pixel FCT approves 6 NOVA projects in the 2nd edition of RESEARCH 4 COVID-19 | Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

FCT approves 6 NOVA projects in the 2nd edition of RESEARCH 4 COVID-19

NOVA's projects now approved join the other nine financed in the first edition.

Research 4 Covid-19

Six projects from NOVA University Lisbon have been approved within the scope of the second edition of RESEARCH 4 COVID-19, the special funding scheme of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCT (the Portuguese foundation for science and technology), in collaboration with Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica - AICIB (the agency for clinical research and biomedical innovation), for rapid implementation projects measures that respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESEARCH 4 COVID-19 aims at financing research and the development of projects and initiatives, already underway or to be developed, that respond to the needs of the Portuguese National Health Service (SNS), in its intervention in the fight against the pandemic.

The approved projects are:

  • DETECT:  Development of an Easy, fast-Track and Economical Colorimetric Test for autonomous national diagnosis of COVID-19;
  • Ion channel blockers mechanism of action against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: a fast-track ex-vivo study to complement the current on-going clinical trials;
  • Repurposed antimalarial and anti-Ebola drugs as Organic Salts and Ionic Liquids to prevent and fight COVID-19;
  • COVID-19 Barometer Social Opinion: Know, Decide and Act. The Portuguese, COVID-19 and the National Health Service Response;
  • Reducing biased information processing to increase compliance with SNS's recommended measures for Covid-19 prevention;
  • ​​​​​​​Development of an inexpensive, simple and open-source device for SARS-Cov-2 detection.

These research projects, funded with around 201 thousand euros, join the other nine approved in the first edition of the “RESEARCH 4 COVID-19” initiative, with a funding of around 260 thousand euros.

The approval of the projects is the recognition that the NOVA University Lisbon is committed to contributing, in the different areas of knowledge, to fight the pandemic that the country and the world face.