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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Alliance4Life (Life Science Alliance: Closing Research and Innovation Divide in the EU)

Teaser

Summary

Alliance4Life is a bottom-up initiative of 10 leading life science institutions from nine EU-13 countries that aim at closing the divide in European health research and innovation. Members of the Alliance are progressive research institutions that have the necessary strength to stimulate institutional change.
Large-scale ESIF investments into the life science infrastructure alone could not close the R&I gap in Europe so far. Financial support needs to be complemented by measures on research and innovation strategies at institutional and national levels. Institutions gathered in this Alliance believe that improving governance and managerial practices as well as transforming institutional culture will enhance efficiency and increase return on investment.
Alliance members joined forces and share good practice through a Horizon2020 supported collaboration. The partnership focuses on raising institutional profiles to attract and retain international talent, and to provide the right operational framework conditions including improved research management. Moreover, the goal is to overcome traditional national conditions inherited from the communist era that were neglected during the political transformation in the CEE region. Alliance4Life intends to become a role model for institutions in less-performing regions and to serve as a hub of excellence through close collaboration with renowned European networks established in high performing countries. The Alliance contributes to scientific policy and shapes priorities at national and EU levels, especially with insights and suggestions on how to increase participation in the Framework Programme and on using synergies between ESIF and FP to their full potential.

Coordinator: Masaryk University (MU)
Partners: Uniwersytet LÃ³dzki (PL); University of Zagreb (HR); Tartu Ãœlikool (EE); University of Ljubljana (SI); St. Anne\'s University Hospital Brno (CZ); Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK); Vilnius University (LT); Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis (LV); Semmelweis University (HU)

Work performed

The progress made to date towards achieving project objectives is evaluated in the 1st periodic report, which details the activities undertaken within the first 12 months of the project. During this period, the Alliance4Life consortium focused on the main project aim, which is a contribution to closing the health research & innovation divide in the EU.
Following the kick-off meeting held in Brno in January, the release of the Alliance4Life official Declaration, and the successful introduction of the initiative in Brussels, the Alliance4Life productively embarked on the implementation of the work plan. The main tasks for the first year of project implementation, which were on the agenda of two community meetings held in Smolenice and Zagreb, included the assessment of research and innovation performance of Alliance4Life member institutions, benchmarking against advanced European partners and identification of institutional best practices. The aim of the benchmarking exercise was not to compete internally, but to inspire and help each other. The Assessment Report was issued and made publicly accessible on the project website. It presents the current situation in ten Alliance4Life institutions and a comparison with selected EU advanced research institutions. The Report will be used as a baseline for monitoring future progress of the Alliance4Life. The second key task was to identify, describe and share best practices as both joint and unique factors that lead to success, as well as peculiarities that need to be addressed. Adopting these best practices would increase health research excellence and innovation capacity at both the institutional and national levels. The identified best practices were compiled into another public deliverable, Inventory of Best Practice, to be integrated into the Alliance4Life strategies and to allow for their dissemination to national R&I communities and policymakers. Moreover, during the first year of the project duration, the first policy communication of Alliance4Life, a position paper on the European CommissionÂ´s proposal of Horizon Europe was released. It was disseminated among a wide range of stakeholders including the European Commission and contributed to the effort of building the Alliance with a strong profile and a reputation.

Final results

The expected impact is to demonstrate good practice on how synergies between Structural Funds and Horizon 2020 can be exploited in the health R&I domain. This shall contribute to increased Horizon 2020 participation of low performing countries. Alliance4Life is a remedial action, which builds on the pivotal role of leading research institutions in less performing countries that have already gained a lot of experience with the implementation of both ESIF and Horizon 2020/FP7. All consortium members can provide good practice on how these two key sources of funding have been used in the health R&I domain in synergy and complement each other. The practical experience with the exploitation of synergies and complementarities between ESIF and H2020 was an important criterion for forming the Alliance4Life consortium. However, most of these synergies are based on combining ESIF with CSAs (Coordination and Support Actions), such as FP7/H2020 Capacities and Widening, while participation in RIAs (Research and Innovation Actions), including Health, demographic change, and well-being societal challenge, remains very low. This situation is typical of all EU-13 countries. To use the full potential of synergies on closing disparities in health research and innovation, the crucial point is the achievement of better participation in collaborative RIAs, including partnering with innovative companies, as well as in the pillar of Excellent Science. For achieving this expected impact, one assumption is key; research institutions must raise their institutional profiles and reputations and create conditions that support talent and excellence. It is Alliance4Lifeâ€™s ambition to reach the expected impact through contributing to institutional reforms at research organizations and universities in less performing countries. It will be achieved by tackling specific barriers hindering the progress and fully exploiting enabling factors fostering the progress including those related to capacity, skills, policy, regulatory environment, and economic and socio-cultural factors. As documented by the track record of consortium members, the best practice of Alliance4Life is the major vehicle to facilitating synergic effects of FP7/H2020 and ESIF funding. Without a progressive approach in management, as well as complementary financing of investment, institutional development, and research costs, member institutions may have trouble linking up all of the factors to achieve joint strategic impact.