Call summary :

Call for applications
Science for Africa Foundation invites applications for innovative research initiatives in epidemic and pandemic research, preparedness and response. Applications should take into consideration pressing local, national and regional research priorities, resources, current environments, and existing capacity and preparedness levels. Initiatives should be broadly associated to one of the thematic research areas detailed below, but transdisciplinary research is encouraged, and applicants should outline how they might draw upon a broad range of expertise within their proposed programme.
We emphasise that we are looking for visionary consortia which will develop their own programmes of relevant research work. The proposed activities can be along the continuum of basic-translational-clinicalapplied-implementation-operational research and policy engagement.

Key Areas
- Vaccinology / early-stage vaccine research for epidemic- and pandemic-prone
infections
- Virology – genotype to phenotype
- Clinical research and clinical trials on epidemic and pandemic prone infections
- Advanced data assembly and analytics for threat assessment and mitigation
- Epidemic and pandemic public health policy research
Vaccines only became available around one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and in some areas were never accessible at scale. In future epidemics and pandemics, vaccines may be more difficult (or even impossible) to develop. Although certain public health measures – such as test, trace and isolate, social distancing, and lockdowns – were instrumental during the pandemic, their implementation was informed by a weak evidence base. These interventions may have had a profound and long-lasting negative social and economic impact across Africa. This research theme could, for example, assess the effectiveness, acceptability and affordability of public health measures for epidemic or pandemic control on the African continent, evaluate policy making processes, or explore more ‘intelligent’ application of layered public health interventions that strengthen systems for readiness, recovery and resilience.

- Climate change, biodiversity and pandemic prevention
Seventy five percent of all emerging infectious diseases that affect humans originate from animals. It is widely accepted - and evidence shows - that the rate of infectious disease emergence is increasing because of the intersection of significant changes in multiple drivers such as human population density and connectivity, ecological disruption, habitat encroachment, and climate change. This thematic area may draw upon ‘One Health’ and/or climate science approaches to provide new insights into an existing or emergent zoonotic threat to human health and its mitigation, whilst simultaneously strengthening relevant African research capabilities.

- Social and behavioural sciences
Epidemics and pandemics start and finish in communities. The COVID-19 pandemic was, and continues to be, a ‘case study’ in the vital importance of understanding and addressing different perspectives and of involving communities in co-developing solutions. Social and behaviouralsciences have, however, been a relatively neglected area of research to date. This research theme could, for example, advance understanding of the social and behavioural dynamics affecting, and affected by, epidemics and pandemics, aiming to define best practices and collective actions for engaging with and involving the public and communities in preparedness and response.

How to apply
Applicants should prepare a core budget over five to six years for up to USD $4 million, plus specific additional elements detailed in the Budget Guidance. It is also
anticipated that successful consortia will attract additional funding from other sources over the duration of the programme.
More information can be found in the budget guidelines.