European-funded Projects Research Articles

Exploration of research projects on personalised prevention supported by the European Commission

Abstract The interaction between environmental exposures, lifestyle factors, and genetic predisposition affect individual susceptibility to chronic diseases. Personalised Prevention (PP) has emerged in the recent years as potential approach to integrate traditional public health approaches in prevention. The implementation of PP into national health systems so far has not realized its full potential due to a number of obstacles including scanty evidence from research. Within the project “PROPHET: A Map for Personalised Prevention in the Future of Healthcare”, we conducted an extensive mapping of currently active research projects in the field of PP. We carried out a scoping review according to Arksey and O’Malley methodology, followed by consultations with experts in personalised medicine and prevention. We included 45 ongoing research projects on PP, of which 57.8% were funded by Horizon Europe, 35.5% by Horizon 2020, and 6.7% by Eu4Health. Regarding disease types, 40% of the projects were about cancer, 20% on cardiovascular and 20% on neurological and psychiatric diseases, followed by metabolic diseases and other chronic conditions. Overall, the EC allocated approximately €160 million to cancer personalised prevention projects, roughly double of the funding dedicated to cardiovascular, neurological and psychiatric diseases. The emphasis on cancer projects is noteworthy, with Horizon Europe emerging as the main funding programme aligned with the ongoing Cancer Mission. Regardless of the disease, most of the projects addressed primary and secondary personalised prevention research. This is in line with the limited approaches in PP in the setting of primary and secondary personalised prevention (e.g., genetic testing to identify high risk subjects for breast cancer) compared to tertiary prevention (e.g., pharmacogenomics). This comprehensive mapping underlines the EU’s continued commitment to promoting PP, which is fundamental to the future of healthcare. Key messages • The EC prioritises significant financial resources towards cancer personalised prevention research projects, highlighting Cancer Mission as a focal initiative in the personalised prevention field. • European-funded projects focus on primary and secondary personalised prevention strategies. This suggest that we currently miss evidence in these areas.

ENLIGHT (European Network for Light Ion Hadron Therapy) and its role in Hadron therapy

PurposeThis study provides a comprehensive overview of the progress in hadron therapy within Europe, particularly highlighting the critical roles of the Proton Ion Medical Machine Study (PIMMS) and the European Network for Light Ion Hadron Therapy (ENLIGHT).MethodsOur approach includes a retrospective analysis of the advances in hadron therapy facilities, facilitated by a synthesis of interdisciplinary collaboration data gathered from ENLIGHT's annual meetings since 2002, and an assessment of European-funded projects and networks' contributions to the field.ResultsThe results showcase significant advancements in cancer treatment due to collective efforts in hadron therapy, underscored by ENLIGHT’s pivotal role in fostering interdisciplinary cooperation and the harmonization of treatment protocols across Europe.ConclusionThe evolution of hadron therapy, from its inception to its current impact on patient care, demonstrates the successful realization of complex medical technologies through sustained collaboration and standardized practices across European institutions and projects.

Religious Diversity and Cultural Transmission in Pre-modern Europe

Over the past several decades, historians of Medieval Europe have worked to show the complexity and diversity of Europe’s religious, linguistic and cultural landscape. Medieval Europe was neither a multicultural paradise nor an ethnically pure enclave. Archaeology, ethnolinguistics, literary studies and textual studies all show the constant movement of populations into and across Europe, from earliest antiquity until today. I have participated in two European-funded projects that explore different aspects of that religious and cultural diversity. From 2010 to 2015, I directed an ERC advanced grant entitled ‘RELMIN: The legal status of religious minorities in the Euro-Mediterranean world (5th–15th centuries)’. Since 2019, I am one of the four directors of an ERC synergy grant, ‘The European Qur’ān,’ which explores the place of the Qur’ān in European culture between the twelfth and early nineteenth centuries. This article presents these two European research programmes and their implications for understanding the history of Europe’s religious diversity.

Energy Efficiency in Urban Context: An Overview of European-Funded Projects with the Analysis of an ELENA Case Study

According to the European Union, buildings are responsible for around 40% of CO2 emissions in the EU area. For this reason, the new regulatory framework Clean Energy for All European Package (2019) supports policies to reduce emissions by increasing energy efficiency in buildings. This is the prosecution of a long-standing policy, which in the past has mainly influenced public authorities, but also aggregations of private bodies and the realization (or renovation) of large strategic investments that impacted and changed the fruition of buildings and relevant infrastructures. The paper aims to offer an overview of the European funds dedicated to the Energy Efficiency initiatives in the past few years, distinguishing funds for financing the project itself and funds for the financing of technical assistance. The overview introduces the analysis of a case study related to technical assistance projects in the Energy Efficiency field, i.e., the European Local Energy assistance (ELENA) Fund; findings connected to the case studies are the main contribution of this paper. The analysis helps to interpret the performance of the funds and to detect the gap between the financing procedures and the subsequent operational implementation of the projects. The case study highlighted critical aspects regarding the potential mismatch between the purpose of the fund and operational barriers in the realization of the initiatives. Such evidence can contribute to helping policy makers redesign and correct funding schemes and, moreover, in evaluating them with a complete information set.

Challenges in the implementation of responsible research and innovation across Horizon 2020

ABSTRACT In the last decade, the European Commission (EC) developed an ambitious strategy to promote RRI across the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (H2020). This effort resulted in a significant number of European-funded projects that substantially expanded the available knowledge of the theory, methods and implementation of RRI. However, various evaluations and studies revealed a limited and diffuse implementation of the concept. In this article, we aim to shed some light on this matter with a study covering eight programme lines of H2020 (ERC, MSCA, LEIT, FOOD, ENV, SEC, WIDENING and EURATOM). We employ an extensive policy document analysis and 112 semi-structured interviews carried out with various stakeholders. We argue that the limited implementation of RRI in H2020 is the result of conflicts with existing values, science cultures, economic objectives, restricted resources for its implementation and a lack of clarification around what RRI means.

Motivation for people living with dementia to engage in research advisory boards

The importance of Public Involvement (PI) is increasingly being recognized in the field of dementia research. In 2012, Alzheimer Europe set up the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) which provides advice and input for all activities of the organization including several large European-funded research projects. The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) created a research advisory patient board in 2020 with the intention of supporting the board in strategic research decisions. Both groups are composed of people with dementia and act independently. With the aim of finding out whether PI in research is mutually rewarding and beneficial, members of both groups were asked about their motivation to be involved in PI research activities and the value this had for them. This was collected either through narrative interviews or during meetings. People with dementia described several reasons for being involved in PI activities in dementia research.

Designing Collaborative Energy Communities: A European Overview

Renewable energy has a crucial role in facing climate change. One promising strategy is the creation of energy communities that require active involvement from a bottom-up perspective. Their implementation is difficult, as they currently rely on local policies, community readiness, and technological availability. The objective of this paper is to provide a qualitative overview of energy community concepts and strategies at the European level. The aim is to identify common approaches that are framing the development of energy communities, and to understand the most successful steps leading to their creation and growth. To achieve this objective, a threefold methodology is provided: (1) an updated review on policies dealing with energy communities at the European and Italian level; (2) a qualitative overview of European-funded projects under the Horizon 2020 work program; and (3) a qualitative overview of some of the most successful existing energy communities in Europe. The results outline a series of considerations and lessons learned that are useful for implementing this transition pathway in a real case, which is also presented in the paper. The conclusions will identify some future directions of this research, particularly in relation to the results coming from the implementation of actions in the real case.

A look at European practices for identifying mineral resources that deserve to be safeguarded in land-use planning

Safeguarding the access to mineral resources in land-use planning plays a crucial role in securing their supply to society. Despite the existing literature about minerals and land-use policy integration, a major question remains: to which mineral resources must the access be guaranteed?Based on the findings of two recent European-funded projects (Minatura2020 and Minland), this paper compares multi-criteria assessment methodologies that are in use or are intended to be used in Austria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden for the identification of mineral resources that deserve to be safeguarded in land-use planning.Results show that these methodologies are applicable to all types of mineral deposits and make use of an extensive set of parameters for their assessment, which are grouped into the following criteria: geological, economic, environmental, social, and land-use conflict issues. One of the methodologies takes into consideration potential areas with serious promises for the occurrence of valuable minerals, the remaining only dealing with well-documented resources. When applied, the methodologies prove to be effective in safeguarding the access to important mineral deposits, even if not to all of them, or at least to draw attention to their existence.Despite the different levels of implementation and effectiveness, a main common achievement was a transition from point-based spatial datasets of mineral resources to polygon-based datasets. This considerably increased the awareness of the land-use planning authorities about the importance of mineral resources and facilitated the integration of mineral data into land-use planning maps.

EU-Funded Projects with Actual Implementation of Renewable Energies in Cities. Analysis of Their Concern for Aesthetic Impact

Social acceptance and aesthetic impact of renewable energy (RE) in cities are topics scarcely considered in the literature even though they have attracted growing interest. Innovative European-funded projects, therefore, should start to consider these concepts. This paper provides an innovative review of European projects with the aim of identifying those with actual implementation of RE and energy storage systems in urban environments and their concern for aesthetic impact. The search considered the five most relevant programs related to RE and climate change mitigation, including almost 14,000 projects. Furthermore, a survey and some interviews allowed to collect data about the selected projects. 0.1% of reviewed projects aimed at the actual installation of RE on an urban scale. However, there is a recent growing trend. The most used RE was solar, especially photovoltaic, while the most common system for energy storage was lithium batteries. We can affirm that these European projects do not currently show any particular concern for the aesthetic impact they cause in cities, nor for the social perception assessment. It would be advisable to consider technologies as products and basic components of work and daily life, and not only as a means of intervention to promote RE.

Attracting European Funds in the Romanian Economy and Leverage Points for Securing their Sustainable Management: A Critical Auditing Analysis

Against the backdrop of Romania’s successive negative performance in attracting European funds (coming last in the EU top), as indicated by audit reports for projects that have been funded so far, this paper proposes a new approach in relation to analysis and performance improvement in securing EU funds, while identifying viable solutions for the betterment of the current situation. Furthermore, the authors develop a new audit performance analysis model (NOP), described as a dynamic and flexible model, based on reducing the fraud and error risk in the structural fund management of European-funded projects. The analysis methods encompass literature reviews, observational studies, database management, statistical analysis, and the synthesis of the whole findings. The main conclusion of the analysis is the critical necessity of integrity improvement in the context of managing the non-reimbursable funds through audit activities based on ISA805, the international standard on auditing European-funded projects.

Stakeholder participation in nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness and recovery in Spain: benefits and challenges of working together

Emergency preparedness and response (EP&R) to radiological or nuclear accidents depends on many different stakeholder groups: nuclear and radiological regulators and authorities; institutions and ministries concerned by health, environment and consumption; first-line responders including the police, military, firefighters and health workers; as well as local authorities and nuclear industries. Stakeholders also include the general public, such as people living near NPPs or affected by previous nuclear or radiological accidents and incidents. Teachers and journalists, bloggers and other social media figures would play a key role in effective dissemination of knowledge and information. NGOs or civil associations/societies can also be involved in radiation monitoring and protection. The present study describes the role of different research institutions (such as CIEMAT, UPM and ISGlobal) and of the Spanish Society of Radiological Protection (SEPR) in bringing together the above-listed stakeholders in Spain to discuss EP&R and identify benefits and challenges of working together. Stakeholder opinions on EP&R, collected mainly in the framework of several European-funded projects, are provided. Remaining barriers and examples of good practices in radiation protection are discussed, as well as recommendations for improving nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness in Spain. The conclusions may be useful for other countries.

Distance Learning in the Musical Field in Romania through European-Funded Projects

<p class="Abstract">The organization of Romanian distance learning in music has been supported in terms of research, collaboration and financing by European projects, with the following achievements: training of teaching staff involved in distance learning, assistance in activities meant to introduce ICT in general schools, construction of a platform dedicated to distance learning activities, creating a database with instrumental accompaniments for singers, designing multimedia courses, assessing distance learning programs offered by the Academy of Music Gheorghe Dima in Cluj-Napoca.</p><p class="Abstract">The Prelude Training Programme on ICT in Music Education – a project aimed at developing a training programme for in-service music educators, as there are many ways in which technology helps educators meet instructional goals: Programs designed to help students develop their musicianship or improve their knowledge of notation and skill in reading notation, support with improvisation skills, notation and sequencing programs which assist students in composition activities.</p><p class="Abstract">Vemus - Virtual European Music Schools - a programme which focuses on teaching music notation or performing instruments, involving execution of rhythm patterns, melody, music scores; E-vocal learning, with simultaneous appearance of sound and notation, conducted by famous musicians. DIMA - Direct Impact of Multimedia Application - a platform that comprises courses, audio and video examples focusing on music history, performing and listening activities.</p><p class="Abstract">The partners proceed from various areas (higher education, innovation/development centers), and the projects were conceived to stimulate the implementation of ICT in the educational process in music, approaching teaching staff as a target group, and students as an interested party.</p>The need for such products was revealed by interviews and questionnaires and the results’ evaluation proved that the online environment can be accessed in order to develop educational resources, enrich lesson content, motivate and engage children in music education, deliver information and learning opportunities, stimulate children in their musical endeavors.

Unmanned Ground and Aerial Robots Supporting Mine Action Activities

During the Humanitarian-demining actions, teleoperation of sensors or multi-sensor heads can enhance-detection process by allowing more precise scanning, which is use-ful for the optimization of the signal processing algorithms. This chapter summarizes the technologies and experiences developed during 16 years through national and/or European-funded projects, illustrated by some contributions of our own laboratory, located at the Royal Military Academy of Brussels, focusing on the detection of unex-ploded devices and the implementation of mobile robotics systems on minefields.

"Real-time recommendations in a multi-domain environment" by Emanuel Lacic with Prateek Jain as coordinator

Emanuel Lacić is a Software Engineer and Scientific Researcher in the Social Computing division at the Know-Center. Additionally, he is a PhD student at the Interactive Systems & Data Science Institute of Graz University of Technology. He has a M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Software Engineering and Information Systems from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb. His PhD focus is on real-time recommender systems in large-scale settings. Apart from that, his research is utilized in several industry and European-funded projects such as Learning Layers, AFEL or MoreGrasp. His main research interests are in the fields of Recommender Systems, Deep Learning, Information Retrieval, Big Data, as well as Social and Complex Network Analysis. For more information please see https://lacic.github.io/

Is there enough research output of EU projects available to assess and improve health system performance? An attempt to understand and categorise the output of EU projects conducted between 2002 and 2012

BackgroundAdequate performance assessment benefits from the use of disaggregated data to allow a proper evaluation of health systems. Since routinely collected data are usually not disaggregated enough to allow stratified analyses of healthcare needs, utilisation, cost and quality across different sectors, international research projects could fill this gap by exploring means to data collection or even providing individual-level data. The aim of this paper is therefore to (1) study the availability and accessibility of relevant European-funded health projects, and (2) to analyse their contents and methodologies.MethodsThe European Commission Public Health Projects Database and CORDIS were searched for eligible projects, which were then analysed by information openly available online.ResultsOverall, only a few of the 39 identified projects produced data useful for proper performance assessment, due to, for example, lacking available or accessible data, or poor linkage of health status to costs and patient experiences. Other problems were insufficient databases to identify projects and poor communication of project contents and results.ConclusionsA new approach is necessary to improve accessibility to and coverage of data on outcomes, quality and costs of health systems enabling decision-makers and health professionals to properly assess performance.

Large Scale European Projects for Neutrons and Muons: NMI3 and SINE2020

European-funded projects have facilitated a high level of integration between facilities and the user community. While these projects have funded European, neutron and muon sources and associated a...

Food Sustainable Model Development: An ANP Approach to Prioritize Sustainable Factors in the Romanian Natural Soft Drinks Industry Context

The latest developments in natural soft drinks in the Romanian market signal significant changes in consumers’ perceptions of the sustainability concept. While the necessity of preserving natural resources and ensuring a decent level of healthiness seem to be steadily embraced by the Romanian society, the lack of long enough time series to acknowledge this shift render impossible a traditional econometric validation of these recent trends in economic thinking. The large number of European-funded projects for upgrading technology in the Romanian sector of natural soft drinks raises the question whether the learning by doing effect dispersed into the Romanian managers’ investment decision making from the perspective of both economic and food sustainability. This paper presents the construction and the evaluation of an Analytical Network Process (ANP) market share model, which emerged from extended in-depth interviews with 10 managers of the main Romanian natural soft drinks producers. This model differs from traditional market share ANP ones since concepts like either food of economic sustainability were considered as significant driving factors. The coincidence between the estimated market share and the actual one, expressed by Saaty’s compatibility index, validate this model and offer comparative numerical weights’ of importance for food or economic sustainability.

What is the Nature of the Relationship between Changes in European Higher Education and Social Science Research on Higher Education and (Why) Does It Matter?

The paper examines the relationship between changes in European higher education and social science research on this theme and why it matters. Higher Education (HE) research is a new field significantly assisted by European funding, the Bologna process and the massification of HE. The field is populated by many emerging researchers but few established academics. The paper examines the sub-field’s characteristics including lack of theoretical/methodological consensus, co-production of the knowledge base and the differing micro and contextual backgrounds of emerging European HE researchers (drawing on a recent study). It considers three recent major European-funded HE research projects as examples of co-production, specifically looking at the kinds of knowledge produced and the strategies adopted to ensure that research outcomes permeate the policy process. It is suggested that the sub-field needs to develop a better infrastructure to support emerging researchers, but care needs to be taken not to impair their independence from European bureaucrats.

Mercury analysis in hair: Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an effective tool for assessing actual exposure to chemicals that takes into account all routes of intake. Although hair analysis is considered to be an optimal biomarker for assessing mercury exposure, the lack of harmonization as regards sampling and analytical procedures has often limited the comparison of data at national and international level. The European-funded projects COPHES and DEMOCOPHES developed and tested a harmonized European approach to Human Biomonitoring in response to the European Environment and Health Action Plan.Herein we describe the quality assurance program (QAP) for assessing mercury levels in hair samples from more than 1800 mother–child pairs recruited in 17 European countries. To ensure the comparability of the results, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sampling and for mercury analysis were drafted and distributed to participating laboratories. Training sessions were organized for field workers and four external quality-assessment exercises (ICI/EQUAS), followed by the corresponding web conferences, were organized between March 2011 and February 2012. ICI/EQUAS used native hair samples at two mercury concentration ranges (0.20–0.71 and 0.80–1.63) per exercise. The results revealed relative standard deviations of 7.87–13.55% and 4.04–11.31% for the low and high mercury concentration ranges, respectively. A total of 16 out of 18 participating laboratories the QAP requirements and were allowed to analyze samples from the DEMOCOPHES pilot study. Web conferences after each ICI/EQUAS revealed this to be a new and effective tool for improving analytical performance and increasing capacity building. The procedure developed and tested in COPHES/DEMOCOPHES would be optimal for application on a global scale as regards implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

COSO Principles and European Social Fund Funded Projects in Romania

European Social Fund (ESF), being one of the oldest Structural Instruments of the European Union (EU) has to be implemented through projects, by public and private entities allover EU, according to the principle of “sound financial management”. But, are the Romanian ESF financed projects ready to comply to the “sound financial management” principle? The answer at this question may be delivered by a descriptive research on COSO's principles in ESF implementation context, followed by an explorative research on beneficiaries’ perception about how COSO's principles are implemented in their projects. The conclusions lead to a number of easy-recognizable and applied principles but also to some less applied principles, generating risks in ESF projects and in ESF implementation as a whole.