1. Case-study: Targeting Protein Synthesis in the Apicoplast and Cytoplasm of Plasmodium Stuart Ralph saralph@unimelb.edu.au Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute The University of Melbourne,

2. National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – European Union (EU) Collaborative Research Grants scheme (2009-2013) Consortium of 8 different laboratories: – 5 European research groups, 2 Indian research groups, 1 Australian Research group – Portugal, Spain, Italy, France – (is geographic diversity of European groups important?) Bought together structural biologists, parasitologists, medicinal chemists, molecular biologists, bioinformaticians

3. Mephitis = Targeting Protein Synthesis in the Apicoplast and Cytoplasm of Plasmodium

4. Funding? European and Indian members funded under FP7 programme (2.1 million Euros) Australian component funded by NHMRC ($445K) Timing of applications not synchronised

5. Funding structure Grant and focused on work packages and deliverable items Continued allocation of funds more strictly tied to deliverables than for most research project grants

6. How did it form? Conversations with leading European biologists at conferences My group’s expertise addressed a specific niche Need to find relevant calls and find the best team to strategically target that area Lluis Ribas de Pouplana Required a dedicated (and high profile?) person to drive the application

7. Yearly formal collaborative meetings Rome Barcelona

8. Delhi

9. Challenges Identifying a relevant call and a relevant team Negotiating collaborative funding (complex legal agreements) Lots of reporting

10. Considerable focus on administration, activities Most of our administrative burden was borne by program officers employed through the grant

11. National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – European Union (EU) Collaborative Research Grants scheme (2010-2015) OzEMalaR Geoff McFadden, Uni Melbourne Travel and collaboration $830,000

12. Lots of benefits Tangible: > 10 conference presentation based on work > 8 publications based on grant 1 fellowship and 1 collaborative grant application based on outcomes of the grant Introduced technologies and reagents from expert European laboratories

13. Lots of benefits Intangible: Provided me an introduction into a scientific community (protein translation) Introduced my PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to international collaboration wonderful friendships