the integration of existing data and tools (e.g. in silico methods to integrate available toxicological tests and epidemiology), which can be applied to regulatory assessment in toxicology or human health.
- Eligibility : The principal candidate must be attached to a French institution, in the private or academic sector. He/she may be a researcher, postdoc, engineer, team or project leader. The project can be carried out by a co-applicant. The co-applicant may be attached to an international structure/organization (this is encouraged and will be a plus).
- This category aims to reward an ongoing / advanced research project ; with solid preliminary data and results.
- Keywords : human-centered, animal-free, in silico and/or in vitro, transdisciplinary, high-risk, sustainable, applicability, integration
Jury’s Prize — Forward-Looking Project €10,000
Aims to encourage promising research and/or a team based on the exceptional quality, originality and ambition of its work.
- Eligibility : The principal applicant must be attached to a French institution, in the private or academic sector. Only one project leader authorized for this category.
- This category aims to reward a project in its early stages or under development that needs a “boost” to see the light of day and develop.
- Keywords : human-centered, animal-free, in silico and/or in vitro, innovative, sustainable, ambitious
Timeline
Selection process
For this 2025 edition, we’ve managed to gather a strategic committee pluridisciplinary and multi-sector to ensure the quality, transparency and impact of the Prize.
Our aim is to set up a fair, transparent and straightforward three-stage process :
Selection 1 (Pro Anima)
- Eligibility and category membership
- Anonymization of forms
Selection 2 (external reviewers*)
- Review of anonymous form → based solely on scientific relevance and project quality
- Selection of the 5 best projects in each category
*If you would like to be added to our contact list of external reviewers, please send us your contact details via this email.
Selection 3 (Strategic Committee)
- Evaluation of 15 projects among the top 5 in each category, with information on professional background and references requested.
A quota system will be set up for the final evaluation and selection of the projects to be rewarded.
Reviewers and members of the strategic committee will have signed a confidentiality and conflict of interest declaration beforehand (if, at any stage in the process, the reviewer becomes aware of a link with a project/applicant, his/her assessment will not be taken into consideration).
Deliberation and contract
Deliberation by the strategic committee : between November 20 and 29. Winners will be contacted from mid-December 2024.
The official announcement of the winners will take place on the day of the Prize ceremony in March 2025 (date to be announced).
Contracts will be signed between Pro Anima / Fondation Descroix-Vernier and the French institution of affiliation of the principal candidate (which would, in the case of international collaborative projects, be the French host institution). It is then the host’s responsibility to transfer any funds to the foreign institution.
