After a competitive scientific evaluation by peers, the E-Rare funding bodies have announced this year’s rare diseases research projects, which are going to be funded. In December 2010 E-Rare launched its third Joint Transnational Call for research proposals on rare diseases. Following two rounds of evaluation, 13 consortia with a foreseen budget of about 9 million euro were selected for funding. The projects cover a wide range of rare diseases including hematologic, metabolic, neurologic and dermatologic diseases as well as congenital malformations while adressing potential therapeutic options using state-of-the-art techniques like pluripotent stem cells, gene therapy vectors and customized animal models. Visit the new E-Rare website to find out more on rare disease research funding and collaboration opportunities.