coronavirus
Coronavirus: Commission steps up research funding with €120 million for 11 new projects to tackle the virus and its variants
The Commission has short-listed 11 new projects worth €120 million from Horizon Europe, the biggest European research and innovation programme (2021-2027), for supporting and enabling urgent research into the coronavirus and its variants. This funding is part of a wide range of research and innovation actions taken to fight the coronavirus and contributes to the Commission's overall action to prevent, mitigate and respond to the impact of the virus and its variants, in line with the new European bio-defence preparedness plan HERA Incubator. The 11 short-listed projects involve 312 research teams from 40 countries, including 38 participants from 23 countries outside of the EU.
Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said: “The European Union has been taking strong action to fight the coronavirus crisis. Today we are stepping up our research efforts to meet the challenges and threats that coronavirus variants present. By supporting these new research projects and reinforcing and opening relevant research infrastructures, we continue to fight this pandemic as well as prepare for future threats.”
Most of the projects will support clinical trials for new treatments and vaccines, as well as the development of large scale, coronavirus cohorts and networks beyond Europe's borders, forging links with European initiatives. The Commission has been at the forefront of supporting research and innovation and coordinating European and global research efforts, including preparedness for pandemics. It pledged €1.4 billion to the Coronavirus Global Response, of which €1bn comes from Horizon 2020, the previous EU research and innovation programme (2014-2020). The new projects will complement those previously funded under Horizon 2020 to fight the pandemic. More information is available in a press release.
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