BY-COVID Support for the implementation of national and regional SARS-CoV-2 Data Hubs

Description

This call seeks applications from initiatives to support the implementation of additional SARS-CoV-2 Data Hubs to increase the flow of viral sequence data into the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA), in line with Open Science principles. The existing network of Data Hubs can be accessed here. This call contributes to the broader ambition of creating a pan-European network for the mobilisation and analysis of pathogen data, including from SARS-CoV-2. Applicants, individuals or consortia, may support the implementation of Data Hubs through a range of activities such as: Training and outreach at national/regional level contributing to support for the implementation of SARS-COV-2 Data Hubs at national and regional levels Infrastructure work - especially development of programming interfaces to provide connectivity with Data Hubs Curation and standardisation of metadata Analysis of locally generated data  Surveys and other landscaping studies to understand national/regional needs Explorations, studies and showcases that further national or regional open science and open data agendas 

Beneficiary & submission

Criteria and conditions   The proposal must include an agreement to submit data to ENA, addressing current public health needs and geographic location and coverage in the European COVID-19 Data Platform Applicants reside and/or work in a EU country or associate country Further conditions This call is not open to members of the BY-COVID consortium, or individuals employed by any consortium entity. Staff working on the BY-COVID project (i.e. directly funded through a beneficiary,its department or unit executing BY-COVID activities, as a linked third party or seconded personnel) are not eligible to apply for grants under the BY-COVID Open Calls and will be asked to tick a Declaration of Honour box upon application.   Applicants must declare in the application form they do not receive funds from other projects for similar activities. If you are unsure, please contact us.   All successful applicants will have to provide a plan for a sound dissemination of the outputs created, which must be openly licensed. A mid-term and final term report will be submitted, following a contractual agreement, highlighting progress, use cases and lessons learned. All results will be made available on the BY-COVID project website for five years. Successful applicants may be asked to share their details (photo, bio) for dissemination purposes.   The work will need to be completed within six months within receipt of award. These are the evaluation criteria and weighting: Excellence - Previous & current activities (1/3): A concise summary of previous and current activities with examples demonstrating the applicant’s potential to foster the mobilisation of viral data, in line with the Open Science principles.  Impact (1/3): Applicants should put forward plans for disseminating, communicating and exploiting the outcomes of the projects, and what the intended impacts are. Implementation - quality and efficiency (1/3): A summary of the proposed activity plan for the work and how these will contribute to creating a pan-European network for the mobilisation and analysis of pathogen data, including from SARS-CoV-2.  Evaluators The applications will be evaluated by the members of the BY-COVID External Scientific Advisory Board, and the project team who are knowledgeable about the COVID-19 Data Hubs, virological analysis in emerging disease outbreaks and the ENA. Conflicts of interest will be avoided (e.g. the applicant and evaluator should be from the same organisations, nor should the evaluator’s organisation benefit from the grant being awarded). Word limit for applications   The word limit for your application is indicated in the downloadable template, for each of the sections. Apply here: https://by-covid.org/news/support-implementation-sars-cov2/

Further information

Who can apply? The persons or categories of persons that may receive financial support are: Legal entities A consortium consisting of several organisations can apply, but a single legal entity needs to act as a contractual partner Single institutions or consortia such as: Academic, government or commercial entities engaged in sequence-based surveillance and outbreak investigation NGOs and IGOs involved in capacity building Scientists, public health professionals, (bio)informatics experts, funders, educational establishments. A successful applicant is expected to work closely with the existing SARS-COV-2 Data Hubs Network and the BY-COVID implementation team. The proposed work needs to align with the broader ambition of creating a pan-European network for the mobilisation and analysis of pathogen data, including from SARS-COV-2. Applicants are limited to EU and associated countries only. What type of activities can be funded? Types of activities that are eligible: Training and outreach at national/regional level contributing to support for the implementation of SARS-COV-2 Data Hubs at national and regional levels Infrastructure work - especially development of programming interfaces to provide connectivity with Data Hubs Curation and standardisation of metadata Analysis of locally generated data  Surveys and other landscaping studies to understand national/regional needs Explorations, studies and showcases that further national or regional open science and open data agendas The calculation of the amount to be given to each initiative will be based: The scale of effort required to complete the tasks of the initiative The data volume and complexity of the data set made publicly available via ENA -Local factors relating to salary and other operational costs Cloud compute costs and sequencing costs.  Other eligible costs (in alignment with the BY-COVID Grant Agreement) Budget The calculation of the amount to be given to each initiative will be based on: The scale of effort required to complete the tasks of the initiative, up to a maximum of 60k Euros The data volume and complexity of the dataset made publicly available via the ENA  Local factors relating to salary and other operational costs Costs for cloud computing and sequencing. Funding €60.000 maximum per awarded grant. A maximum of five projects will be funded (call budget is 300,000 Euros).