Call for Grants for Technology Development Projects within Pandemic Laboratory Preparedness, (PLP-TDP)
SciLifeLab´s strategic area, Pandemic Laboratory Preparedness (PLP), has decided to launch a call to support development and refinement of technologies and capabilities aimed to improve the national pandemic preparedness.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how important it is that research infrastructures, infection biology researchers at universities, clinical microbiology labs at hospitals and governmental agencies are well prepared at the immediate onset of outbreaks. We are constantly exposed to outbreaks of new pathogens as well as already known microbes with altered susceptibility to therapeutic interventions. These constitute serious threats to the health of humans and preparedness is therefore essential for a fast and appropriate response to mitigate adverse effects on public health. Thus, continuous development and refinement of rapid and large-scale analyses of samples containing infectious agents and assessment of the host responses is of outmost importance.
What can be applied for
The SciLifeLab PLP strategic area encourages applications from already existing PLP units as well as the broader national infection biology research community, including clinical microbiology laboratories, research infrastructures and governmental agencies. In this call, the PLP program will support projectsfor the development or refinement of technologies and capabilities that will improve the laboratory preparedness in Sweden. The total budget for the call is 24 MSEK (12 MSEK per year for two years) and maximum grant size that can be applied for is 3 MSEK (1.5 MSEK/year for two years). Particular areas of interest are diagnostics and analyses of infectious diseases, analyses of immune responses during infections and vaccination and studies of drug resistance development in viruses, bacteria and other infectious agents. The project can also involve support of bioinformatic analyses and data handling.
Who can apply?
Eligible applicants are either researchers from already established PLP units (grant recipients of the earlier PLP Calls), researchers at any swedish university with a strong track record in infection biology research relevant for pandemic preparedness, and researchers employed at SVA, FOI and FoHM that collaborate with one or several established PLP units. Collaborations within and across research units and governmental organizations are highly encouraged in general but each applicant can only be main applicant on one and co-applicant on one application. Projects must be performed in collaboration with a SciLifeLab infrastructure/platform to ensure sustainability for pandemic preparedness.
Please note that funding can only be transferred to a Swedish university, and that grants are not allowed to be transferred between collaborators or to external partners.
Application process
Application is done through the Anubis system. https://anubis.scilifelab.se/
The template for application is available in Anubis.
Evaluation
All applications that fulfil the eligibility criteria will be evaluated by the PLP management group and external evaluators. In the evaluations, particular emphasis will be to identify projects that can generate useful information about infectious diseases of current high importance, degree of collaboration with PLP units and other partners and potential to develop and improve technologies and capabilities for pandemic preparedness. Another important assessment criterium is the applicability of TDPs beyond pandemic preparedness, such as usefulness within precision medicine and/or a broader infectious health crisis perspective.
Decision of funding will be made by the SciLifeLab board in October 2025.
Deadline for applications: Monday August 25, 2025 at 14.00 CET.
Start of funding: November 1st, 2025
Time period for funding: Oktober 2025 – September 2027, but granted funding can be used until April 1st, 2028.
For questions about the call, please contact alice.sollazzo@scilifelab.uu.se
