Applications Invited for Grand Challenges ICODA COVID-19 Data Science Grant Programme

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About the Organization:

ICODA is bringing together an international alliance of partners, uniting to harness the power of health data to respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Together, they will develop a trustworthy approach to overcome the challenges of accessing and harnessing the power of data. Their vision is to unite international health research data to enable discoveries that benefit everyone, everywhere, by reducing the harm of COVID-19; and enable an efficient data response to future pandemics and other health challenges.

Grand Challenges ICODA COVID-19 Data Science Grant Programme

ICODA and Grand Challenges are delighted to launch the new pilot Grand Challenges ICODA COVID-19 Data Science grant programme that will focus on addressing major questions about how to reduce the harm of COVID-19 and future pandemics.  The programme aims to unite data and develop processes, analytical tools and infrastructure to achieve rapid scientific progress and impact.

The initiative will be a pilot for the ongoing Grand Challenges that seek to develop global collaboration and innovative approaches to major health challenges. Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives, launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2003, to solve key global health and development problems. Selected projects will become part of ICODA’s portfolio of Driver Projects, helping to further develop processes, tools and infrastructure to accelerate scientific progress and foster collaboration between researchers and the public around the world.  This pilot will lead to a larger Grand Challenges Data Science call in late 2021, which will be led by global Grand Challenges partners.

During this pilot, grantees will have access to the COVID-19 Workbench, a digital research environment to which researchers can bring their own data and work in a safe and trustworthy space to collaborate with others to answer research questions of interest.

Proposals should:

• Be driven by a shared commitment to open science, data sharing, and building collaboration and analysis infrastructure to enable discoveries that will benefit people everywhere
• Seek to strengthen global communities and multi-disciplinary collaboration, particularly from researchers in LMICs, and involve patients and the wider public
• Have access to the datasets needed to address their specific research questions
• Be legally permitted to contribute data and build on ICODA’s portfolio of Driver Projects, helping to build infrastructure, processes and governance that are fit for purpose for a wide range of research challenges.

Eligibility Criteria:

They are seeking grant proposals that meet the following criteria:

• Have the potential to be enabled and contribute to the preparation of the 2021 Data Science-focused Global Grand Challenge
• Address research questions that can deliver insights on COVID-19 within 6-12 months of the grant award being made, be scalable and bring demonstratable benefits to patients and populations
• Use clearly defined datasets, with a commitment to providing access to data and all research products (methodology and reproducible results), whilst ensuring appropriate information governance
• Have the potential to be enabled and accelerated by the COVID-19 Workbench, and a commitment to helping develop processes, tools and governance to maximise the impact of data-focused research studies
• Demonstrate a commitment to involving patients and the wider public in design and governance of research studies

Grant: Receive between $25,000-$100,000 in funding for 6-12 months from mid-March 2021 onwards

Deadline: 19 January 2021

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