irish success in fp7

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research Programmes

Irish Success in the Seventh EU Framework Programme

Irish researchers are engaging in pan-European research projects to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the EU, using funding from the largest European R&D funding programme ever, the Seventh EU Framework Programme.

In the first 2 years of the programme, researchers from Irish companies and higher education institutions won funding totalling c107million for collaborative research projects in areas like ICT, health, nano-technology and energy research.

Ireland is currently on track to reach the national target of winning c600m in EU R&D funding by 2013. FP7 is designed to respond to Europe’s employment needs, competitiveness and quality of life, funding research in priority areas such as environment, health, and IT. The c50 billion fund is seen as a major asset in the EU’s fight against the current economic crisis with its ring-fenced budget growing every year by 13% until 2013.

FP7 offers Ireland’s SMEs, multinationals, and research institutions valuable opportunities to participate in high-caliber research collaborations with our European counterparts. The EU agenda complements our national priorities with an emphasis on moving new discoveries from the research stage to the marketplace, allowing Ireland to play our part in building a low-carbon economy and tackling diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

The National Support Network for FP7 in Ireland has compiled a number of success stories that outline the positive outcomes of participating in EU research for academic researchers, SMEs, multinational corporations and research performing organisations based in Ireland.

You can read about other people’s experiences of framework programmes and get the benefit of their tips for successful participation in FP7 with examples from the Cooperation, Capacities, Ideas and People programmes.

If you have your own success story that you would like to share with others please email it to [email protected]

Ireland is currently on track to reach the national target of winning c600m in EU R&D funding by 2013.

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesATHENA – Advanced Theories for functional oxides: new routes to handle the devices of the future No. 1 ranked proposal in European Commission FP7-NMP-2008-EU-India-2 Call

Project DescriptionTransition metal oxides are the building blocks of future microelectronics, due to outstanding properties such as, e.g. colossal magnetoresistivity and electroresistivity. Envisioned applications are countless, from spintronic devices to multiferroics, to non-volatile magnetic memories. Despite the huge amount of work already accomplished, a deep and complete understanding of these systems is still lacking. This is due on the one hand to the complexity inherent to the physics of strong-correlated electrons, which includes a plethora of fascinating but overtly complex phenomena (e.g. charge and orbital ordering, polaronic formation, spin-charge separation, non-Fermi liquid behavior, to name just few). On the other hand, there is an unquestionable lack of coordinated effort devoted to share, integrate, and develop the most advanced and powerful computational techniques nowadays available.

The present project aims to close this gap by gathering in a synergic collaboration some of the most experienced groups in the subject, equipped with the most advanced methodologies for the theoretical study of strong-correlated phenomena in transition metal oxides. Specifically, the European units assemble a vast competence on methodologies that are at the developmental forefront of First-Principles methodologies, whereas the Indian partners are worldwide recognized experts on both First-Principles and model many-body (e.g. Hubbard Hamiltonian (HH)) techniques. In the project we plan to develop an unprecedented fusion of these two different but complementary viewpoints, applied to the study of the most fascinating and technologically promising class of systems candidates to be employed in the devices of the future.

Formation of charge density waves in BaBiO3: (left) Charge density plots showing the structural (a) breathing and (b) tilting instabilities responsible for the formation of the charge density wave and (right) corresponding band structure. Bi5+ and Bi3+ indicate the two unequivalent disproportioned bismuth ions.

‘ATHENA aims to develop an unprecedented merging of two distinct but complementary techniques, provided by the Indian and European partners respectively, in order to attack with the best effectiveness the study of transition metal oxides’.

Prof. Stefano SanvitoSchool of Physics, Trinity College Dublin

Member organisations of the National Support Network for FP7 in Ireland

Leading Ireland’s participation in FP7

Project PartnersItaly Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Instituto Nazionale per la

Fisica della Materia, Cagliari

Austria Universitat Wien

India (Coordinator) S. N. Bose National Center for Basic Sciences, Kolkata

Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research,

Bangalore

Project DetailsFunding Programme: 7th Framework Programme (FP7)

Sub-Programme: Cooperation; Nanosciences, Materials and New Production Processes coordinated call with INDIA

Funding Scheme: SMALL

Project Duration: 36 Months

Total Project Value EU part: c1,099,053

EU Grant-Aid: c849,998

Funding to Ireland: c357,031

Irish ContactsProf. Stefano Sanvito Associated Professor

School of Physics Trinity College Dublin

T: +353-1-6083065 F: +353-1-6711759 E: [email protected] W: www.spincomp.com

This series of case studies is designed to provide an insight on participating in the Seventh EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) 2007-2013 from the perspective of both individual researchers and companies that were successfully funded in FP7.

If you are interested in finding out more about participating in FP7 or reading more case studies about the experiences of academic researchers, small & medium enterprises and multinational companies in FP7 visit www.fp7ireland.com The FP7 case study series was produced by the National Support Network for FP7 in Ireland, [email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesCD-MEDICS – Coeliac disease - management, monitoring and diagnosis using biosensors and an integrated chip system

Project DescriptionThe overall concept of the CD-MEDICS Integrated Project (IP) is to develop a technology platform for point-of-care diagnostics, capable of simultaneous genomic and proteomic detection, with embedded communication abilities for direct interfacing with hospital information systems. This will be achieved by exploiting breakthroughs at the confluences of bio-, micro- and nano- technologies to create a low-cost non-invasive intelligent diagnosis system. This platform will be developed in a modular format, which will allow each module to be developed and exploited individually. The modules will subsequently be integrated to facilitate the desired application. Advances in data communications, molecular biology and biosensor technology, with the integration of nanostructured functional components in macro and microsystems, will facilitate the realisation of a minimally invasive generic platform, which is capable of multi-parametric monitoring and will be interoperable with electronic health records (EHRs). According to Dr. Yvonne Nolan of Valentia Technologies “CD-MEDICS is a great opportunity to work with project partners from a variety of backgrounds, and has broadened our understanding of the healthcare models used across different EU countries.”

Valentia Technologies role in the project is centred on the development of communication protocols for interoperability between hospital EHRs and the CD-MEDICS point-of-care device. As there is no EU-wide approach for EHRs or patient identifiers, a comprehensive review of existing standards within each EU country has been undertaken to ensure that the approach used to integrate results into patients’ EHRs is applicable in each country. The system will use existing standards for the exchange, integration, sharing and retrieval of electronic health information (such as HL7), to ensure that the system can be readily interfaced with disparate hospital systems across the EU.

Valentia Technologies are also managing the demonstration of the pre-production prototype in a clinical setting, which will take place in University Medical Centre, Maribor, Slovenia during 2010 and 2011. The goal of this task is to develop a test environment that is responsible for an in-depth evaluation of CD-MEDICS from a scientific, technical and commercial perspective in order to underpin the release of a commercially viable product.

“a great opportunity to work with project partners from a variety of backgrounds, and has broadened our understanding of the healthcare models used across different EU countries”

Dr. Yvonne NolanValentia Technologies





Project PartnersProject Coordinator: Universitat Rovira I Virgili

Belgium: Association of European Coeliac Societies

Finland: Finnish Red Cross Blood Service

Germany: Institut fur Mikrotechnik Mainz GmbH, Microfluidic Chip Shop GmbH, Clemens GmbH and Inno-Train Diagnostik GmbH

Greece: Intracom S.A. Telecom Solutions and Microsystems-Microfluidics for Genetic Tests S.A

Ireland: Valentia Technologies

Italy: Eurospital SPA and Fondazione IRCCS Policlinics San Matteo

Slovenia: Maribor General Hospital

Spain: Asociación de Celiacos de Madrid

United Kingdom: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Kings College London, Coeliac UK and iXscient Ltd.

Sweden: TATAA Biocentre and MULTI-D Analysis


Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Information & Communications Technology

Funding Scheme: Collaborative Project


Total Project Value: c12.8m

EU Grant-Aid: c9.5m


Website: http://www.cdmedics.eu/

Irish ContactsDr. Yvonne Nolan Senior Consultant Valentia Technologies

E: [email protected] T: + 353 (0)1 493 7624 W: http://www.valentiatech.com

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesPERSIST – Personal self-improving smart spaces

Project DescriptionCurrent trends in the design of pervasive systems have concentrated on the problem of isolated smart spaces (such as smart homes) via a fixed infrastructure. This is likely to lead to the evolution of islands of pervasiveness separated by voids in which there is no support for pervasiveness.

The vision of PERSIST is of a Personal Smart Space, which is associated with the portable devices carried by the user and which moves around with him/her, providing context-aware pervasiveness to the user at all times and places. The Personal Smart Space will cater for the needs of users, adapting to their preferences and learning new ones as these arise.

The objective of PERSIST is to develop Personal Smart Spaces that provide a minimum set of functionalities which can be extended and enhanced as users encounter other smart spaces during their everyday activities. They will be capable of learning and reasoning about users, their intentions, preferences and context. They will be endowed with pro-active behaviours, which enable them to share context information with neighbouring Personal Smart Spaces, resolve conflicts between the preferences of multiple users, make recommendations and act upon them, prioritise, share and balance limited resources between users, services and devices, reason about trustworthiness to protect privacy and be sufficiently fault-tolerant to guarantee their own robustness and dependability.

The Telecommunications Software & Systems Group at Waterford Institute of Technology, with support from Enterprise Ireland, successfully coordinated, wrote and negotiated the FP7 Call 1 PERSIST proposal.

Participating in the project provides the opportunity to “work with Europe’s best and to liaise with key EU initiatives such as the Future Internet Assembly – all of which leads to the formation of a significant contact and knowledge network which is available to all project partners” says Kevin Doolin, who is coordinating the project, as Competence Centre Head of Pervasive Communications Services at the TSSG, Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT)

“An opportunity to work with Europe’s best and to liaise with key EU initiatives such as the Future Internet Assembly”

Kevin DoolinTSSG, Project Co-ordinator



Project PartnersProject Coordinator TSSG, Waterford Institute of Technology (IE)

Germany German Aerospace Centre

Greece Institute of Communication and Computer Systems

Ireland Intel Performance Learning Solutions Ltd Lake Communications Ltd

Italy Telecom Italia SPA Soluta.net

Portugal Portugal Telecom

Slovenia SETCCE

United Kingdom Heriot-Watt University


Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Information & Communications Technology

Funding Scheme: Collaborative Project



EU Grant-Aid: c3.63m

Funding to Ireland: c1.22m

Website: http://www.ict-persist.eu

Irish ContactsKevin Doolin (Co-ordinator) Competence Centre Manager Pervasive Communication Services

Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) ArcLabs Research and Innovation Building Waterford Institute of Technology Carriganore Campus, Carriganore Co. Waterford, Ireland

T: +353-51- 302 935 E: [email protected] W: http://www.tssg.org/

Mark Roddy Lake Communications Beech House Greenhills Road Dublin 24

T: +353 719156830 E: [email protected] W: www.lakecommunications.com

David McKitterick Intel Performance Learning Solutions Ltd Collinstown Industrial Estate Leixlip Co. Kildare

E: [email protected] W: http://www.intel.com/ireland



Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesBioElectricSurface – Electrically Modified Biomaterials’ surfaces: From Atoms to Applications

Project DescriptionAccording to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cardiovascular diseases cause half the deaths in the EU. It is also the main cause of years of life lost (over 30 per cent) in early death thus causing huge pressure on the labour force and family earnings.

The problem is becoming more acute in Central and Eastern European countries. Due to the ageing population in the EU, osteoporosis related bone fractures have almost doubled in the last decade. It is estimated that 40 percent of women over 50 years in age will suffer from fractures due to low density bone. The European Commission considers the application of nanotechnology an important research strategy to address these problems. For this, design and control of biomaterial at the nanometre scale is set as a strategic research priority. Europe is, however, seriously underrepresented in the global market for nanotherapeutics, where the United States dominates with three-quarters of the market share. While the drive for nanoscale understanding of biological interaction can be high, the application of this knowledge in marketable devices should also be prioritised. Here, we propose the electrical modification of biomaterials surface to manipulate surface charge that will mediate bio/non bio interactions in vivo. We propose novel nanoscale techniques to probe this surface charge at the nanometer scale so that we have a quantitative insight.

Project Coordinator Ireland Materials and Surface Science Institute (MSSI),University of LimerickIreland National University of Ireland, GalwayIreland Cook Ireland Ltd.Ireland BeoCare Ltd.Poland Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław

University of TechnologyPoland Wrocław Medical UniversityPoland Balton Sp. z o.o.Germany Max-Bergmann-Zentrum für Biomaterialien (MBZ), Technische

Universität DresdenGermany Peter BrehmDenmark Polymer Technology Group, Danish Technological InstituteSlovakia Dept. of Experimental Physics, Comenius UniversityRomania Center for Microscopy - Microanalysis and Information Processing,

University Politehnica of BucharestIsrael Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University

of the Negev

It is estimated that 40 percent of women over 50 years in age will suffer from fractures due to low density bone.

Dr. Syed A. M. TofailMaterials and Surface Science InstituteUniversity of Limerick, Ireland






Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Theme 3: NMP

Funding Scheme: Small to medium scale collaborative project

Project Duration: 36 months (2008-2011)

Total Project Value: c5m

EU Grant-Aid: c3.9m

Funding to Ireland: c1.2m

Website: http://www.bioelectricsurface.eu/

Irish ContactDr. Syed A. M. Tofail Materials and Surface Science Institute University of Limerick, Ireland

T: 353-61-234132 E: [email protected]

Nanoparticles in textile

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesCarMesh — Ubiquitous Wireless Mesh Networks for Next-Generation Personal Digital Automotive Services

Project DescriptionThe CarMesh project acronym is composed of two words, “car” and “mesh”, that capture precisely what this project is about. The CarMesh project uses WiFi-based mesh network technology to provide digital automotive services to car drivers and passengers in metropolitan areas. These services are usually called “infotainment” services, since they combine entertainment and information aspects. Infotainment services could be related to safety, traffic information, or other location-based services that might announce nearby business and utility points. The main innovation in the CarMesh project concerns its concept of a smart city with seamless car-to-infrastructure communications, thereby improving safety, traffic routing efficiency, and enhancing the driving experience through ambient location-based digital services provisioning.

CarMesh is an IAPP project mostly covering all levels of staff secondments, international research workshop organisation, and some staff recruitment. The project stems from a synergy and common research interest between two partners: the PEL research group in University College Dublin (Ireland) and Telcordia Technologies (Poland). The two partners were looking for a framework in which they could grow their research collaboration. The Marie Curie IAPP scheme seemed the perfect scheme for the type of collaboration the CarMesh partners were seeking. Indeed, the very nature of the IAPP scheme makes it very suitable for industry-academia research collaborations, where research infrastructures and resources are already available at each institution. UCD brings an advanced knowledge of wireless mesh network design, analysis, and prototyping, while Telcordia Technologies brings its experience in developing and commercialising solutions for car communications and automotive services.

Project PartnersProject Coordinator University College Dublin (Ireland)Poland Telcordia Technologies

The main innovation in the CarMesh project concerns its concept of a smart city with seamless car-to-infrastructure communications, thereby improving safety, traffic routing efficiency, and enhancing the driving experience through ambient location-based digital services provisioning.

Prof. John Murphy UCD School of Computer Science & Informatics






Sub-Programme: People - Marie Curie

Funding Scheme: Industry Academia Partnership Pathways

Project Duration: 48 months (2009 – 2013)

Total Project Value: c814,348


Irish ContactsProf. John Murphy UCD School of Computer Science & Informatics Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

T: +353 1 716 2928 E: [email protected] Web: http://www.csi.ucd.ie/users/john-murphy

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesCoralFISH – Assessment of the interaction between corals, fish and fisheries in order to develop monitoring and predictive modelling tools for ecosystem based management in the deep waters of Europe and beyond

Project DescriptionThe CoralFISH project will assess the interaction between corals, fish and fisheries, in order to develop monitoring and predictive modelling tools for ecosystem based management in the deep waters of Europe and beyond.

The rationale for CoralFISH is based on the need to address UN General Assembly Resolution 61/105 (2006) which calls on fisheries management organisations worldwide to assess the impact of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems, identify and map vulnerable ecosystems and develop conservation and management measures to prevent their degradation.

In European deep waters there is also a need to establish monitoring tools to evaluate the effectiveness of closed areas for the conservation of biodiversity and fish and their impact on fisheries. Two FP6 projects (PROTECT, HERMES) have already identified the need for information concerning the interaction between fish and cold water coral habitats. CoralFISH will:i. develop essential methodologies and indicators for baseline and subsequent

monitoring of closed areas; ii. integrate fish into coral ecosystem models to better understand coral fish-carrying

capacity; iii. evaluate the distribution of deepwater bottom fishing effort to identify areas of

potential interaction and impact upon coral habitat;iv. assess the potential erosion of genetic fitness of corals due to long-term exposure to

fishing impacts using genetic fingerprinting; v. construct bio-economic models to assess management effects on corals and

fisheries to provide policy options; vi. produce habitat suitability maps both regionally and in the High Seas to identify

areas likely to contain vulnerable habitat to address the issues raised by the UNGA resolution.

CoralFISH brings together a unique consortium of deep-sea fisheries biologists, ecosystem researchers/modellers, economists and a fishing industry SME, who will collaborate to collect data from key European marine eco-regions in support of ecosystem based management in the deep sea.. The consortium numbers 16 partners from 10 countries.

CoralFISH brings together a unique consortium of deep-sea fisheries biologists, ecosystem researchers/modellers, economists and a fishing industry SME, who will collaborate to collect data from key European marine eco-regions.

Dr. Anthony Grehan Earth & Ocean Sciences Dept., National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland





Project PartnersProject Coordinator National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland)Ireland O’Malley Fisheries University College CorkUK Zoological Society of London, Institute of Zoology The University Court of the University of AberdeenNorway Institute of Marine Research Universitetet i TromsoNetherlands Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen –

Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie Stichting Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der ZeeGermany Friedrich-Alexander- Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Universität BremenIceland Marine Research Institute (Hafrannsóknastofnunin)France Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la MerPortugal Instituto do Mar –Centros dos Açores, Departmento

de Oceanografia e PescasGreece Hellenic Centre for Marine ResearchItaly Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare


Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Theme 6: Environment (including Climate Change)

Funding Scheme: Large-scale integrating project


Total Project Value: c10,885,692

EU Grant-Aid: c6,499,906

Funding to Ireland: c1,076,494

Website: http://www.eu-fp7-coralfish.net/

Irish ContactsDr. Antony Grehan Earth & Ocean Sciences Dept., National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.

T: +353 91 493235 E: [email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesCORES – Components for Ocean Renewable Energy Systems

Project DescriptionCORES is an FP7 European collaborative research project focusing on new components and concepts for ocean energy convertors.

First generation wave energy devices have been deployed at the shoreline and normally consist of Oscillating Water Column Systems. In order for these systems to progress towards full commercial realisation they must develop into units suited to mass production. This project follows successful FP6 funding in which several fixed Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Convertors (OWC WECs) were developed to demonstration level. These systems are now evolving from fixed to floating devices in deeper water, further offshore.

The CORES project will concentrate on the development of new concepts and components for power-take-off, control, moorings, risers, data acquisition and instrumentation based on floating OWC systems. The components and concepts developed will have relevance to other floating device types. The impacts of the project will be focused on reducing technical and non-technical risk in the marine environment as well as reducing the cost per kWh of generated energy.

The new components and concepts will be tested on a floating OWC test platform at sea and these real, validated and verified results will be integrated into a holistic system model. This model will provide a Toolbox for wave to wire simulations of complete WEC systems. The Marine Institute Galway Bay Test site is the location for the field test of the project.

Project PartnersProject Coordinator University College Cork (Ireland)Ireland Marine Computation Services Ltd Ocean Energy Ltd University of LimerickPortugal Instituto Superior Técnico KYMANER- Technologias Energéticas, Lda Wave Energy Center-Centro de Energia das OndasUK Queens University Belfast, University of ExeterDenmark Aalborg UniversitetGermany Institut für Solare Energieversorgungstechnik e.V.Spain Fundacion RobotikerItaly Alma Mater Studiorum Universitá di Bologna

The CORES project will concentrate on the development of new concepts and components for power-take-off, control, moorings, risers, data acquisition and instrumentation based on floating OWC systems.

Dr. Anthony (Tony) Lewis,Director, Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre University College Cork, Ireland






Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Theme 5: Energy

Funding Scheme: Small to medium scale collaborative



EU Grant-Aid: c3.4m


Website: http://www.fp7-cores.eu/

Irish ContactDr. Anthony (Tony) Lewis Director Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.

[email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesDARIAH - Digital Research Infrastructures for the Arts and Humanities

Project DescriptionDARIAH’s mission is to facilitate long-term access to, and use of, all European arts and humanities data for the purposes of research. DARIAH is the digital research infrastructure that will connect scholarly data archives and repositories with cultural heritage for the arts and humanities across Europe, making scattered resources accessible through one click. DARIAH aims to create one European data area in which scholars and students can easily survey the available information in their field – data which is dependable in terms of both quality and durability. Research which builds on this data will expand the knowledge and understanding of our heritage, histories, languages and cultures. For researchers, a prominent feature of DARIAH will be the web-based part of the infrastructure.

The IRCHSS (Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences - www.irchss.ie) has formed a DARIAH national steering committee comprised of key stakeholders and chaired by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer. Irish stakeholders include universities, the library community, major cultural bodies, policy makers and the commercial sector. Through the DARIAH website, arts and humanities scholars will be able to:• deposit their data for long-term preservation;• search through available data on a European-wide basis;• get access to and download data;• use and download interpretation and analysis tools;• use web services to access and manipulate the data• offer an integrated research workbench for the collaborative annotation, edition and

publication for arts and humanities researchers• find information on digitisation, legal issues and metadata standards.

DARIAH is the digital research infrastructure that will connect scholarly data archives and repositories with cultural heritage for the arts and humanities across Europe, making scattered resources accessible through one click.

Professor Jane Ohlmeyer School of Histories and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland





Project PartnersProject Coordinator KNAW-DANS (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van

Wetenschappen – Data Archiving and Networked Services)United Kingdom Archaeology Data ServiceGreece Academy of AthensUnited Kingdom Centre for e-Research France Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueNetherlands Data Archiving and Networked Services Greece Athena Research CentreCyprus European University Cyprus Slovenia Institute for Contemporary History Ireland Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences Germany Max-Planck-Gesellschaft - Max Planck Digital Library Denmark University of Copenhagen United Kingdom Oxford University Computing Services - Oxford Text ArchiveCroatia Ruder Boskovic InstituteGermany University of Goettingen (Goettingen State and University Library)


Sub-Programme: Capacities: Research Infrastructures




EU Grant-Aid: c2.5m


Website: http://www.dariah.eu

Irish ContactsProfessor Jane Ohlmeyer School of Histories and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.

E: [email protected]

Ms Kathryn Kozarits Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences First Floor, Brooklawn House, Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4.

T: + 353 (0) 1 6603652 F: + 353 (0) 1 6603728 E: [email protected]

Dr. Maria O’Brien

E: [email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesEUROFLEETS Towards an Alliance of European Research fleets

Project DescriptionThe quality of the infrastructures available for marine research directly affects European research performance. Marine research infrastructures are therefore, considered key elements of the European Strategy for Marine Research. A coherent pan-European approach with enhanced partnership in investment, development and usage of fleets, will have a significant impact to better meet the diverse needs of European marine research.

The EUROFLEETS project will bring together European research fleet managers to enhance their coordination and promote the cost-effective use of their vessels and associated infrastructures. It will support research services for the monitoring and sustainable management of regional seas and the oceans and will facilitate common access for European scientists on the basis of scientific excellence.Specifically, EUROFLEETS aims to:

• Develop a common procurement strategy and build a roadmap for better integration of the European research fleet;

• Reorganise, through an e-platform, the way that the research vessels are operated and enhance their interoperability capacities;

• Utilise the existing European fleets and associated equipment with much greater efficiency in the frame of the European Research Area;

• Promote greener and more sustainable research vessels and underwater vehicles;• Provide European marine researchers with access to nineteen high performing

research vessels from fifteen different countries;• Foster coordinated and joint development of European fleets, thanks to new

interoperable software and underwater vehicle payloads;• Develop training and education at sea;• Promote innovative e-access; and• Participate in European efforts to retain the highest international standing with

respect to marine research.

EUROFLEETS is a European initiative of 22 organisations focused on substantially improving the coordination and efficiency of research vessel operations in oceans and regional seas. The project involves 4 Ocean/Global and 16 Regional vessels and their equipment in the first movement to coordinate European efforts.

A coherent pan-European approach with enhanced partnership in investment, development and usage of fleets, will have a significant impact to better meet the diverse needs of European marine research.

Mr. John BreslinResearch Vessel Operations and the Integrated Marine Exploration Programme





EUROFLEETS aims in accordance with the recommendations of the Marine Board of the European Science Foundation (ESF, 2007) and in the frame of MarinERA and the OFEG (Ocean Facilities Exchange Group) to bring together the existing European Research Fleet owners and to enhance their coordination and cost-effective use of their facilities in order to support the efficient provision of essential research services for monitoring and sustainable management of the Regional Seas and Oceans.

Project PartnersProject Coordinator Ifremer (France)Ireland Marine InstituteFrance Institut Polaire Francais Paul Emile Victor (IPEV)Germany Alfred-Wegener-Institut Für Polar- und Meeresforschung Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V.

Universität BremenSpain Instituto Español de Oceanografia Consejo Superior de

Investigaciones CientíficasGreece Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR)UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Portugal Fundacao para Ciencea e a Tecnologica EurOcean FoundationTurkey Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi Deniz Bilimleri EnstitusuRomania National Institute of Marine Geology and GeoecologyItaly Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheNetherlands Wageningen IMARES B.V. Mariene Infomatie Service MARIS BVBelgium Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences Vlaams Instituut voor de ZeePoland Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of SciencesBulgaria Institiute of OceanologyEstonia Tallinna TehnikaulikoolNorway Institute of Marine Research


Sub-Programme: Capacities, Theme: Research Infrastructures

Funding Scheme: Integrating Activities



EU Grant-Aid: c7.2m


Website: Not currently available

Irish ContactMr. John Breslin

Research Vessel Operations and the Integrated Marine Exploration Programme Marine Institute, Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Galway, Ireland

T: +353 (0)91 387200 F: +353 (0)91 387201 E: [email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesFACET – Flavourings, additives and food contact material exposure task

Project DescriptionThe concept behind this project is the creation of a food chemical exposure surveillance system, sustainable beyond the life of the project, which covers representative regions of the EU and which meets, to the highest possible standard, the needs of the EU regulatory authorities in the protection of consumer health.

The project will consist of three main groupings of its 20 partners. The “Chemicals” group will prioritise the flavourings, additives and food contact materials for investigation and the food categories applicable to them. The “Food” group will take those food categories and will establish food ingredient occurrence data through the primary collection of food packaging material and the recording of all food ingredients in purchased foods. It will also create tiered food consumption databases linked to the target food categories. In addition, where intake data is limited, models of regional diets will be developed. A group on chemical concentration will provide data on the concentration of target chemicals in target food groups. Databases on food intake, food chemical occurrence and food chemical concentration will be linked in algorithms which will be converted into computer code for the estimation of probabilistic exposure to target food chemical intake.

Databases on food intake, food chemical occurrence and food chemical concentration will be linked in algorithms which will be converted into computer code for the estimation of probabilistic exposure to target food chemical intake.

Prof Mike Gibney, UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin, Ireland.





Project PartnersProject Coordinator University College Dublin (Ireland)Belgium European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink and

Artists Colours Industry CIAA Finland National Public Health Institute of FinlandFrance Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des AlimentsGermany Technische Universität München FABES-Innovations gemeinützige, GmbH Fraunhofer Institut fur Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung Hungary Központi Élelmiszer-tudományi KutatóintézetItaly Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione JRCIreland CREMe Software Ltd.Poland IZZPortugal Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto Romania INCDTIMSpain University of Santiago de CompostelaSweden STFI-Packforsk ABUnited Kingdom University of Ulster Central Science Laboratory Food Chemical Risk Assessment Ltd.


Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Theme 2: Food, Agriculture & Fisheries, and Biotechnology

Funding Scheme: Large Scale Integrating Project





Website: http://www.ucd.ie/facet/

Irish ContactProf Mike Gibney,

UCD Institute of Food and Health, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

T: +35317167801 E: [email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesMyOcean – Development and pre-operational validation of upgraded GMES Marine Core Services and Capacities

Project DescriptionThe MyOcean project brings together a consortium of 60 partners in 28 countries to set up an integrated, pan-European capacity for ocean monitoring and forecasting, using the existing competences and resources at national level. Currently every member state has its own capacities in oceanography, at global or regional scale, but the organisations, the procedures and the operational levels are extremely variable from one country to another.

The Marine Core Service will be operational from March 2009 :• Operational (i.e. regular and systematic) delivery of reference information on the state

of the oceans and European regional seas,• High resolution products with assessed quality and accuracy,• Open and free for all kind of users and applications (including commercial),• A unique desk (24/7/365) for all kind of products and requests,• Secured, simple and fast delivery (viewing, discovering, downloading).

MyOcean is the implementation of the MARINE CORE SERVICE, one of three GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) “Fast Track Services”. GMES is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency designed to establish a European capacity for the provision and use of operational information for Global Monitoring of Environment and Security. The areas which will directly benefit from the successful implementation of MyOcean are: Maritime Security, Oil Spill combat, Marine Resources management, Climate Change, Seasonal Forecast, Coastal Activities, Ice Survey and Water Quality and Pollution.

The areas which will directly benefit from the successful implementation of MyOcean are: Maritime Security, Oil Spill combat, Marine Resources management, Climate Change, Seasonal Forecast, Coastal Activities, Ice Survey and Water Quality and Pollution.

Charlotte O’Kelly, CEO TechWorks Marine Ltd

Project PartnersProject Coordinator GIP MERCATOR OCEAN (France)Ireland TechWorks Marine LtdUK Met Office; Natural Environment Research Council; Plymouth Marine Laboratory; University of Reading; HR Wallingford Centre for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (CEFAS); University of Plymouth Higher Education; ECMWF; British Antarctic SurveyItaly Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia; Consiglio Nazionale

Delle Ricerche; Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e l’Ambiente; Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale; Ufficio Stato Maggiore Aeronautica; Agenzia per la Protezione dell’Ambiente e per i servizi technici; Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per I Cambiamenti Climatici





Project Partners (continued)France Collecte Localisation Satellites Ifremer; Météo-France; Centre Nationale de la Recherche

Scientifique; ACRI-STNorway Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre Meteorologisk institutt; Institute of Marine Research Norsk Institutt for VannforskningDenmark Danish Meterological Institute; Danish National Space Centre (DTU

Space); University of Aarhus (NERI) Technical University of Denmark (DTU-DIFRES)Germany Bundesamt fur Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie;

Brockmann Consult; IFM-GEOMARSpain Puertos del Estado; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Starlab Barcelona S.L.Greece Hellenic Centre for Marine Research Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications (UAT)Portugal Empresa de Servicios e Desenvolvimento de Software (EDISOFT) Instituto Superior TécnicoFinland Finnish Institute of Marine Research; Suomen ymparistokeskus (SYKE)Russia Artic and Antarctic Research Institute; Scientific Foundation NIERSCSweden Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological InstituteMorocco Institut National de Recherche HalieutiqueNetherlands Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch InstituutBulgaria Institute of Oceanology, Bulgarian Academy of SciencesCyprus Oceanography Centre, University of CyprusEstonia Tallina Tehnikaulikool Meresüsteemide InstituutEU Commission Joint Research CentreIsrael Israel Oceanographic & Liminological ResearchMalta University of Malta IOI-POUUkraine Marine Hydrophysical Institute (NASU)Romania National Institute for Marine Research and DevelopmentBelgium Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences - MUMMSlovenia National Institute of Biology MBSLatvia University of LatviaLithuania Center of Marine ResearchPoland Maritime Institute GdanskCanada Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)


Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Theme 9: Space


Project Duration: 48 Months (2009-2013)


EU Grant-Aid: c33.8m


Website: http://www.myocean.eu.org

Irish ContactsCharlotte O’Kelly, CEO TechWorks Marine Ltd 4a, Park Lane, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, Ireland

T: + 353 1 2365990 F: + 353 1 2365992 E: [email protected] W: www.techworks.ie

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesNeuroNano – Do nanoparticles induce neurodegenerative diseases? Understanding the origin of reactive oxidative species and protein aggregation and mis-folding phenomena in the presence of nanoparticles

Project DescriptionNeurodegenerative diseases currently affect over 1.6% of the European population, with dramatically rising incidence likely (in part) due to the increase of the average age of the population. This is a major concern for all industrialized societies. There is also some epidemiological evidence that Parkinson’s disease is connected to environmental pollutants, and it is often noted that historically, reports of Parkinson’s symptoms only began to appear after widespread industrialisation. The risk that engineered nanoparticles could introduce unforeseen hazards to human health is now a matter of deep and growing concern in many regulatory bodies, governments and industry.

The NeuroNano Programme builds on some striking findings which have raised significant concerns. There is evidence that some engineered nanoparticles (for example 6 nm and 18 nm gold nanoparticles), entering intravenously or via the lungs can reach the brains of small animals. Indeed, they lodge in almost all parts of the brain, and there are no efficient clearance mechanisms to remove them once there. Furthermore there are suggestions that nanoscale particles arising from urban pollution reach the brains of animals. The relevant particle fractions arise from pollution but their structure and size are similar to engineered carbon nanostructures. Secondly, any nanoparticles in contact with tissue induce oxidative stress and various inflammatory mechanisms that could themselves lead to further oxidative stress. Finally, it has recently been discovered that nanoparticles (many of significant industrial interest) can have highly significant impacts on the rate of fibrillation of key proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s (amyloid β) and Parkinson’s (α-synuclein) diseases.

NeuroNano seeks to identify classes of nanoparticles that will lead to either (a) oxidative stress in relevant cell models; (b) increased rates of fibrillation; (c) up-regulation of the relevant pathway proteins involved in the diseases (at the cellular level), and to connect these outcomes with the ability to penetrate the Blood-brain barrier and the physiochemical properties and surface expression of biomolecules that lead to these responses. The data will be used to provide input for a risk assessment framework (and a screening protocol) for engineered nanoparticles for use by regulatory authorities and industry.

The risk that engineered nanoparticles could introduce unforeseen hazards to human health is now a matter of deep and growing concern in many regulatory bodies, governments and industry.

Prof. Kenneth Dawson Centre for BioNano Interactions, University College Dublin, Ireland





Project PartnersProject Coordinator University College Dublin (Ireland)Ireland University College CorkUK University of Edinburgh Ulster UniversityGermany Helmholtz Zentrum, MunichItaly EU Joint Research Centre -

Institute for Health and Consumer ProtectionUSA University of RochesterUSA University of California, Los AngelesUSA Rice UniversityJapan National Institute of Materials Science Brazil Universidade Federal do Ceará


Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Theme 3: NMP






Website: http://www.neuronano.net/

Irish ContactProf. Kenneth Dawson Centre for BioNano Interactions, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

T: + 353 1 716 2447 E: [email protected], [email protected] NeuroNano Project - work and information flow

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesPESI – The Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure

Project DescriptionPESI brings together the three largest species databases in Europe, Fauna Europaea, European Register of Marine Species, and Euro+Med PlantBase, together with European based Global Species Databases (e.g. World Register of Marine Species) and their associated expert(ise) networks. It is a standards based, quality controlled, expert validated, open-access infrastructure for research, education, and data and resource management. It builds the network of taxonomic experts as well as developing the information systems.

Because the correct use of names and names relationships are essential for biodiversity management, the availability of taxonomically validated standardised nomenclatures (name databases) is fundamental for biological e-infrastructures. PESI is the next logical step in integrating and securing taxonomically authoritative species name registers that underpin the management of biodiversity in Europe. PESI aims to integrate the three main all-taxon registers in Europe, namely the European Register of Marine Species, Fauna Europaea, the Euro+Med PlantBase in coordination with EU based nomenclators and the network of EU based Global Species Databases.

Project PartnersProject Coordinator Universiteit van Amsterdam (Netherlands)Ireland National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland) With 36 organisations from 26 European countries including zoological

and natural history museums and the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature

It is a standards based, quality controlled, expert validated, open-access infrastructure for research, education, and data and resource management.

Professor M.D. Guiry AlgaeBase Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.





PESI List of Partners

PESI unites experts from 36 organisations from 26 European countries:


Sub-Programme: Capacities: Research Infrastructures

Funding Scheme: e-Infrastructures




Website: www.eu-nomen.eu/pesi

Irish ContactsProfessor M.D. Guiry AlgaeBase Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.

T: +353 92 49 2339 E: [email protected]

– Universiteit van Amsterdam; Faculteit der Natuurwetenschappen, Wiskunde en Informatica; Zoologisch Museum Amsterdam

– University of Copenhagen; Zoological Museum– Trakya University– Natural History Museum– Free University of Berlin; Botanischer Garten und

Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem– Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee– Ecological Consultancy Services Ltd– Society for the Management of Electronic Biodiversity

Data– National Natural History Museum Paris– Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew– International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature– Cab International– National University of Ireland, Galway; AlgaeBase Centre– University of Helsinki; Finnish Museum of Natural History– Università degli studi di Palermo– University of Sevilla– Slovak Academy of Sciences; Institute of Botany – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens – National Museum of Natural History - Naturalis– Institute of Ecology of Vilnius University– Comitato Scientifico per la Fauna d’Italia– Swedish Museum of Natural History– Comenius University in Bratislava– Norwegian University of Science and Technology– National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; State

Museum of Natural History– Polish Academy of Sciences; Museum and Institute of

Zoology– Swiss Systematics Society– Ilia Chavchavadze State University– Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – National Institute of Biology– National Museum of Natural History– Asociatia Mynature – University of Latvia– Hellenic Centre for Marine Research– Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Ltd.– Polish Academy of Sciences; Institute of Oceanology– Russian Academy of Sciences; Zoological Institute– National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Institute of

Biology of the Southern Seas– Marine Biological Association of the UK– Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille

Non-contracted partners

– Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft; Naturmuseum und Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg

– University of Tartu– Upper Austrian Provincial Museum– Hungarian Natural History Museum; Department of

Zoology– University of Madeira; Department of Biology– Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg– Malta Environment and Planning Authority– Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Oceanology

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesSALSEA-Merge – Advancing understanding of Atlantic salmon at Sea: Merging genetics and ecology to resolve stock-specific migration and distribution patterns

Project DescriptionNorth Atlantic salmon have declined significantly in the past twenty years largely resulting from unexplained mortalities at sea. For the increasing efforts in salmon conservation to be successful, it will be necessary to gain a better understanding of how stocks of salmon from different regions and rivers vary in growth, condition and survival. These variations can be linked to different migration patterns and ecology during the marine phase of the life-cycle. Until now, it has not been possible to sample sufficient salmon during their oceanic phase to provide answers to these questions.

SALSEA-Merge is an ambitious international project to investigate the migration and distribution of salmon in the North-East Atlantic. It will involve three marine surveys in both 2008 and 2009 that will be conducted by Irish, Faroese and Norwegian research vessels. The origin of the sampled fish will be determined using the latest genetic stock identification techniques.

SALSEA-Merge will improve our knowledge of oceanic-scale ecological and ecosystem processes which might impact on salmon survival. Through a partnership of fourteen institutes from nine European countries, the programme will deliver innovation in the areas of: genetic stock identification techniques, new genetic marker development, fine scale estimates of growth on a weekly and monthly basis, the use of novel high seas pelagic trawling technology and individual stock linked estimates of food and feeding patterns. The use of the three-dimensional Regional Ocean Modeling System, merging hydrography, oceanographic, genetic and ecological data, will deliver novel stock-specific migration and distribution models. Uniquely the programme is also supported by five non contracting parties who have donated significant financial support (>c400,000) and technical expertise to the initiative. SALSEA-Merge forms part of a wider SALSEA programme involving partners from the US and Canada (www.salmonatsea.com ).

SALSEA-Merge will improve our knowledge of oceanic-scale ecological and ecosystem processes which might impact on salmon survival.

Dr Ken Whelan Marine Institute, Aquaculture Catchment and Management Services

Professor Tom Cross Department Of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science





Project PartnersProject Coordinator Institute of Marine Research, NorwayIreland Marine Institute University College CorkUK Fisheries Research Services (FRS) University of Exeter Queen’s University Belfast University of Wales, SwanseaFinland University of Turku Finnish Game and Fisheries Research InstituteNorway Norwegian Institute for Nature ResearchDenmark Danish Institute for Fisheries ResearchIceland Institute of Freshwater FisheriesSpain University of OviedoFrance GENINDEXE


Sub-Programme: Cooperation, Theme 6: Environment (including Climate Change)


Project Duration: 36 Months (2008-2011)


EU Grant-Aid: c3.5m


Website: www.salmonatsea.com

Irish ContactsDr Ken Whelan Marine Institute Aquaculture Catchment and Management Services, Furnace, Newport, Co. Mayo, Ireland

T: +353 98 42302 E: [email protected]

Professor Tom Cross Department Of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science Distillery Fields, North Mall, University College Cork, Ireland

T: +353 21 490 4191 E: [email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesEQUITABLE: Improving access to healthcare among marginalised groups in Africa

BackgroundThe Millennium Goals sought access to healthcare for all by year 2000. However, fair and equal access to basic healthcare still remains problematic for many, not least those belonging to disabled and other marginalised groups in resource-poor areas of Africa. A study carried out in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi in the early part of this decade revealed that fewer than 20 per cent of disabled people who needed an assistive device actually had one. Moreover, most public facilities and even homes were not accessible to many people with disabilities.

Lack of access is not just limited to physical barriers, however. Other factors include negative attitudes among healthcare workers in clinics. In addition, there tends to be a focus on ‘curative’ care, to the neglect of continuing access to community healthcare among those who have been through rehabilitation.

EQUITABLE is an FP7 project that aims to explore the relationship between disability and other factors that marginalise and exclude people from mainstream services and society, so as to inform national, regional, and international health policies and practice.

Benefits of being involved in FP7 The project is co-ordinated by Professor Mac MacLachlan at the Centre for Global Health and School of Psychology in Trinity College Dublin, who lived and worked in Malawi for 15 years, during which time he became familiar with some of the problems surrounding access to healthcare for people with disabilities. The other European partner is the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. In addition, there are five African research partners from institutes in South Africa, Malawi and Sudan.

For Professor MacLachlan, the key benefit of being involved in the Framework Programme is the platform it provides to influence EU policy. “Knowledge in itself is no use, unless you can put it into action,” he says. “The EU is the biggest foreign aid donor in the world, and the Framework Programme is the obvious tool to get the attention of policy makers.”

“Knowledge in itself is no use, unless you can put it into action, the EU is the biggest foreign aid donor in the world, and the Framework Programme is the obvious tool to get the attention of policy makers.”

Professor Mac MacLachlan The Centre for Global Health and School of Psychology in Trinity College Dublin





More details Acronym: EQUITABLE

Full title: Enabling Universal and Equitable Access to Healthcare for Vulnerable People in Resource Poor Settings in Africa

Contract type: Collaborative Projects

Number of participants: 8

Coordinator School of Psychology and Global Health, Trinity College, University of Dublin

Number of Partners 24

European Funding c2,656,189

Funding to the Irish participant: c90,000

Project website www.tcd.ie/psychology/malcolm_maclachlan/index.html

Earlier this year, the EQUITABLE team was invited to speak at a major global ‘mind-sharing’ conference on access to healthcare in Africa, attended by over 500 international participants, including the World Health Organisation. “If we weren’t heading this project, I don’t believe we could have accessed this platform or forged these connections,” he says.

Professor MacLachlan also believes that the size of projects the Framework Programme allows for is a significant benefit. “My experience is that a single-site project in Africa can be very vulnerable. Anything from not being able to transfer money into a particular country to the onset of the rainy season can prevent a project from being brought to fruition.” In contrast, a multi-site project such as EQUITABLE, which spans three countries, spreads the risk and brings enhanced economies of scale, he believes.

Advice to first time FP participantsThis is Professor MacLachlan’s first Framework project, and based on his experiences to date, he urges other potential applicants not to be put off by “scare stories”. Nevertheless, he stresses the significant workload involved in co-ordinating a proposal. “We started about three months before the deadline and found the process highly intensive, so I would advise other applicants to give themselves plenty of time and start well ahead of this point.”

He also recommends working with partners who you know and are confident you can rely on, and he advocates the use of funding available from Enterprise Ireland for proposal development.

Finally, he stresses that it is important to be familiar with EU policy in your area and to ensure and that what you are doing is genuinely at the leading edge. “Don’t rehash the wheel,” he warns, “or you are just wasting everyone’s time.”

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesFLUODIAMON: Developing a better way to diagnose cancer

BackgroundEvery year in Ireland, some 1,130 men develop prostate cancer, and about 1,900 new cases of breast cancer are identified. In both cases, early and reliable detection is vital in ensuring the best outcome for the patient. The aim of the FLUODIAMON project is to develop a diagnostic tool for early and conclusive detection of these two forms of cancer. This new method will exploit a combination of some of the most recent advances in the field of light microscopy, capable of delivering sensitivity down the single-molecule level. Consequently, while current diagnostic methods require the removal of a whole tissue sample for analysis under microscope, the FLUODIAMON technique will be minimally invasive as it will require only a small number of cells.

In addition to employing novel optical methods, the diagnostic tool will also incorporate state-of-the-art chemical and biological techniques (such as affinity molecule biotechnology, tumour biomarkers, fluorophore chemistry and bioinformatic validation tools) allowing for monitoring of the disease progression, so that maximum information can be extracted from very small amounts of sample material.

The project is co-ordinated by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and the Irish partner is a Cork-based scientific equipment manufacturer called Sensl. Sensl’s role is to build a core instrument capable of detecting very low light levels.

Benefits of participating in FP7 Sensl is a young, hi-tech firm that spun out of the Tyndall Institute in Cork about five years ago. The company is focused on developing novel technology for detecting weak light signals - down to the level of single photons - and its target customers include European and US research institutes and analytical instrument makers. Consequently, research and product develop are important, ongoing activities.

Under FP7, SMEs receive up to 75 per cent support towards the cost of participating in collaborative projects, offering Sensl a way of subsidising research it intended to carry out in any case, according to Dr John Murphy, Intellectual Property Manager with the company.

“We don’t just get involved in these projects for the sake of it,we have a company research roadmap for developing future products, so for us, it’s a way of getting research funded that’s already on our agenda.”

Dr John MurphyIntellectual Property Manager, Sensl





More details Acronym: FLUODIAMON

Full title: Ultra-High-Resolution and Ultra-Sensitive Fluorescence Methods for Objective Sub-Cellular Diagnosis of Early Disease and Disease Progression in Breast and Prostate Cancer

Contract type: Collaborative project


Coordinator: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm

Project cost: c6.8 million

European funding: c5.51 million

Funding to the Irish participant: c400,000

Project website: www.biomolphysics.kth.se/fluodiamon/

Dr Murphy has been involved in Framework projects since his post-graduate days, extending back to FP5, and he says that Sensl is currently involved in four Framework projects. Two of these are supported under FP7: FLUODIAMON and a second project, which is headed by a UK company called Lidar Technologies, aimed at building sensor arrays to detect air turbulence for aerospace applications.

“We don’t just get involved in these projects for the sake of it,” Dr Murphy says. “We have a company research roadmap for developing future products, so for us, it’s a way of getting research funded that’s already on our agenda.”

“It’s also a great way to expose us to markets and other partners,” he continues. “The people we are linking up with are possible future customers, and we are getting important know-how from a multi-disciplinary team.”

Advice to first time FP7 participantsDr Murphy has some straightforward advice for researchers considering the Framework Programme for this first time. “Don’t randomly chase projects because it’s not a good idea,” he warns. “Go to some of the Enterprise Ireland sponsored events, get in touch with the relevant national contact point, and use the Cordis website to identify partners.”

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesESTABLISH – European Science and Technology in Action Building Links with Industry, Schools and Home. Dissemination and use of an inquiry based approach in the teaching and learning of science and technology on a large scale across Europe.

ESTABLISH brings together a unique consortium of science education researchers and scientists, SMEs and Industry, teachers and teacher educators, students and parents, who will collaborate to bring about a change in the way science is taught in the classroom.

Project DescriptionFalling interest in key science topics has been linked to the way they are taught from the earliest age. As discussed in the recommendations of the EC Expert Group Report, Science Education Now: A Renewed Pedagogy for the future of Europe (2007), a greater emphasis needs to be placed on the development of more effective forms of pedagogy; on the development of analytical skills; and, on techniques for stimulating intrinsic motivation for learning science, taking into account various pre-conditions and cultural differences. Two European projects Pollen (FP6) and Sinus-Transfer (Germany) have already proven themselves capable of increasing children’s interest and achievements in science by promoting a change in the pedagogical approach used to teach science.

ESTABLISH will:i. facilitate and implement a change to an inquiry-based approach in the teaching and

learning of science and technology, through identifying and evaluating classroom materials and supporting teachers in making this change.

ii. foster mutually beneficial relationships between industries, research, teaching communities and the local education system, for the ongoing advancement of science and technology.

iii. stimulate learning and promote intrinsic motivation in students and identify career opportunities in science and technology, by providing authentic experiences from across research and industry.

iv. encourage sharing of experiences from across all partners to deliver model(s) of best practice for incorporation of inquiry based teaching in classrooms and in teacher education.

v. evaluate model(s) of best-practice in driving curricula and pedagogical change, including the involvement of all stakeholders from parents to policy makers.

vi. promote widespread dissemination of resources and model(s) of best practice.

The starting point for ESTABLISH is the existing second level resource “Science and Technology in Action” (www.sta.ie) which has been developed by AG Education Services in Ireland in collaboration with industry, national policy makers, in-service teachers, parents and national teacher support services. This project brings together a unique consortium of science education researchers and scientists, SMEs and Industry, teachers and teacher educators, students and parents, who will collaborate to bring about a change in the way science is taught in the classroom. The consortium brings together over 60 partners from 11 countries across Europe.www.fp7ireland.com

Dr. Eilish McLoughlin

Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Dublin City University, Ireland

Ms. Anna Gethings, Mr. Jim Salisbury, Mr. Rory Geoghegan

AG Education Services, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland

Project PartnersProject Coordinator Dublin City University (Ireland)

Ireland AG Education Services, Dublin

The Netherlands University of Amsterdam

Cyprus University of Cyprus

Sweden University of Umea

Poland Jagiellonian University

Czech Republic Charles University

Malta AcrossLimits

Slovakia Safarik University in Košice

Germany Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg

Estonia Tartu University

Italy Palermo University





Project DetailsFunding Programme: 7th Framework Programme

(FP7)

Sub-Programme: Capacities, Science in Society

Funding Scheme: Young People and Science


Total Project Value: 13,390,149

EU Grant-Aid: 13,390,149

Funding to Ireland: 1843,454

Irish Contact: Dr. Eilish McLoughlin Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland T: + 353 1 700 7862 E: [email protected]

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesPPACTE: Catching the killer

BackgroundTobacco is the single largest cause of avoidable death in the European Union, accounting for over half a million deaths annually. Here in Ireland, more than 6,000 people die from smoking-related disease every year: 95 per cent of lung cancers are caused by smoking. Moreover, regular smokers face an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and, on average, lose 10 to 15 years from their life expectancy, while pregnant women who smoke can cut off oxygen supplies to their unborn baby.

So what is the best way to control this killer? According to the World Bank, money talks: higher tobacco taxes are the single most effective way to reduce use - and consequently reduce cancer - especially for young people and others with low incomes. A price rise of 10 per cent decreases consumption by about 8 per cent in low- and middle-income countries. But do the same rules apply in the richer countries of western Europe, where disposable incomes are higher? Also, what is the effect of price on smuggling? And what strategies will the tobacco industry devise to counteract increasing prices?

These are some of the questions PPACTE aims to answer. The project, which has secured the largest award for a tobacco control project the EU has ever given, is being led by Professor Luke Clancy, Director General of the Irish Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society (RIFTFS) - a new institute set up by the government to look at all aspects of research on tobacco control.

Benefits of participating in FP7 Professor Clancy believes that the opportunity to make a difference on a European scale is the most important benefit of leading such a project through FP7. “The aim is to look at the impact of price and taxes on the effect of fiscal policy on tobacco control in Europe and to offer recommendations to Member States and to the European Commission. It concerns the most important intervention there is in tobacco control, and since Ireland has a leadership role in this area, it is a fantastic opportunity to influence EU policy for the future.”

“You need to talk to real people who have been through the process before and who are prepared to help nurture the idea and support it financially and in any other way, because great research ideas are nothing in themselves. It’s about putting the package together and making sure that it fits.”

Professor Luke ClancyDirector General of the Irish Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society (RIFTFS)





More details Acronym: PPACTE

Full title: Pricing Policies and Control of Tobacco in Europe

Contract type: Collaborative project for small or medium-scale focused research projects


Coordinator: Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society (RIFTFS), Dublin

Project Cost: c3 million

European Funding: c3 million

Funding to Irish participant: c1 million

Website: www.tri.ie

The Framework structure has also allowed RIFTFS to bring together a multidisciplinary team with some of the best health economists in the world under its leadership, including the Lyon-headquartered International Cancer Research Organisation (IARC) in France, a policy expert from the International Union Against Cancer, an economist from the US, an industry expert from the UK and a world leading econometric analyst from Finland.

“Price elasticity - the response of the market to a price rise - varies with the subject and the item,” he explains. “When you are talking about tobacco, which is an addictive product, just putting up the price doesn’t automatically mean that people stop using it. It’s a hugely complex issue to analyse, demanding a lot of skills - many of them not available in Ireland. The consortium we have put together leverages the best people from around the world in one team.”

An additional benefit for Ireland, Professor Clancy adds, is that the project will generate the fulltime equivalent of five high-level jobs here in this country, building research capacity in the area of tobacco control.

Advice to first time FP participantsThis is RIFTFS’s first time to lead or participate in a Framework project, and Professor Clancy has two key pieces of advice for other new participants in FP7.

The first is to avail of proposal development support from Enterprise Ireland. “You can read everything available on Cordis, but at the end of the day, its just reams of information,” he explains. “You need to talk to real people who have been through the process before and who are prepared to help nurture the idea and support it financially and in any other way, because great research ideas are nothing in themselves. It’s about putting the package together and making sure that it fits.”

Secondly, once the project is up and running, he recommends buying-in professional project management skills to oversee day-to-day operations, thus freeing up the co-ordinator to focus on the leadership and strategic aspects of the research.

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesPURSTEM: Helping perfect the science of healing

BackgroundStem cell therapy is seen as one of the bright lights of the future, with potential to restore lost, damaged or aging cells and tissues in the human body and revolutionise the medical treatment of a vast array of conditions, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Already, leukemia, lymphoma and several inherited blood disorders are being treated by adult stem cells harvested from bone marrow (which are also known as mesenchymal stem cells). And there are hopes that such approaches could be extended to other disease areas.

In Ireland, the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at the National University of Ireland in Galway is exploring the use of a combination of both mesenchymal stem cell and gene therapy approaches in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, arthritis and spinal cord injuries.

However, as REMEDI’s Scientific Director, Professor Frank Barry, readily acknowledges, this science is still some way from perfection, and the purity and characterisation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from large-scale production processes is an area that requires refinement.

“We need to deliver new and better tests to characterise those stem cells, because the existing tests are not really rigourous enough,” he explains. “If you deliver stem cells to a patient today, and you deliver them to another patient next year, how can you be sure they are exactly the same stem cells?” The aim of the PURSTEM research project, co-ordinated by REMEDI, is to develop a large-scale method of producing well characterised stem cells from bone marrow, so that researchers can be confident they are using standard and universal samples, and, thus, comparing like with like when carrying out therapy evaluations.

“The key element is the diversity of partners: each partner provides unique expertise that wouldn’t be possible to re-create without the consortium, our partners are people I had known previously in different parts of Europe, and I felt that it would be very good for REMEDI to develop closer relationship with these laboratories.”

Professor Frank BarryScientific Director, REMEDI





More details Acronym: PURSTEM

Full title: Utilisation Of the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Receptome for Rational Development of Uniform, Serum-Free Culture Conditions and Tools for Cell Characterisation

Contract type: Collaborative project for small or medium-scale focused research projects

Coordinator: The Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), NUIG



European funding: c2.75 million

Funding to Irish participant: c0.86 million

Website: www.ucg.ie/remedi

Benefits of participating in FP7 Professor Barry identifies the potential to raise research funds and of developing new partnerships as the two most important benefits of participating in the Framework Programme.

“The key element is the diversity of partners: each partner provides unique expertise that wouldn’t be possible to re-create without the consortium,” he says. “Our partners are people I had known previously in different parts of Europe, and I felt that it would be very good for REMEDI to develop closer relationship with these laboratories.”

He also believes that the project will play an important role in research capability building in Ireland. As well as its international partners, the PURSTEM consortium includes two Irish SMEs (Ovagen and ProCure) and the National Stem Cell Manufacturing Facility, also at NUI Galway. Its role in the project will be to develop manufacturing technology for large-scale production of well characterised stem cells for use in research and therapeutic applications.

Advice to first time FP7 participantsProfessor Barry advises researchers preparing Framework proposals to avail of a development grant from Enterprise Ireland. “That initial support to help us put the proposal together was absolutely essential,” he says. “It’s a time-consuming process, and you need to be able to call on a whole lot of people, whose time you need to compensate.”

He also recommends enlisting the help of a professional project manager with knowledge of the Framework system. “We had some very significant help from a company [called Pintail] in Dublin, which dealt with all the negotiations with Brussels. Being relatively new to the framework system, I found it very strange and puzzling, so they were very important in making it all work. All the legal paper work and contract matters went through their office – not mine. They are now one of the SME partners, their role will be to project-manage the team.”

“You really need to submit an application that’s focused on your own expertise, otherwise it shows at the review stage, so only accept invitations that parallel very strongly to your own field of knowledge,” he continues. Finally, Professor Barry stresses that, as in all areas of grant applications, persistence is important as is dealing with rejections, “because you won’t always be successful, and the next day, you need to be able to turn round and start working on it again.”

Showcasing Ireland’s success in European Research ProgrammesRN4CAST: Making optimum use of nursing manpower

BackgroundMany countries in western Europe are already seeing a decline in the number of their registered nurses, and this trend is expected to take hold in other European states in the future. At the same time, countries such as the Philippines and South Africa are suffering a haemorrhaging of nurses to work in the west, with both economic implications and an impact on their health systems.

Research coming from the United States, as far back as 2001, has indicated that factors such as hospital work environments, the qualifications of the nurse, and how manpower resources are deployed have impacts on the quality of care and safety for patients as well as nurse recruitment, productivity and retention issues such as burnout and intention to leave the nursing profession.

Yet European nursing manpower planning studies have tended to focus purely on the raw number of nurses available. RN4CAST, which will be the largest nurse workforce study ever conducted in Europe, aims to improve planning by taking other important factors into account such as those revealed in the US research.

Eleven European partners will conduct a study of 20 to 50 hospitals each, providing data on more than 350 hospitals, including surveys from over 50,000 nurses and outcomes of tens of thousands of patients. The focus will be on general hospitals, which employ the majority of nurses, account for the largest number of medical errors and eat into the largest share of national health expenditure.

Benefits of participating in FP7 Ireland’s participation in the project is being headed by Professor Anne Scott, Head of the School of Nursing at Dublin City University (DCU).

Professor Scott believes that taking part in RN4CAST will help to build capacity in nursing research in Ireland and in DCU. “Particularly at the early stage of discipline development, which nursing research is at, the Framework Programme provides an excellent opportunity to build an international network,” she explains.

“The consortium involves 10 other European partners, co-ordinated by Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. And it is co-coordinated by the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA, which is recognised as a world leader in this domain.”

“Particularly at the early stage of discipline development, which nursing research is at, the Framework Programme provides an excellent opportunity to build an international network”

Professor Anne ScottHead of the School of Nursing at Dublin City University (DCU)





More details Acronym: RN4CAST

Full title: Nurse Forecasting: Human Resource Planning in Nursing

Contract type: Collaborative project

Co-ordinator: Center for Health Services and Nursing Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium



European funding: c3 million

Funding to Irish participant: c263,600

Project website: www.rn4cast.eu

Three countries outside Europe - China, South Africa, and Botswana - are also participating, allowing factors such as nurse migration to be viewed in an international context. “We will cascade our skills into these areas as a way of ‘giving back’,” Professor Scott explains. “A national Chinese study is to run parallel with us, so this is an amazing opportunity to be closely associated with manpower resource planning for a population of one billion people.”

Participation will also empower DCU to make policy recommendations, as the project is highly focused on supporting EU-policy making. “Nurse workforce planning initiatives at national and European levels will be reviewed and newly collected data added to enhance accuracy for nurse workforce management. In Ireland, it is important that we are involved in this large study, as the results will feed into health policy; one of the direct outcomes will be a greater understanding of how to most effectively use the nursing resource we have here in this country.”

Advice to first time FP participantsThis is the School of Nursing at DCU’s first Framework research project, and Professor Scott advises other researchers looking to the Framework Programme to consider initially becoming involved as a partner, before graduating on to coordinate in subsequent FP projects. “As co-ordinator you need to be very familiar with the Framework Programme, and you need to have the support infrastructure in place,” she reasons.

She also recommends that participants know something about the research aptitude of partners they will be working with. “Ensure that you have a complimentary set of skills and that there is a track record,” she advises, “so that you can be reasonably confident that you can and will deliver, individually and as a team.”

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