Open science platform and publisher Frontiers wants to make sure that efforts by researchers to pursue science-based solutions to the global coronavirus pandemic, and learn more about the virus and the COVID-19 disease it causes, find the funding they need. They launched a new portal to do just that, which is updated daily, and lists open funding calls, including the grant type, deadline, organization behind it, and specific area it supports.
Sources include governments, non-profits, and commercial companies, and the listings link directly to the calls for easy application. This dashboard presents one fo the best organized ways for anyone with a research project related to COVID-19 to find an appropriate funding source, with all relevant top-line information presented up front.
For anyone looking to supplement their existing knowledge of ongoing coronavirus and COVID-19 research, Frontiers is also offering a portal called the ‘Coronavirus Knowledge Hub,’ which includes links to the top research on SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 symptoms, treatments, transmission and much more.
It’s crucial right now that research not go unfunded, since there’s a global urgency around the investigation into, and development of, potential solutions and treatments around COVID-19. There’s still a lot we just don’t know about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, even leaving aside the many potential treatments under development – basic research about its genetic makeup, mutation patterns and durability are still pictures we need filled in to develop lasting and effective methods of prevention and protection.
A resource like this, which connects the dots between this work and available sources of funding, is incredibly valuable. Potential funders should get in touch with Frontiers via their submission form if they have a way to get much-needed resources to scientists working on this problem.