In the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukrainian scientists working in many fields of science asked themselves the question: how exactly can we help the society to overcome the consequences? Doctors and biologists have focused on the development of vaccines, psychologists – on supporting people, including the elderly. Representatives of the physics and mathematics community, including scientists from the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, joined the construction of models for the spread of the pandemic.

The team of scientists submitted the project “Computer modeling and theoretical approaches for description of the spread of infectious disease COVID-19: the role of spatial heterogeneity of the population, heterogeneity of the network of social contacts and social response” to the NRFU’s “Support for research of leading and young scientists” call, won the call and received grant funding. The work is planned for five quarters (2020-2021), the total funding is 2 million 52 thousand uah.

The supervisor is Yaroslav Ilnytsky, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, a well-known researcher in the field of computer modeling of physical systems, as well as epidemiological models. Both he and his team received the victory in the call with enthusiasm, because the task, in addition to scientific value, is of great practical importance. However, if they did not win, they would still work, because it is impossible to stand aside when a pandemic takes the lives of thousands of people, damages the country’s economy and the well-being of families.

The spread of the disease can be “calculated”

We ask the supervisor and executors of the project, how could physics help to calculate the spread of a pandemic and what the essence of the work was.

They explain that propagation processes are described by similar mathematical equations or numerical algorithms. That is why their experience in studying related physical processes of spread can and should be used to model the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Understanding the mechanisms of the disease is important to properly assess the capacity of the medical system, anticipate the availability of medication and hospital facilities, identify quarantine zones in a timely manner, and establish safe ways to reduce lockdown.

About solidarity and mutual support

Another part of the project is the analysis of the social response to the pandemic. How people perceive quarantine restrictions, which age or social strata are most disciplined, how people are willing to help doctors. All these aspects help to understand the peculiarities of the pandemic and to stop its spread.

 Fast scientific news

Scientists explaining what results they plan to get after the project is completed and what will these results mean: “The main “feature” of the project is the idea of combining elements of modeling from different industries and creating effective tools for studying (and controlling!) the pandemic. These tools will help, in particular, to optimize quarantine restriction algorithms, minimize economic losses and, at the same time, keep the epidemic under control”. However, scientists warn that there are always random factors that cannot be predicted.

The scientists also mention, that it had been quite difficult to buy equipment in a very short time. Also, according to researchers, it is necessary to make changes in regulations governing the expenditure of grant funds within projects.

 Not easy, but possible!

Researchers consider grant funding of scientific and research projects to be very good news for Ukrainian science.

The example of the winning projects shows that obtaining funding for research in Ukraine, is not easy, yet it is possible.

Of course, no one guarantees researchers victory, but the experience of participating in the competition is important. Young scientists can find out which scientific tasks are important (they will be supported in the first place), learn to formulate the application properly, assess their own research, organizational and managerial potential.