NEW DELHI: India and Australia have jointly invited research proposals for bilateral collaboration for a special call on COVID-19, a statement by the ministry of science and technology said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison MP jointly announced the collaboration during the India-Australia Leaders’ virtual summit held on June 4, 2020.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), the government of India and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER), Australia, invited special joint research projects from interested scientists and researchers.

COVID-19 research priorities

The funding for the projects will be under the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF). AISRF is a platform for bilateral collaboration in science which is managed and funded by the governments of India and Australia.

The research proposal calls for focus on priority areas.These include antiviral coatings and other preventive technologies. The proposals can also focus on data analytics, modelling and AI applications. Screening and diagnostic testing is another area of priority for research work.

Applications not defined within any one of the priority areas will not be considered.

The main objective of the special call is to bring together leading research institutions in India and Australia working on areas relevant to global COVID 19 pandemic. It further aims to bring together leading research institutions in India and Australia currently working on areas relevant to COVID-19 such as vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

Eligibility and duration

To be eligible to apply for funding, the applicant should seek support for bilateral collaborative research projects in one of the priority areas of research. The applicant should also have obtained the agreement of the proposed Australian research partner.

The statement further elaborates that the candidate should be associated with an educational institution; UGC recognized universities, deemed universities or academic institutes or National Research and Development Laboratories or Institutes

Each project will last 12 months which can be extended for a period of six months only. The last date to submit the online application is July 2, 2020.

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