India’s ‘Nano Mission’ Calls for Proposals on Nanocoating Research Urgent for COVID-19
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has invited short-term research grant special call for developing nano-coating COVID-19 and new nano-based material for use in personal protective equipment (PPE), which can be transferred to a partnering industry or start-ups for scale-up.
The invitation calls for the development of antiviral nano-coatings for producing anti-COVID-19 triple-layer medical masks and N95 respirator or better masks in large quantities and PPEs for safeguarding health care workers against COVID-19. Such nano-coatings could contribute immensely to the emerging health care requirements in India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project duration should be maximum up to 1-year with a maximum budget limit of Rs. 25-30 lakhs. The industry contribution could include either manpower support or support partly for testing of nano-coating to meet the EU or US standards.
The coating will be used on masks, other protective gear used by healthcare workers. This call is for bringing academic groups and relevant industrial groups togetherfor submitting proposals to DST’s Nano Mission. It encourages multidisciplinary efforts and collaboration with industrial partners for scaling up production within a year. Interested groups can forward their applications to the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB).
The proposals will be screened for suitability and scope followed by a peer-review on a first come first evaluation basis. The items developed and transferred to the industry will need to meet the International standards or BSI standards for ensuring the quality of the nano-coating based product produced.
Projects concerning other pathogens will not be considered in this call. The last date for submission of proposals is April 30, 2020.
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