March 23, 2021 — Scientists and physicians have today come to recognize the important impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on brain health. This other “silent pandemic” has indeed insidiously crept into people’s lives, with consequences that are difficult to estimate today. Several efforts have been started in different areas to better understand and contain this phenomenon.

To contribute to and deepen COVID-19 research related to brain disorders and mental health issues, the Human Brain Project (HBP) and its research infrastructure EBRAINS are launching and funding a new Call for Expression of Interest (CEol), inviting researchers to propose new study projects. These projects will both complement and benefit from HBP expertise and will be supported by EBRAINS’ cutting-edge collection of brain data sets, simulation and modelling tools, and high-performance computing resources.

Research topics include: 

• COVID-19 research activities that are linked to and supplement HBP/EBRAINS and other activities at European or national level in this research field, e.g. funded by Horizon Europe, to create synergy and increase impact through including the EBRAINS Research Infrastructure.

• Longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses of patients suffering from neurological and/or psychiatric symptoms after infection with COVID-19, e.g. based on existing large cohorts
• Exploration of changes in brain structure and function in patients that have undergone COVID- 19, e.g. targeting brain mechanisms underlying olfaction, memory, fatigue, depression
• Disease mechanisms and genotype-phenotype relationships as far as they concern the brain
• Short- and middle term effects of COVID-19 and related changes on mental health and brain health, e.g. related to age and demographic factors
• Development of mathematical brain models of patients and subjects affected by COVID-19
• Modelling and simulation of COVID-19 disease scenarios using EBRAINS
• Identification, modelling and simulation of drug candidates using EBRAINS
• Research on middle and long-term effects of COVID-19 vaccines on the brain and mental health
• Developing and testing strategies for prophylaxis, based on EBRAINS

Target groups:

The target groups are from academic and medical research, including hospitals, or from industry and pharma (SMEs and larger companies) active in COVID-19 research. Non-HBP partners or HBP partners are eligible for funding under this CEoI, however, at least 80% of the proposal budget must be assigned to non-HBP partners, while the HBP partners should not account for more than 20%.

Timelines and budget

The deadline to submit proposals is 30 April 2021 at 17:00

Two proposals will be selected according to specific criteria outlined the call documents (see below)

The available budget amounts to EUR 450,000 Direct Costs. Maximum funding per proposal is EUR 225,000 (plus 25% Indirect Costs).

Contact Point:

applicants are welcome to contact: [email protected]

Further information, Documents and Deadlines:

https://opencalls2.humanbrainproject.eu/call/hbp-sga3-ceoi-covid-19

ABOUT THE HBP

The Human Brain Project (HBP) is the largest brain science project in Europe and stands among the biggest research projects ever funded by the European Union. At the interface of neuroscience and information technology, the HBP investigates the brain and its diseases with the help of highly advanced methods from computing, neuroinformatics and artificial intelligence, and drives innovation in fields like brain-inspired computing and neurorobotics.

ABOUT EBRAINS

EBRAINS is a new digital research infrastructure, created by the EU-funded Human Brain Project, to foster brain-related research and to help translate the latest scientific discoveries into innovation in medicine and industry, for the benefit of patients and society.

It draws on cutting-edge neuroscience and offers an extensive range of brain data sets, a multilevel brain atlas, modelling and simulation tools, easy access to high-performance computing resources and to robotics and neuromorphic platforms.

All academic researchers have open access to EBRAINS’ state-of-the art services.  Industry researchers are also very welcome to use the platform under specific agreements.  For more information about EBRAINS, please visit www.ebrains.eu.

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Source: HBP