University of Strathclyde is undertaking nine projects that seek to tackle various aspects of the impact of COVID-19 with £230,000 allocated by the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).

The funding has been allocated to Strathclyde via the Scottish Funding Council to projects that seek to address problems faced by Low-Middle Income Countries as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

GCRF forms part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment, which is monitored by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said: “The world faces an unprecedented challenge due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Strathclyde academic community is committed to putting the full force of our expertise, research and resources behind efforts to tackle the virus.”

The projects are:

  • Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid in Wastewater with a low-cost sensing platform, led by Dr Andy Ward in partnership with IIT Bombay, India (£50,989)
  • Supporting COVID-19 Response in Low Resource Settings via Locally Manufactured Medical Equipment and Energy Resilience, led by Damien Frame, in partnership with Creative Energie, EnAccess and CEM Malawi (£22,575)
  • Impact of COVID-19 on health centre service delivery in urban and rural Malawi, led by Dr Tracy Morse in partnership with Blantyre District Health Office and Malawi Community Health Centres (£42,266)
  • Social impacts, exposure and resilience to the pandemic COVID-19 between Munduruku indigenous and traditional communities in the Brazilian Amazon (Pará), led by Dr Brian Garvey in partnership with: Mangabal Communities Association; Pariri Indigenous Association; Extractive Association of the Cabitutu River; and, Munduruku Wakoborun Women’s Association (£14,174)
  • Covid-19 Vaccine Delivery Barriers in LMICs, led by Dr Itamar Meggido in partnership with the School of Public Health, University of Ghana (UoG) and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, (£17,005)
  • Estimation of the Economic Impact of COVID-19 mediated through Supply-side Shocks in Low- and Middle-Income Countries using the WHO EPIC Model, led by Professor Jeremy Lauer, in partnership with Ghana Health Services, BRAC University and Graduate Institute of International Development Studies (£20,822)
  • Navigating COVID-19 related transitions and transformations of economically marginalised women entrepreneurs within urban poor communities within the Greater Cairo Region in Egypt (GCR) led by Dr Katerina Nicolopoulou in partnership with: Cairo University; American University of Cairo; Arab Academy For Science, Technology, Maritime and Transport; and, Gemini Enterprises Africa (£47,292)
  • COVID-19: micro- tourism enterprise sustainability, support and revival after the pandemic, led by Professor Tom Baum in partnership with University of Johannesburg, South Africa (£11,527)
  • Novel Empirical Models for the Effects of Under-Reporting on the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia, led by Professor Apala Majumdar in partnership with Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and the Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia (£2,872)

The University also recently received funding from the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office for five other projects that are focused on addressing the impact of COVID-19.