Collaboration and mobility in biomedical research: role of the European Medical Research Councils.

Abstract

COLLABORATION AND MOBILITY IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCILS HENRY DANIELSSON* The European Medical Research Councils (EMRC) were formed in 1971 to constitute a forum for exchange of information among medical research councils and corresponding bodies in Western Europe concerning research policies and research activities. From the start, NIH has taken part in EMRC meetings and activities. Technically, since EMRC is a European organization, NIH has the status of observer. Today, most countries in Western Europe are represented in EMRC. In 1974, the European Science Foundation (ESF) was formed. The members of ESF are research councils and corresponding organizations as well as academies in Western Europe. The main aim of ESF is to promote European collaboration in sciences, but ESF keeps in contact with organizations outside of Western Europe, not only with organizations in the United States. The ESF works, among other things, through standing committees in various disciplines. In 1975, EMRC became the standing committee for medical research. The EMRC is empowered by its statutes to take appropriate initiatives to stimulate international collaboration in medical research. To this end, various working groups, subgroups, or advisory groups have been set up. In principle, these groups have limited mandate periods. The activities of the groups as well as the question of continued mandate are regularly reviewed by EMRC. Over the years, groups have been disbanded , and new groups have been formed. At present, there are groups dealing with human reproduction, mental illness research, technology assessment, and toxicology. The research areas of these groups reflect the policies of EMRC concerning initiatives to further interna- *Professor, Secretary General, Swedish Medical Research Council, Box 6713, S-1 13 85 Stockholm, Sweden.© 1986 by The University of Chicago. AU rights reserved. 0031-5982/86/2932/$01.00 Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 29, 3, Part 2 · Spring 1986 \ S47 donai collaboration. Medical research is highly international in itself. The results of medical research are mostly published in international journals with worldwide circulation. They are presented and discussed at international workshops, symposia, and congresses. There are a vast number of international associations in practically all disciplines and in many research areas within medicine that regularly arrange congresses, workshops, and training courses. A very important aspect of international collaboration in medical research is the collaboration on specific research projects among researchers or research groups in different countries. Such collaboration is in most cases initiated by the researchers themselves. The volume of this collaboration is not known but is certainly large. It is funded as part of research grants to the individual researchers or research groups from the national research councils. Thus, it is primarily the responsibility of national research councils to provide the necessary means for this type of international collaboration. In my opinion, international organizations have a limited role to play in these cases. I would like to give an example that may illustrate this point. In Scandinavia, there is a Nordic Council with the responsibility to further collaboration between the Nordic countries in every respect, including research. At a meeting of the Nordic prime ministers a few years ago, it was stated that research cooperation between the Nordic countries was too limited and that a fund should be established that would give grants to collaborative projects . It was, ofcourse, not stated, but the fund would in all probability be created by taking resources from the national research councils. With the proposed structure, a primary criterion for obtaining grants from the fund would be that the projects were inter-Nordic. I am afraid that scientific quality would come second. Within the Nordic medical research councils, which were opposed to the proposal, a study was conducted by asking the researchers supported by the councils if they had collaborative projects with researchers in another Scandinavian country. It turned out that there were several hundred projects in which such collaboration was going on. In many instances, the councils were not really aware that such collaboration was going on. Whether the Nordic medical research councils played a role or not for the final decision, I do not know. At any rate, it was decided not to create a special Nordic fund for collaborative research in Scandinavia...