DTU has received grants from the government and several foundations, including DKK 13 million for research and development of a new diagnostics tool for testing patients for corona.
Together with a project team, DTU has just received a grant of DKK 13 million for the development of a quick test that in just 30 minutes can determine whether a patient is infected with coronavirus.
The project is one of nine selected by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science to receive funding from the DKK 50 million allocated by the government for corona-related research. The projects will help to quickly gain new knowledge and solutions in the fight against COVID-19.
According to a press release issued by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, acting quickly is key for the government. Consequently, they have prioritized research projects that can start immediately so potentially valuable research results can benefit citizens, healthcare services, and society as soon as possible.
“The research conducted at the University always aims for long-term benefits, and we believe the resulting knowledge of these projects will benefit people and society in the long run. But that strategy changes in times of crisis such as this COVID-19 pandemic, where it’s necessary to bring knowledge into play immediately. This applies to both supporting government authority decision-making and to knowledge that can help with urgent needs,” says Prorector Rasmus Larsen from DTU.
Grants for battling corona pandemic
The government grant is the latest in a series of grants received by DTU for research and development projects that will help fight the new viral disease. While the pace has increased for all the projects, none of them are going to deliver a solution tomorrow.
In one of the projects, the EU project CORONADX, researchers from DTU Bioengineering, DTU Food, and Statens Serum Institut are developing new fast devices for on-site diagnosis of coronavirus. They expect to have two new devices ready for emergency use in Denmark by October.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted DKK 3.9 million to DTU Health Tech for the research of artificial intelligence systems that can monitor COVID-19 patients in hospitals as well as in their own homes.
In addition, the Carlsberg Foundation has granted DKK 25 million to DTU Compute for a big data research project on the population’s response to the crisis and the measures that are being introduced.
Furthermore, DTU are providing the government authorities with resources and knowledge that can support data analyses and modelling of the disease spreading, and work is being done to find a way for DTU’s laboratories to support a more comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy.
“With great pride, I’ve seen how many DTU researchers very early on had thought about what could be done on short notice—and how we as an organization have come together to concentrate on these efforts in an unusual situation,” says Rasmus Larsen.
“In the long term, I believe the current crisis will certainly also give rise to a number of new research questions on what to do when the next pandemic hits us.”