Periodic Report Summary 2 - COACH (Coordination of projects on new approaches to replace current repeated dose systemic toxicity testing of cosmetics and chemicals)
Project Context and Objectives:
COACH is a coordination and support action of the FP7 HEALTH programme that started on 1 January 2011, at the same time as six research projects, altogether forming the SEURAT-1 Research Initiative.
The main role of COACH is to:
- facilitate the cluster internal cooperation
- provide strategic guidance with the help of a Scientific Expert Panel
- prepare and distribute the SEURAT-1 Annual reports
- organise the cluster Annual meetings
- coordinate cluster level dissemination and outreach activities
COACH provides a central scientific secretariat to the SEURAT-1 Research Initiative (the ‘COACH Office’), organising the cluster level interactions and activities and being the main entry point at the cluster level for all organisations, including the funding organisations, i.e. the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe and all external organisations which are searching contact with this initiative.
Project Results:
During the second reporting period (month 19 – 36), COACH has made a significant progress in various domains. Following the recommendations from the first review and subsequently from the Scientific Expert Panel (SEP), COACH succeeded in further strengthening the cross-cluster collaboration, defining in more detail the overall cluster strategy, extending dissemination to stakeholder organisations, and collaboration with related research initiatives.
Cluster Level Coordination
The second period led the cluster to its mid term, a time to look back and evaluate the work done in the first half of the project as well as to think of the best strategy for a successfull continuation in order to reach a maximal output.
This reflexion led to a consolidation of the cluster research strategy, cross-cluster cooperation and external dissemination activities as well as in strengthening of international collaboration. COACH played a key role in this specific context.
The key achievements of the first period related to the Cluster level coordination are:
1) The SEP was extended with two new members, two of which US nationals creating therewith a further link between SEURAT-1 and related research initiatives in the US; in addition to its continuous active support in cluster level strategic issues, external SEP members are now actively contributing to the Cross cluster activities, such as the elaboration of Case studies or active support of SEURAT-1 Working groups.
2) Further to the recommendations from the SEP, COACH has elaborated an extended and more detailed strategy at cluster level aiming to disseminate the overarching SEURAT-1 messages and progress to different target groups. This dissemination strategy, including a dedicated action list is updated and evaluated during each SEP meeting.
3) The SEURAT initial theoretic vision and long term research strategy has been further elaborated in order to respond to the research practice and goals that can realistically be achieved in the first phase of SEURAT, i.e. SEURAT-1. It includes the objective to demonstrate proof-of-concept at multiple levels, each level addressed by different case studies.
4) The collaboration with related research initiatives and institutions (such as EPAA, Tox21, ToxCast, ESTIV or CAAT) in that has started during the first period has been reinforced by concrete actions allowing to increase the visibility of the cluster on the international level and support external collaboration.
Facilitating Exchanges between the Participants
At the outset of the initiative COACH set up e-collaboration tools that are still being used intensively. Besides dedicated mailing lists now also extended to the needs of the Working groups, COACH regularly updates the collaborative web platform facilitating sharing of information and news within the cluster.
The SEURAT-1 Annual Meetings are still the main opportunities for all cluster partners to meet face-to-face once per year. Whereas the third Annual Meeting organised in March 2013 was composed of various parallel sessions on different topics, the next 2014 Annual Meeting in February 2014 will mostly focus on key achievements presented by young scientists as well as cross cluster collaboration in sessions organised by the Working groups, and on the above mentioned case studies.
Cross-cluster Working Groups are successfully carrying on their role of inter-project cooperation bodies. Additionally to the six existing working groups (Gold Compounds, Data Analysis, Stem Cells, Biokinetics, Mode of Action and Safety Assessment) a new meta-analysis working group is currently being launched.
The SEURAT-1 Training Task Force, a special inter-project cooperation body addressing the training needs, has organised several conferences in the view of preparation of the next SEURAT-1 Summer school, which will take place together with the ESTIV conference in June 2014. This second training event on the cluster level complements the project level training activities held in 2013.
Information Dissemination
Information dissemination is one of the key topics during each SEP meeting. During the last work period a comprehensive document was prepared which describes dissemination at the cluster level, so called SEURAT-1 Dissemination Strategy. Further to the actions indicated in the dedicated action list, COACH implemented the following measures:
1. Along with the already existing material such as PowerPoint presentations, leaflet, posters, etc., COACH introduced a new tool in a form of a USB stick. It aims to facilitate the distribution of the Annual Reports as well as other important documents externally at various international conferences or internally whenever necessary.
2. The idea of a new USB stick was then further developed. In order to create a more visually attractive dissemination material, a new USB stick format was chosen which can carry a SEURAT-1 message and can be attached on and therewith associated to a newly designed leaflet. This new SEURAT-1 leaflet was simplified, the text volume reduced, and the content enriched with information on first key results of SEURAT-1.
3. The Annual Report vol 3 was successfully published as planned according to the new planning established in the first 18 months reporting and printed in 1500 copies. This third release was launched during the SEURAT-1 & EPAA Stakeholders Event on 5 September 2013 in Brussels, 700 copies were then posted to individuals via the well-established SEURAT-1 mail list, and the rest was or will be shipped to international conferences. A new action, in a form of a questionnaire, has been taken in order to evaluate the impact of this book on the readers belonging to different target groups.
4. The Questionnaire aiming to evaluate the impact of the Annual Reports has been published on the SEURAT-1 website 3 months after the book distribution. Those who received at least one of the three volumes have been asked to fill the questionnaire in, giving us around 60 responses in total during the 4 weeks period the questionnaire was open. See the WP 4 progress report for more details.
5. The SEURAT-1 public website (www.seurat-1.eu) has been updated further to the newest developments within SEURAT-1, the sections such as News, Bibliography, Publications and Job Offer are also being updated in a regular manner.
Potential Impact:
The positive feedback received on the Annual Reports (as seen from the questionnaire and from direct feedback received in the book distribution) confirmed that COACH should continue with its publication as key vehicle to further promote the SEURAT-1 Research initiative and disseminate its results. Disseminating the SEURAT-1 key messages and results to relevant target groups by various communication means as defined in the Dissemination Strategy is a key goal of COACH.
COACH will continue to support the cluster towards the achievement of the SEURAT long term goals. The partners and stakeholders of this research initiative consider that SEURAT-1 is only the first step in a long research effort required to develop alternative solutions for human safety assessment in view to replace animal testing approaches. The SEURAT-1 Research Initiative has reached the midway through its five-years duration and the partners and stakeholders are thinking about how to organise the next phases of this term research work.
COACH will support the cluster to achieve the overarching aim of SEURAT-1: To deliver a proof-of-concept to show how the developed scientific tools and know-how can be combined to deliver decision support systems for safety assessment. This will provide the blueprint for expanding the applicability domains in a second project phase.
The third period will also address the further development of the achievements made in the second period, i.e. the efficient operation of the Working Groups, the preparation of the next training activities, and the collaboration with related international research initiatives and organisations.
List of Websites:
www.seurat-1.eu
COACH is a coordination and support action of the FP7 HEALTH programme that started on 1 January 2011, at the same time as six research projects, altogether forming the SEURAT-1 Research Initiative.
The main role of COACH is to:
- facilitate the cluster internal cooperation
- provide strategic guidance with the help of a Scientific Expert Panel
- prepare and distribute the SEURAT-1 Annual reports
- organise the cluster Annual meetings
- coordinate cluster level dissemination and outreach activities
COACH provides a central scientific secretariat to the SEURAT-1 Research Initiative (the ‘COACH Office’), organising the cluster level interactions and activities and being the main entry point at the cluster level for all organisations, including the funding organisations, i.e. the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe and all external organisations which are searching contact with this initiative.
Project Results:
During the second reporting period (month 19 – 36), COACH has made a significant progress in various domains. Following the recommendations from the first review and subsequently from the Scientific Expert Panel (SEP), COACH succeeded in further strengthening the cross-cluster collaboration, defining in more detail the overall cluster strategy, extending dissemination to stakeholder organisations, and collaboration with related research initiatives.
Cluster Level Coordination
The second period led the cluster to its mid term, a time to look back and evaluate the work done in the first half of the project as well as to think of the best strategy for a successfull continuation in order to reach a maximal output.
This reflexion led to a consolidation of the cluster research strategy, cross-cluster cooperation and external dissemination activities as well as in strengthening of international collaboration. COACH played a key role in this specific context.
The key achievements of the first period related to the Cluster level coordination are:
1) The SEP was extended with two new members, two of which US nationals creating therewith a further link between SEURAT-1 and related research initiatives in the US; in addition to its continuous active support in cluster level strategic issues, external SEP members are now actively contributing to the Cross cluster activities, such as the elaboration of Case studies or active support of SEURAT-1 Working groups.
2) Further to the recommendations from the SEP, COACH has elaborated an extended and more detailed strategy at cluster level aiming to disseminate the overarching SEURAT-1 messages and progress to different target groups. This dissemination strategy, including a dedicated action list is updated and evaluated during each SEP meeting.
3) The SEURAT initial theoretic vision and long term research strategy has been further elaborated in order to respond to the research practice and goals that can realistically be achieved in the first phase of SEURAT, i.e. SEURAT-1. It includes the objective to demonstrate proof-of-concept at multiple levels, each level addressed by different case studies.
4) The collaboration with related research initiatives and institutions (such as EPAA, Tox21, ToxCast, ESTIV or CAAT) in that has started during the first period has been reinforced by concrete actions allowing to increase the visibility of the cluster on the international level and support external collaboration.
Facilitating Exchanges between the Participants
At the outset of the initiative COACH set up e-collaboration tools that are still being used intensively. Besides dedicated mailing lists now also extended to the needs of the Working groups, COACH regularly updates the collaborative web platform facilitating sharing of information and news within the cluster.
The SEURAT-1 Annual Meetings are still the main opportunities for all cluster partners to meet face-to-face once per year. Whereas the third Annual Meeting organised in March 2013 was composed of various parallel sessions on different topics, the next 2014 Annual Meeting in February 2014 will mostly focus on key achievements presented by young scientists as well as cross cluster collaboration in sessions organised by the Working groups, and on the above mentioned case studies.
Cross-cluster Working Groups are successfully carrying on their role of inter-project cooperation bodies. Additionally to the six existing working groups (Gold Compounds, Data Analysis, Stem Cells, Biokinetics, Mode of Action and Safety Assessment) a new meta-analysis working group is currently being launched.
The SEURAT-1 Training Task Force, a special inter-project cooperation body addressing the training needs, has organised several conferences in the view of preparation of the next SEURAT-1 Summer school, which will take place together with the ESTIV conference in June 2014. This second training event on the cluster level complements the project level training activities held in 2013.
Information Dissemination
Information dissemination is one of the key topics during each SEP meeting. During the last work period a comprehensive document was prepared which describes dissemination at the cluster level, so called SEURAT-1 Dissemination Strategy. Further to the actions indicated in the dedicated action list, COACH implemented the following measures:
1. Along with the already existing material such as PowerPoint presentations, leaflet, posters, etc., COACH introduced a new tool in a form of a USB stick. It aims to facilitate the distribution of the Annual Reports as well as other important documents externally at various international conferences or internally whenever necessary.
2. The idea of a new USB stick was then further developed. In order to create a more visually attractive dissemination material, a new USB stick format was chosen which can carry a SEURAT-1 message and can be attached on and therewith associated to a newly designed leaflet. This new SEURAT-1 leaflet was simplified, the text volume reduced, and the content enriched with information on first key results of SEURAT-1.
3. The Annual Report vol 3 was successfully published as planned according to the new planning established in the first 18 months reporting and printed in 1500 copies. This third release was launched during the SEURAT-1 & EPAA Stakeholders Event on 5 September 2013 in Brussels, 700 copies were then posted to individuals via the well-established SEURAT-1 mail list, and the rest was or will be shipped to international conferences. A new action, in a form of a questionnaire, has been taken in order to evaluate the impact of this book on the readers belonging to different target groups.
4. The Questionnaire aiming to evaluate the impact of the Annual Reports has been published on the SEURAT-1 website 3 months after the book distribution. Those who received at least one of the three volumes have been asked to fill the questionnaire in, giving us around 60 responses in total during the 4 weeks period the questionnaire was open. See the WP 4 progress report for more details.
5. The SEURAT-1 public website (www.seurat-1.eu) has been updated further to the newest developments within SEURAT-1, the sections such as News, Bibliography, Publications and Job Offer are also being updated in a regular manner.
Potential Impact:
The positive feedback received on the Annual Reports (as seen from the questionnaire and from direct feedback received in the book distribution) confirmed that COACH should continue with its publication as key vehicle to further promote the SEURAT-1 Research initiative and disseminate its results. Disseminating the SEURAT-1 key messages and results to relevant target groups by various communication means as defined in the Dissemination Strategy is a key goal of COACH.
COACH will continue to support the cluster towards the achievement of the SEURAT long term goals. The partners and stakeholders of this research initiative consider that SEURAT-1 is only the first step in a long research effort required to develop alternative solutions for human safety assessment in view to replace animal testing approaches. The SEURAT-1 Research Initiative has reached the midway through its five-years duration and the partners and stakeholders are thinking about how to organise the next phases of this term research work.
COACH will support the cluster to achieve the overarching aim of SEURAT-1: To deliver a proof-of-concept to show how the developed scientific tools and know-how can be combined to deliver decision support systems for safety assessment. This will provide the blueprint for expanding the applicability domains in a second project phase.
The third period will also address the further development of the achievements made in the second period, i.e. the efficient operation of the Working Groups, the preparation of the next training activities, and the collaboration with related international research initiatives and organisations.
List of Websites:
www.seurat-1.eu
Related information
Contact
Record Number: 149986 /
Last updated on: 2014-11-28
Information source:
SESAM
