\ Senza categoria \ “FAST TRACK COVID-19”: Area Science Park and Argo System launching a call for research and innovation projects against the coronavirus

Trieste, 6th May 2020 – In the framework of the ARGO System, Area Science Park is launching the FAST-TRACK COVID-19 call to implement research, development and innovation projects strengthening Italy’s prevention capacity, analytical skills and responsiveness to the Covid-19 pandemic, with an impact on the healthcare system, the manufacturing industry and the life of citizens.

The call is targeted to research teams wishing to use Area Science Park’s state-of-the-art Genomics Platform, consisting of an ultra-high-throughput sequencer and the Orfeo Data Center that can provide advanced calculation and data analysis services applied to genomics and other sectors*.

The call is dedicated to Universities, Higher Education Institutes, Superior Graduate Schools, public research Institutes, Scientific Institutes for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare, Healthcare Authorities, intergovernmental research organizations based in Italy, associations and foundations performing research activities.

Research and innovation project proposals should focus on:

• the medical and healthcare sectors, in particular medical diagnostics and prognosis and antiviral treatment strategies (vaccines included);
• artificial intelligence algorithms and Machine Learning Techniques for predictive models on the evolution of the epidemiological emergency;
• data access, extraction and mining systems to share and use the scientific information on the disease.

Adopting an open science approach and accepting that deliverables are made openly and fairly accessible and available is a prerequisite for participation in the call.

The joint use of the ARGO Genomics Platform has already led to the sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has been identified in Friuli Venezia Giulia by a team of researchers from Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano Isontina (the Local Healthcare Authority), ICGEB and Area Science Park. Access to the platform through the FAST-TRACK COVID-19 call will increase the number of virus sequencing projects – so far 64 have been performed in Italy out of 9.174 throughout Europe – to acquire important information for the design of molecular and serological tests and in studies on the vaccine.

The call will allocate a total of 400 thousand euro and will co-finance each selected project up to a maximum of 30 thousand euro by making staff available, providing free access to the technological platforms and giving additional services. Projects will have a duration of three to twelve months.

Project proposals can be submitted until 30th September 2020. Further information, the call and the participation form can be found at www.areasciencepark.it.

* ARGO Technological Platforms support research and industrial development offering different categories of users the best possible scientific and technological conditions to implement product and process innovation projects, through access to research laboratories provided with core scientific skills, equipment and instruments that can hardly be replicated. In particular, Area Science Park’s Genomics Platform consists of a sequencer called NovaSeq 6000, which is the highest throughput instrument among next-generation sequencers, and a Data Center (Orfeo) that can provide advanced calculation and data analysis services applied to genomics and other sectors. Area Science Park will make this platform available so that it will be useful to all national research initiatives on COVID-19 focusing on genomics, bioinformatics and advanced data analysis techniques.