The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) announces the second Call for Proposals to support a significant research project focused on rapid diagnostics in the intensive care unit (ICU). This unique opportunity offers €300,000* in funding – the second largest single scientific grant ever awarded by a professional society in intensive care medicine – to support one high-impact project poised to transform the future of infection diagnostics for critically ill patients.
The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) is providing, through the ESICM Giant Great Grant (3G) campaign, financial funding to young intensivists or senior investigators, and members of ESICM, to develop an independent research programme.
Background and Context
Infections in critically ill patients remain a significant challenge, driving morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Rapid identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) have emerged as pivotal tools to optimize antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), yet robust clinical evidence demonstrating their impact on patient outcomes and AMS implementation in specific high-risk critical care settings is still needed.
Scope and objectives
We invite innovative, hypothesis-driven proposals that explore the clinical utility, integration, and impact of rapid infection diagnostic technologies within ICU settings.
We encourage innovative proposals focusing on high-risk patient cohorts where timely and precise antimicrobial therapy can significantly alter the clinical trajectory. This includes, but is not limited to, immunocompromised patients (e.g., onco-hematology, solid organ transplant recipients) at risk of deteriorating into sepsis, or those in the intensive care unit susceptible to hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), or Blood Stream infections (BSI) at high risk of Sepsis (eg: post-major surgery or post-trauma).
Studies should aim to demonstrate how rapid ID/AST can lead to:
- Improved appropriateness of empirical antimicrobial treatment, including early escalation or early de-escalation.
- Decreased antimicrobial consumption and development of resistance.
- Improved patient-centered outcomes such as reduced length of stay, complications, etc ….
- Practical integration into clinical workflows and clinical decision-making
The grant is of up to one hundred thousand euros (EUR 100K/year) for a period of three years (2025-2027), totalling three hundred thousand euros (EUR 300K*).
This call seeks ambitious, high-impact proposals from teams possessing the necessary clinical expertise, data capabilities, and infrastructure to achieve transformative advancements in ICU diagnostics.
For any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact:
Prof. Ignacio Martin-Loeches
Guy François (research [ @ ] esicm.org)
On behalf of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM)
