UNC will allocate $29 million of state funding for advancing COVID-19 research, testing and the development of a vaccine.

The university will receive the funding as part of the 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act passed by the North Carolina General Assembly on Saturday and signed by Governor Roy Cooper on Monday. According to the legislation, the money is to support the “rapid development of a countermeasure of neutralizing antibodies for COVID-19” used to either treat or prevent infection. It will also continue to fund research of community testing initiatives and activities to monitor and address public health.

The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory, which is based at UNC, is included in some of the funding to assemble an advisory panel to discuss and analyze coronavirus research and to report on the progress of any new countermeasure.

UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz shared a statement Sunday about the funding, expressing gratitude for the allocation.

“This appropriation will enable UNC-Chapel Hill and our fellow UNC System institutions to deploy their researchers and resources to find more solutions for North Carolinians,” he wrote.

The university will likely receive additional funding as coronavirus relief from the state’s package. The UNC System received $44.4 million to be sent to its institutions for covering the costs of moving instruction to online methods, counseling and technology support for employees and students. The funding will also go toward the sanitation of campuses ahead of students’ return. UNC System leadership has indicated it is planning for course instruction to return to in-person methods by the fall.

In April, Microsoft Academic ranked UNC as the highest-rated university in the United States for coronavirus research.

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