Updated on: 2020-05-15
| Response | |
|---|---|
| Q1A. What arrangements, if any, do you have in place to ensure scientific advice informs national policy and decision making in relation to Covid-19? | [Left blank] |
| Q1B. In what ways, if any, are you coordinating on Covid-19 STI responses at international level? | See point 3 in Q3 in the range of cooperation between research teams from Austria and Poland (bilateral projects) as well as between Austria and Poland and the Czech Republic or Slovenia (trilateral projects) or cooperation between research teams from Poland and Austria, with the participation of research teams from Germany or Switzerland or Luxembourg, |
| Q2.Do you have dedicated arrangements in place for communicating science advice and for refuting misleading information to the public on Covid-19? | See point 2 from Q3 in the range of researches on psychological and social aspects of coronavirus pandemic and the ways of its limiting (including health policy and organization of the healthcare, research ethics and care of the sick, social behaviors during pandemic). |
| Q3. What new STI policy measures, if any, is your country taking to respond specifically to the Covid-19 crisis? | 1) The National Centre for Research and Development allocated 200 000 000 PLN to fight against coronavirus. The Polish entrepreneurs and scientists who work on diagnostics, treatment and prevention of viral diseases obtained 200 000 000 PLN. The National Centre for Research and Development announced the Fast Track "Coronavirus" contest. A proven formula to finance innovation from the European Funds was used in order to fight against coronavirus pandemic. The National Centre for Research and Development envisaged three basic thematic areas which should include projects submitted for co-financing. There are the following: - diagnostics - devices for quickly detecting the coronavirus presence in the body; - treatment - researches on the use of existing or new drugs as well as works on vaccines; - prevention - preventive measures limiting the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the activities to the Polish antivirus shield: improving biosecurity, protecting society and supporting its functioning in epidemiological crisis situations. Both SMEs and large companies as well as consortia consisting of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs and scientific units can apply for support. The main condition of receiving the grant is the innovation of the proposed solution at least at the national level as well as the need to its implement on the market. The projects submitted for funding in the contest may include industrial researches, experimental development and pre-implementation works. Only experimental development works are treated as mandatory element. The minimum project value for single SME is 1 000 000 PLN and for large companies and consortia - 2 000 000 PLN. The maximum value of eligible costs of projects co-financed by the National Centre for Research and Development may not exceed 50 000 000 EUR. 2) Express call to fund research on COVID-19 by the National Science Centre with a total budget of 10 mln PLN https://www.ncn.gov.pl/ogloszenia/konkur... 3) Changes to the terms of the CEUS-UNISONO call for proposals related to the launch of the FWF Urgent Funding for Research Into Humanitarian Crises like Epidemics and Pandemics with participation of the National Science Centre https://ncn.gov.pl/aktualnosci/2020-04-0... 4) Support for hospitals focusing on COVID-19 related patients by the National Centre for Research and Development with a total budget of 100 mln PLN The National Centre for Research and Development launched a new support for hospitals focusing on COVID-19 related patients on R&D activities. These hospitals can apply for funding projects preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus, protecting personnel and treating COVID-19. 5) Additional support for research (including on COVID-19) at the Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology - Jagiellonian University – one-off funding from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of 25 000 000 PLN. Money for the Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology - Jagiellonian University should help in developing coronavirus vaccine. 6) Production of the Polish coronavirus tests The prototype of the Polish coronavirus test was developed by the researchers from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan. It will be possible to produce 100,000 pieces - based on the reagents of own production and the Polish companies. The National Centre for Research and Development allocated 100 000 000 PLN for this project. 7) IDUB against COVID-19 contest organized by the Warsaw University of Technology Financing activities on solutions dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects is the main goal of this contest. Projects may concern both the area of basic researches and R&D works. The maximum project implementation period is 18 months and the project financing amount should not exceed 400 000 PLN. |
| Q4A. At national level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19? | See point 1 in Q3 |
| Q4B. At international level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19? | [Left blank] |
| Q5. What novel approaches, if any, is your country using to address the coronavirus crisis (e.g. use of machine learning, open science initiatives boosting access and sharing of data and research results, development and use of prediction models, etc.)? | 1) The Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in which operates the Supercomputing and Networking Center located in Poznan starts cooperation with the European Institute of Bioinformatics (EMBL-EBI) as a national node in the field of data on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The EMB launches IT platform which will collect data on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus sequence. This initiative is coordinated by the EMBL branch in Hinxton (the United Kingdom) - the European Institute of Bioinformatics (EMBL-EBI). The national nodes established in the EMBL Member States will cooperate with the main portal 'Covid-19 Portal'. This initiative also envisages cooperation with existing networks and databases, including the database led by the World Health Organization (WHO). 2) See point 4 in Q3 in the scope of creating IT tools to gather theraupetical and epidemiological data. |
| Q6A. What impact on the STI system do you anticipate in the short-, medium- and long-term, and what measures are you implementing to address those? | [Left blank] |
| Q6B. Is support of the STI system part of planned stimulus packages aimed at supporting the economy? | [Left blank] |
| Q7. Is there anything else regarding the STI policy response to Covid-19 in your country you would like to mention? | [Left blank] |