- Government of Montenegro
Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation EUR 200,000 earmarked for five Covid-19 projects
EUR 200,000 earmarked for five Covid-19 projects
The Ministry of Science held a press conference earlier today on the occasion of announcement of results of the Special Call for Applications for Covid-19 Scientific Research Projects.
On this occasion, the State Secretary for Innovation of the Ministry of Science Saša Ivanović indicated that the Ministry had originally announced a Call for Applications for Scientific Research Projects before the pandemic, with a funding budget of EUR 1.5 million.
“Due to the new circumstances caused by the pandemic, we decided to allocate part of the funds from this call for applications in the amount of EUR 200,000 to finance projects whose research is aimed at mitigating the effects of Covid-19 on the healthcare and economic system of Montenegro”, Ivanović said.
The situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic clearly demonstrated the importance of science and innovation and their role in overcoming the consequences it caused. The call for applications was open until 4 May, with a total of fourteen project applications submitted by the deadline.
“In the evaluation process conducted by international experts, a total of nine projects were assessed positively. However, due to the limited budget, only the top five projects, which received 80 points or more in the assessment, can be supported”, the state secretary concluded.
Those present at the ceremony were also addressed by the recipients of grants for scientific research projects on the topic of coronavirus, who presented the projects that will be implemented by 30 October this year. This implementation period was defined so that the results of projects could be applied as soon as possible and contribute to mitigating the pandemic.
Video: Address by the Covid-19 grant recipients
1. A project of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (University of Montenegro), which will be managed by Dr. Milena Đukanović and is entitled “3DP research and innovation for Covid-19 (3DPRI-COVID19),” implies the production of new 3D-printed reusable masks intended for professional use by the medical staff working in emergency departments, as well as by the persons in quarantine. The grant amount is EUR 38,500.
2. A project of the Specialist Veterinary Laboratory, entitled “Hum-Anima”, will be managed by Dr. Bojan Adžić and will aim at improvements in Covid-19 diagnostics in both, humans and animals in Montenegro, using the “One Health” approach. The grant amount is EUR 44,600.
3. A project of the Faculty of International Economics, Finance and Business (UDG), which will be managed by Prof. Veselin Vukotić and is entitled “Support to companies in combating Covid-19 through digitalisation and digital payments,” aims to explore the current state-of-play in terms of the use of digital technologies as a fundamental prerequisite for development. The grant amount is EUR 42,000.
4. A project of the Administration for Statistics of Montenegro – MONSTAT, entitled “Creating an official statistical subsystem for needs of research into Covid-19 pandemic”, will be managed by Dr. Gordana Radojević and will use various scientific methods through multidisciplinary scientific research partnership to shed light on important healthcare and economic aspects of Covid-19. The grant amount is EUR 25,000.
5. A project of the Healthcare Centre Podgorica entitled “Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on disease control, mental health and quality of life of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients” will be managed by Dr. Nebojša Kavarić and will aim to establish the manner and extent to which the measures undertaken in the fight against the pandemic have affected the metabolic control, mental health and quality of life of these patients. The grant amount is EUR 35,000.
The project ranking list is available here.
PHOTO: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmNLnQ3C
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/7EC_UGR8gYs