Deadline: 4 June 2020
The Novo Nordisk Foundation is seeking applications for its thematic call entitled “Societal Responses to and Preparedness for Emerging Viral Infections – 2020”.
The current epidemic spread of a new corona virus (2019-nCoV) highlights the threat to the world of new infectious diseases. The current epidemic is not an isolated event. During the last decades, we have seen several incidences of the spread of new, deadly viruses, e.g. SARS, MERS and Ebola. These events are worsened by lack of communication both within and between countries, insufficient national preparedness, lack of efficient treatments and vaccines, monodisciplinary approaches, urbanization, and the high global mobility of humans. Due to the rapid spread of new viruses across the world, it is of vital importance that all countries are prepared for a possible occurrence of infections by a new virus. This require a well-coordinated national response by the health authorities.
The purpose of this thematic call is to give excellent researchers the possibility, in a collaborative effort, to perform in-depth research addressing the interdisciplinary theme “Societal Responses to and Preparedness for Emerging Viral Infections”.
Areas of Support
The current thematic call is aimed to fund interdisciplinary research and development projects that seek to optimize the Danish Societal Responses to and Preparedness for Emerging Viral Infections with focus on the following areas:
- Surveillance and early detection of disease. Rapid diagnostics of novel viruses. New technologies to prevent or combat epidemic viral infections.
- Infectious epidemiology, including methods for epidemic modelling, to predict and understand spread of disease. IT based methods for early detection of epidemics.
- National preparedness to deal with emerging viral infections, including drafting of policies in advance, procedures for rapid testing and approval of new treatments, technologies, and vaccines.
- The proposed research must be in-depth, but the subject can be cross-disciplinary, and should not be considered limited to any particular research methodology or discipline.
Funding Information
A total of up to DKK 20 million is available for up to 2 grants of up to DKK 10 million for projects lasting for up to 3 years.
Applicants may apply for funding for the following types of expenses:
- Salaries for research assistants, postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, consultants and statisticians.
- Tuition fees for PhD students.
- Operating expenses for: consumables, materials, services, and other similar items directly related to the project.
- Equipment and infrastructures required for the project.
- Data management: data collection, data analysis, and data storage.
- Collaboration activities – expenses due to project-related meetings, workshops, seminars and exchange of personnel that will strengthen the collaboration between partners of the programme.
- Conference participation: travel costs, accommodation, and registration at scientific conferences in Denmark and elsewhere that are directly relevant to the project.
- Publication costs: scientific articles, posters and other scientific dissemination activities based on the project.
- Bench fee – Support for individual researchers to cover direct expenses needed to conduct the research project. Bench fees must be specified in the budget and may only be used for operating expenses, lab consumables and access to laboratory space and facilities that cannot be included within another individual budget category. To include a bench fee in the budget, the fee must be part of the general expenses policy of the institute/institution and apply to all employees for which the policy concerns.
- Administrative support: an amount up to 5% of, and included in, the funding applied for from the NNF may be included in the budget.
Eligibility Criteria
- The programme supports excellent scientists from 1-3 research groups, in addition to the main applicant. It is expected that the main applicant and the co-applicants are employed at a research institution. It is encouraged that industry, and National or International Health Agencies and Organizations are included as collaborators. Based on a common mission and vision, the project must explore an important question or challenge within the interdisciplinary theme “Societal Responses to and Preparedness for Emerging Viral Infections”.
- The scientific disciplines and locations of the research groups are not restricted, except that the main applicant and host institution must be anchored in Denmark. The host institution could be any Danish public research institution.
- It is critical that measures are taken to maximise interaction between the groups. The definition of ‘coapplicants’ is group leaders that will receive part of the funding, as detailed in the budget. Other collaborators, that are not listed as co-applicants, cannot receive funding under this programme. Collaboration with industry partners is encouraged within this programme; however, funding cannot be awarded to industrial partners. It is critical that all collaborators contribute significantly to advancing the science in the proposal.
- Receiving funding from another Novo Nordisk Foundation grant, does not preclude the applicant from receiving a grant through this programme.
For more information, visit https://novonordiskfonden.dk/da/grants/societal-responses-to-and-preparedness-for-emerging-viral-infections-2020/