The EXPRESS CALL TO FUND RESEARCH ON COVID-19 announced at the end of March, has just been concluded. The objective of the call was to select projects that would enhance understanding of the mechanisms of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as well as improving diagnostic tests, finding new drugs and mitigating the social and economic effects of the pandemic. Although it was an express call, the highest evaluation standards were adhered to. Researchers had only 2 weeks to submit their proposals and the two-stage evaluation was performed in just a month. Regardless of this short deadline for submitting proposals, the call attracted a lot attention – which is why it was decided to increase the original budget of PLN 10,000,000. Researchers submitted 262 proposals for a total amount of over PLN 140,000,000, of which 259 proposals were submitted for merit-based evaluation. Funding of over PLN 12,000,000 was awarded to 19 research projects, of which 12 are research projects in Life Sciences, 4 in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and 3 in Physical Sciences and Engineering. You can read more on the conclusion of the Express call to fund research on Covid-19 in the letter of the NCN Management and Council.
The ranking list is available here.