Finding health research partners
The many projects funded by the EU produce considerable research information of value to upcoming projects. A former EU project (LIFECOMPETENCE, 2005-2008) aimed to make the key competencies of researchers and agencies available to the EU research community, thus facilitating collaboration. With the support of EU funding, the HEALTHCOMPETENCE (Health competence in Europe) project extended the database tools developed by LIFECOMPETENCE. The new, four-member consortium worked to develop and operate a web-based system that continually collates information, including results and competencies, from Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) health projects. Such information was made available to stakeholders of other projects, to support increased academia-industry collaboration and research assessment. HEALTHCOMPETENCE ran for five years to September 2014. The resulting database incorporated information from various sources, beginning with FP7 data. PubMed and similar online sources supplied projects' results. Additional gathered information detailed both individual researchers and agencies, including publications, patents and technology offers. Individual researchers were able to update their own data as necessary. Team researchers quality checked and validated all data at multiple levels. Project outcomes constitute the most versatile, comprehensive and accurate resource of its type currently available. Apart from searches by individual or agency, additional criteria include benchmarking of thematic areas, collaboration analyses and geographic location. Certain parts of the database were made available publicly, and searchable using Google. Institutional membership was available, enabling expansion and linkage to any additional local systems. HEALTHCOMPETENCE delivered a comprehensive database resource detailing the various individual and organisational players in EU health research. The tool facilitated information gathering for collaboration and other purposes, including assessment.
Keywords
Health research, research assessment, health collaborations, health competence, health projects
