The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) has allotted P60 million to fund researches on how Filipinos can adapt during a pandemic like the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The DoST called the project Science and Technology for a Resilient Community against the Pandemic (STRAP) Block Grant and will be spearheaded by its Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DoST-PCIEERD).
DoST-PCIEERD Executive Director and STRAP project leader Dr. Enrico Paringit expressed optimism that the STRAP Block Grant will “keep us buckled safely as we navigate the new normal.”
“We will be relentless in our pursuit of newer ways in finding our way out of this pandemic,” assured Paringit in a statement.
“We believe in the ingenuity of our Filipino researchers and look forward to their ideas,” he added.
The DoST said the researches that will be funded under the grant should fall under one of the 10 priority areas.
These priority areas are work from home tools; workplace ergonomics; safe air, sea, and land mobility and transport; response and coping up with the new normal; testing and calibration of locally developed medical devices; geophysical and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions to address COVID-19; new devices and products; protective coatings for surfaces and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); detection and disinfection technologies; and emergency food for COVID-19 affected families, communities, and frontliners.