18.05.2020 – 15:00

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

The SNSF funds 36 new coronavirus research projects

Bern (ots)

Under the special call on coronaviruses, the societal and biomedical aspects of epidemics will be investigated with a total budget of 10 million francs. The projects will start as of 1 June 2020.

As the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold, the SNSF took swift action by launching a special call on coronaviruses on 6 March 2020. The call was enthusiastically received in the research community.

   - Applications submitted: 284
   - Applications rejected for formal reasons: 13
   - Applications evaluated: 271
   - Approved projects in biomedicine: 22 out of 169
   - Approved projects in social sciences and humanities: 10 out of 
     70
   - Approved projects in the STEM disciplines: 4 out of 32

The SNSF responded by increasing the budget for the special call from 5 to 10 million Swiss francs. International experts had evaluated all of the applications within a month. In the end, the SNSF was able to fund 13 per cent of the most highly rated projects with the available funds. The race for selection thus remained a very competitive exercise in spite of the budget increase, with the SNSF being forced to turn down many excellent projects.

From immune memory to burial rites

The funded projects reflect the entire thematic spectrum. They can be viewed in the online project register on Covid-19 research in Switzerland. Five examples:

   - Volker Thiel and Ronald Dijkman from the University of Bern and 
     Isabella Eckerle from the University of Geneva are studying how 
     the lung epithelium reacts when infected with Sars-CoV-2. They 
     hope the results will make it possible to predict whether an 
     infected patient is going to suffer mild or severe symptoms.

   - Charlotta Sirén, Joakim Wincent, Dietmar Grichnik and Michael 
     Hudecheck from the University of St. Gallen as well as Gerard 
     George from Singapore Management University want to analyse 
     satellite data and media information to understand how people 
     around the world react to pandemics. The end goal is to use this
     knowledge to develop an early warning system for pandemics.

   - Marc-Antoine Berthod from the University of Applied Sciences and
     Arts Western Switzerland in Lausanne and Gaëlle Clavandier from 
     the University of St. Etienne are looking at burial rites in 
     times of social distancing. They are interviewing undertakers 
     and bereaved family members to learn more about the creative 
     solutions they have developed to deal with death.

   - Thomas Peter and Ulrich Krieger from ETH Zurich are studying the
     usefulness of acetic acid as a disinfectant against Sars-CoV-2 
     in the air. To this end, they need to test its efficacy in 
     concentrations that are not harmful to humans.

   - Andrew Macpherson and Stephanie Ganal-Vonarburg from the 
     University of Bern are researching the development of 
     immunological memory among over 200 people who work in 
     hospitals. The aim is to know whether people who have already 
     been ill with the virus will be immune to it in the future.

Complementing NRP "Covid-19"

The special call on coronaviruses will be complemented by the National Research Programme "Covid-19" (NRP 78), mandated by the Federal Council, for which a call was launched on 30 April 2020. As the call topics include future pandemics, the social sciences and humanities will account for a substantial share of the projects.

The text of this news and further information are available on the website of the Swiss National Science Foundation: http://www.snf.ch/en/researchinFocus/newsroom/Pages/news-200518-the-snsf-funds-36-new-coronavirus-research-projects.aspx

Contact:

Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
Division Communication
Phone: +41 31 308 23 87
E-mail: com@snf.ch