Pose a Challenge guidance
Have you a challenge related to the use of animals in your research area? By defining and communicating your challenge via CRACK IT you will engage the scientific community in providing a solution which not only minimises animal use but also stimulates innovation. This is an opportunity to influence the development of tools and technologies to meet your needs. Maybe the solution already exists, but the application has not been recognised or described. To submit a challenge you will need to register with CRACK IT. When you have registered you will be asked to fill in a form with the headings detailed below. This guidance document contains information about filling in the form and what should be included under each heading. We recommend that you also read the relevant frequently asked questions.
It may be helpful to write your submission and save it in a word document before uploading the form so you do not lose the information.
Your details will not be passed onto any potential partners. The NC3Rs will quality control solutions to ensure no junk messages are received in your CRACK IT account. You will then decide which contacts to make via email.
Proposed title
Please provide a short snappy title. Keep this brief and be creative to try to catch the attention of any potential partners.
Scientific Background
Please expand the title into a problem statement. Use this to describe the research area, current approaches and why these are not adequate for your needs. For example, current approaches may be unreliable, not predictive of humans, too slow, too expensive, use too many animals.
3Rs benefit if solved
Please explain the implications for the 3Rs if your challenge is solved. This should include, where appropriate, an estimation of the potential reduction in animal use in your laboratory/establishment/discipline and/or objective indicators of how animal welfare could be improved.
Overall objective
Provide a high level bullet point objective which describes the main aim of the challenge.
Key deliverables
Please think about the key tools/data/results/milestones that may be needed to reach the objective. This information should guide the potential cracker to exactly what you need and may range from technical specifications e.g. battery life to more general deliverables e.g. establish a model to predict human dose response for your chosen pathway.
Poser
Please provide the name of your company/organisation
Poser contribution
This need not be detailed but it is helpful for potential partners to know the kinds of techniques/equipment/assays/samples etc. that you will make available to them to help the research. For example, there may be an opportunity for some of the work to be undertaken by the staff of the supporting organisation or you may host potential collaborators in your laboratories. You may also wish to consider whether your organisation could provide funding to explore any potential solutions.
Key words
Please select relevant key words for your challenge that can be used for search purposes.
References
Suggested reading related to the challenge. Please include a few key references.
Images
Please provide an image to accompany your solution.
Logo
Please provide an organisation logo.
Additional Information
Please include any other information that may be useful.
Date for solutions to be submitted by
The default will be 100 days from uploading the challenge, please state if there is a reason for this deadline to be shorter.
Terms and Conditions:
The NC3Rs reserves the right to review this submission and also not to publish on the website unless the 3Rs benefit is clear. An internal review will be carried out to ensure the 3Rs criteria are met. The NC3Rs will not publish any solution that has not been agreed with you.