April 24, 2020
Bulletin interne de l'Institut Pasteur
Success of project proposals submitted by the Institut Pasteur in response to the ANR's COVID-19 flash call for proposals launched in March
On March 6, the French National Research Agency (ANR) launched a COVID-19 flash call for proposals to encourage the country's scientific communities to respond in record time to the four priorities identified by WHO in relation with the development of the outbreak.
In view of this extraordinary situation, the ANR introduced a streamlined, expedited procedure designed to meet the urgent need for research while maintaining the principles of peer review. Recognizing the need to respond to the health crisis as quickly as possible, the initial budget of €3 million for this call was upped significantly to €14.5 million, with the help of an emergency fund allocated by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the support of several funding partners.
By March 23, the deadline for the COVID-19 flash call, no fewer than 270 eligible proposals had been submitted, 20 of which involved Institut Pasteur teams. On April 10, following a review process, the ANR announced funding for 86 projects, including 9 coordinated by Institut Pasteur scientists, together with an additional list of 40 projects, 4 of which were submitted by the Institut Pasteur – representing a total of 13 out of the 20 projects proposed.
These outstanding results reflect the Institut Pasteur's remarkable ability to respond to urgent calls of this type. They also demonstrate the research funding agency's recognition of the quality of the Institut Pasteur's scientific projects in addressing the challenges of the pandemic crisis.
The projects selected following the ANR's flash call fall within the fields of investigation identified by the Institut Pasteur at a very early stage to tackle COVID-19. They cover several areas and disciplines, reflecting the need to produce new knowledge on the physiology, pathogenesis and epidemiology of the disease. They also involve the development of animal models and research on antiviral molecules – a wide range of subjects to address a global health challenge.
Given the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, several emergency calls for proposals similar to the one launched by the ANR have been issued by external funding bodies. The Grants Office is supporting the Task Force in identifying, analyzing and circulating calls that might be relevant for scientists on the Paris campus and in the Institut Pasteur International Network. The calls identified by the Grants Office are accessible on its dedicated page on Webcampus.