Communities on Food Consumer Science

Project Information

COMFOCUS

Grant agreement ID: 101005259

DOI

10.3030/101005259

Project closed

EC signature date 16 March 2021

Start date 1 March 2021

End date 28 February 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Research Infrastructures

Total cost

€ 4 997 142,31

EU contribution

€ 4 997 142,31

Coordinated by

STICHTING WAGENINGEN RESEARCH
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - COMFOCUS (Communities on Food Consumer Science)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The mission of COMFOCUS was to advance the FCS field beyond its current level of fragmentation, that is preventing it from being the data-rich science that it could be in support of European healthy food choices, public policies and private strategies. The strategic objective of COMFOCUS was to bring together, integrate and open up key European research infrastructures in the interdisciplinary field of FCS to all European researchers (from both academia and industry) to promote their optimal use and joint development. The result is a library of meta data and digital service tools, accessible on the COMFOCUS Knowledge Platform. This platform serves as an accessible focal point for European researchers and will comply with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Inter-operable & Re-usable) and RRI (Responsible Research & Innovation) principles.
To contribute to the mission and to reach the objective, COMFOCUS implemented a coordinated set of activities on (see also Figure 1):
1) Networking activities – these allowed better use of the existing research infrastructures and strengthen collaboration across FCS groups, disciplines and borders by close interactions with academic and industry users and technology developers.
2) Joint research activities – these activities developed harmonised protocols and research approaches on self-reported data and emerging technologies in the FCS field, as well as defining, structuring, linking and integrating data.
3) Virtual and Transnational Access (VA/TNA) – these activities, in the form of Open Calls, introduced (early career) researchers to a “new way of working” and provided them the opportunity to build and expand their network and to have access to other research groups and facilities, while they also contributed data as ‘proofs of principle’ to further build the COMFOCUS Knowledge platform. Researchers got access to 10 different key European infrastructures (including an Easy Questionnaire Tool, reconstructed/virtual reality, eye tracking, heart rate, galvanic skin response, electro encephalography and face reader). Promotion and dissemination of COMFOCUS outcomes and VA/TNA was supported by the Stakeholder Forum and International Advisory Board.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Below is a summary of the work that has been performed in the third reporting period.
• One annual consortium meeting was organised in M48 in Wageningen (Netherlands).
• External advisory boards, International Advisory Board and Stakeholder Forum were organised regularly for advice and feedback.
• The COMFOCUS Knowledge Platform is made available on the COMFOCUS website , see www.comfocus.eu/knowledge-platform. The platform consists out of three components: (1) COMFOCUS Toolbox, (2) COMFOCUS Library, and (3) COMFOCUS Discussion Platform (WP2).
• Participating events, workshops and public engagement events were organised across Europe to share best practices, opportunities, ethical and societal dimensions of COMFOCUS (WP2).
• 64 applicants (‘COMFOCUS fellows’) have visited one of the nine research infrastructures opened for Transnational Access (WP10-WP18). These fellows were guided by their own TNA lead but also in contact with other fellows and consortium partners through the organised Academic trainings, bi-monthly seminar series and the COMFOCUS Discussion platform (WP2, WP3, WP9-WP18).
• Open Call 2 fellows could make use of the facilities offered at Open Call 1 (WP9).
• Harmonised of measures related to consumers as agents in the food system have been published. There is an intention to publish an open Access book by the end of 2025 (WP4)(outside of the project duration).
• COMFOCUS ontology is developed and covers the concepts depicted by the logical framework. This ontology is developed to allow interoperability with other ontologies. It was reviewed by experts in the Food Consumer Domain (WP5) and also by ontology experts from the data science domain.
• Harmonisation on protocols and standards for measuring psychophysiological measures and reconstructed and virtual environments are published. Also protocols for text mining,, longitudinal data, integrating and analysing multi-modal psychophysiological data have been delivered (WP6).
• The COMFOCUS knowledge graph was developed and different tools, such as Harmonised dataset search and protocol search tool are available in the COMFOCUS Toolbox (WP2, WP7).
• Stakeholders and members of the public have been engaged in discussions throughout the research process to increase awareness of societal needs and values related to COMFOCUS. Guidelines, in line with the principles of RRI, were developed for the practical governance of COMFOCUS (WP8).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

COMFOCUS aimed to take steps towards a new way of conducting research, in which added value is achieved through better collaboration between scientists and building on each other's infrastructure, expertise and data. A clearer picture has emerged of where the consumer science community stands, and meaningful progress has been made in integrating research infrastructure at three levels:
1) Integrating research institutions: COMFOCUS has fostered collaboration among the consortium institutions. Sixty-seven early career researchers were offered access to research facilities. A team of FCS experts, within COMFOCUS, has been involved in harmonising measures and protocols. This provided a solid basis to “live” and “vibrate” the new way of working that COMFOCUS advocates and contributed to a “level playing field” among European FCS researchers.
2) Integrating (early career) researchers in the field: Building a community of ‘COMFOCUS fellows’. A new network was established by providing them access to the research infrastructures. This initiative has created a more level playing field among European FCS researchers, enabling them to expand their education and research methodology. Various dissemination and training activities have been organised to facilitate community building. Three Academic Trainings, online seminar sessions and a final conference were organised. COMFOCUS has extensively disseminated the new way of working within the FCS community and adjacent research domains at conferences, seminars and publications. This has helped to build a vibrant community for further exchange and hopefully future collaboration.
3) Integrating data through data infrastructure (JRA activities):
Harmonisation of measures and protocols - To ensure that collected data is FAIR ‘by-design’ requirements were drawn up. Harmonized measures for self-reported FCS relevant constructs are compiled in the "Handbook of Scales” and COMFOCUS Toolbox. The Easy Questionnaire Tool has established an entry-level system for data capture, where only harmonized datasets can be included in the Knowledge Platform. COMFOCUS has implemented a data validation tool, ensuring the use of harmonized measures and adherence to FAIR and RRI principles. The COMFOCUS Knowledge Platform consists of three elements: (1) Discussion platform, (2) Library and (3) Toolbox. COMFOCUS has developed a first draft of its ontology, being involved with other ontology networks (such as FoodOn). It focused on the harmonised measures in self-report questionnaires. The COMFOCUS Toolbox consists of multiple interconnected tools to support data harmonization, validation, and analysis in FCS.
We believe that COMFOCUS successfully achieved its objectives and laid foundation for a growing community within the FCS.

Figure 1. COMFOCUS project structure