PSF offers research funds on coronavirus

Islamabad : Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) under ‘Competitive Research Programme’ has invited research proposals from scientists, technologists, engineers and technopreneurs to carry out indigenous research to better understand and address challenges pertaining to the recent spread of COVID-19.

Under this initiative funds will be available for Consortium Research Grant, Research in Collaboration with Industry and individual researchers. Funding limit per project will be Rs20 million whereas for individual researchers, the limit will be Rs8 million. Last date to apply for the project proposals for immediate solutions is April 12, 2020.

The research focus areas include Indigenous Technology and Material Development like low cost diagnostic kits or rapid point-of-care diagnostic test for COVID-19 detection, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) including masks especially N95, Tyvek Suits, gloves, goggles, head covers, sanitizing agents for individual or mass level use by using indigenous raw material, ventilators, temperature screening devices and microsystems for COVID-19.

Another focus area is Targeted Studies for Infection Prevention and Control like COVID-19 outbreak in Pakistan and its pattern of spread, population cohort studies including vulnerable population, test ranges, recovery ration, gender and geographical division, ICT-assisted augmented discovery of potential inhibitors, evaluation of intervention strategies, harnessing human mobility and surveillance data for disease forecasting during the COVID-19 epidemic, multi-node telehealth system for COVID-19 etc.

Research projects on Epidemiology would also be funded under this initiative. These can include aspects such as causes, clinical manifestations and diagnosis, critical aspects of viral infection, replication, pathogenesis, transmission and long-term protection against the disease etc.

The grants of award will be determined by the subject experts, technical committees, project award committee and steering Committee. Forms and guidelines for project application can be downloaded from PSF website.