Grants for Testing of PLP Capabilities, (PLP-Test)
The PLP program at SciLifeLab has decided to launch a new call, which will make it possible to test and improve the existing capabilities and technologies within PLP.
The COVID-19 pandemic appears to slow down but this does not mean that there is no need for laboratory preparedness. Currently we have an outbreak of bird flu in seagulls and African swine fever in wild boars. We also had an outbreak of monkey pox in humans, spread of highly resistant Candida auris, food-borne Salmonella Senftenberg, increased number of neonatal Echovirus 11 infections, increased transmission of tick-borne pathogens and increased spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Thus, the need for large scale analyses of samples containing infectious agents and assessment of host responses is still essential.
What can be applied for
Unique samples of different types exist in biobanks within the PLP network, at governmental agencies and hospitals and new samples can also be collected in ongoing studies. Here you will get an opportunity to set up a testing scheme using the different capabilities that exists within the PLP network (see https://covid19dataportal.se/plp-program-background/#pillars-of-the-plp-program).
The SciLifeLab PLP program encourage applications from the different PLP units in collaboration with other PLP units and in collaboration with researchers at governmental agencies, hospitals and universities having access to unique materials that can be analyzed.
Areas of interest are diagnostics and analyses of infectious diseases, analyses of immune responses during infections and vaccination and studies of resistance development in viruses, bacteria and other infectious agents. The project can also involvesupport of bioinformatic analyses and data handling.
Who can apply
Grant recipients of the earlier PLP Calls (PLP-1, PLP-2, PLP-ClinMicro) and researchers at SVA, FOI and FoHM using PLP capabilities for analyses of sample collections.
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.
In this call, the PLP program will support up to 9 projects to test and improve the current capabilities in the PLP network. The maximum grant size is 500.000 SEK. Eligible applicants must be researchers from within PLP units (grant recipients of the earlier PLP Calls, PLP-1, PLP-2, and PLP-ClinMicro) or researchers employed at SVA, FOI and FoHM that collaborate with one or several PLP units. Collaborations within and across the PLP 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.
Time period for funding: proposals should cover the period January 1st, 2024 to December 31, 2024 but granted funding can be used until April 1st, 2025.
Evaluation
All applications will be evaluated by the PLP management group and external evaluators. Decision of funding will be made by the SciLifeLab board in November, 2023. In the evaluations we will focus on identifying 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 improve the PLP capabilities and techniques.
Deadline for applications: Monday October 23, 2023 at 14.00 CET.
Start of funding: January 1st, 2024
