Advancing knowledge for the clinical and public health response to the
2019-nCoV epidemic
Emergency coronavirus research: The European Commission (EC) selects 18th project to develop rapid diagnostics funded through the Horizon 2020 Programmes
Deadline for receipt of completed Expression of Interest is 17 July 2020
- Background
The European Commission (EC) launched the emergency call on 30 January 2020 for research projects that will advance the understanding of the novel coronavirus epidemic, contribute to more efficient clinical management of patients infected with the virus, as well as public health preparedness and response.
Following initial announcement, the EC has selected and will provide funding support to 18 projects with a total of €48.5 million from Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation programme. The selected projects will focus on the following aspects:
- Improving epidemiology and public health, including our preparedness and response to outbreaks. These projects will help develop better monitoring systems in order to effectively prevent and control the spread of the virus, as well as contribute to the assessment of social dynamics.
- Rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. Increased efforts will concentrate on enabling front-line health workers to make the diagnosis more quickly and more accurately, which will in turn reduce the risk of further spread of the virus.
- New treatments, in which a dual approach will be adopted. Firstly, accelerating the development of new treatments currently in the pipeline (including therapeutic peptides, monoclonal antibodies and broad-spectrum antivirals), and secondly, screening and identifying molecules that could work against the virus, using advanced modelling and computing techniques.
- Development of new vaccines. The research will focus on developing a prophylactic vaccine and a therapeutic vaccine, which will be used for prevention and treatment respectively.
2. Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) call for Expression of Interests (EoI) and application process
Africa through the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) is engaging with the EC on possible engagement of South African researchers with the 18 selected projects. In this regard, the DSI is issuing the EoI to explore potential interest from the South African research community in engaging with any of the 18 H2020 projects. The DSI is exploring possible mechanisms of support for the SA participants who may be interested. to engage with the project consortia of the 18 projects.
Call Schedule
| No | Activity | Date |
| 1. | Publish expression of interest | 15 June 2020 |
| 2. | Applicant prepare the Expression of Interest in response to the call for EoI published on the ESASTAP website | 16 June 2020 – 17 July 2020 |
| 3. | Closing date for the submission of Expression of Interest. No late submissions will be accepted. Please submit the completed Expression of Interest to contact@esastap.org.za | 17 July 2020 |
3. Enquiries
All enquiries should be emailed to contact@esastap.org.za
4. Applications
Click here to access the application form. Please note that the application is on page 3 of this document.
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
- The Application form has been updated to account for the new Closing Date of 17 July 2020.
- Access the amended form in pdf here.
- Access the word version of the Application form here
Please submit the completed form to contact@esastap.org.za
5. Further Reading
Click here to access Details of the 18 H2020 Projects
