Crowdhelix launches open access match-making platform for COVID-19 researchers – for a faster solution

LONDON and BRUSSELS, 26 March 2020 – UK-based open innovation network Crowdhelix, in partnership with media company Science|Business, has launched a free online match-making service to help COVID-19 researchers find one another across the globe, check out funding opportunities, and get to work tackling the virus faster.

The service, at https://network.crowdhelix.com/covid-19, is a simple online tool for COVID-19 researchers – whatever their country or specialty – to connect. It is advised by Dr. Björn Kull, Head of Grants Office at Karolinska Institutet, the famed Stockholm medical university. It is also supported by leading Belgian university KU Leuven.

With the Crowdhelix service, researchers can click through to a special COVID-19 section of its custom-built Open Innovation platform. There, they can profile themselves, their teams, and their organisations, and post opportunities to collaborate. An intelligent recommender system then matches these opportunities with the most suitable prospective collaborators, using natural language processing and machine-learning.

At the same time, they can check up on funding opportunities announced around the world, and latest COVID-19 research news, compiled by Science|Business, a Brussels- and London-based media company specialised in international R&D policy and investment.

The COVID-19 service is one of several online “Helix” communities, linking academic, industrial and public researchers, in a wide range of scientific disciplines for the past seven years. The network currently connects researchers and innovators from over 450 organisations spanning 44 countries in disciplines from physics to medicine and beyond. The COVID-19 service is free, and is advised by the Karolinska and KU Leuven experts.

Said Dr. Kull of Karolinska:

“Karolinska Institutet is pleased to lead the COVID-19 Helix community hosted on the Crowdhelix platform. This collaborative initiative is timely and important in tackling the global challenge presented by COVID-19. The pandemic crosses national borders with ease, so it is important for organisations across various countries, sectors, and disciplines to collaborate and share their developing expertise in its diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. We hope colleagues from across the world will join the COVID-19 Helix and collaborate on research projects to help tackle this global challenge.”

Said Frauke Christ, Innovation Manager, Division of Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven:

“As the Health Helix Leader on the Crowdhelix platform, KU Leuven is pleased to support this important collaborative initiative. KU Leuven has a long history of antiviral research contributing to the fight against infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge that calls for excellent researchers across the world to respond and collaborate. To defeat the outbreak, strong and efficient cooperation between government, industry, and the research community will be crucial. KU Leuven and its world-class researchers are already working with colleagues across the world, and we look forward to extending our reach to other world-class researchers and innovators.”

Topics involved in the COVID-19 Helix include:

• Virology
• Epidemiology
• Social Sciences & Humanities
• Behavioural Science
• Data Science

Contact:

For Crowdhelix:

Michael Browne, Director

[email protected] , +44 7811 210189

For Science|Business:

Maryline Fiaschi, Managing Director

[email protected], +32 477 504078

About the Crowdhelix Network

The Crowdhelix Network is an Open Innovation network for universities, research organisations, and businesses seeking funding from the European Union’s €77 billion 'Horizon 2020' programme, and its upcoming successor,  ‘Horizon Europe’. The network connects researchers and innovators from over 450 organisations spanning 44 countries. The Crowdhelix Network is open to applications from any organisation, of any size, anywhere in the world, that can demonstrate a strategic commitment to collaborative research and innovation.

https://network.crowdhelix.com/

About Science|Business

Science|Business is a media company based in Brussels and London, focused on R&D policy and investment internationally. Its twice-weekly, free newsletter service, news website, and frequent roundtables and conferences bring researchers, policy-makers and industrial R&D managers together to collaborate on advancing science and technology. It is supported by its network of 70 universities, companies and public-sector organisations, and was founded 15 years ago by senior European science and technology journalists.

https://www.sciencebusiness.net