Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ESPERANCE (ERA Chair Life Sciences Program to EmpoweR moleculAr aNd struCtural biology initiativEs at UPAT)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-02-01 al 2024-04-30
The University of Patras (UPAT) in Greece is the country's third largest and well recognised as a centre for excellent research. The EU-funded ESPERANCE project will significantly enhance the university's potential in the research fields of molecular, cell and structural biology. The project allows a part-time European Research Area (ERA) Chair holder, Prof Anastassis Perrakis from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam (well- known for his track-records in experimental and computational structural biology, biophysics, facility setup and coordination of EC-projects), to enforce the activities of the University of Patras.
Together with his NKI and UPAT teams, they aim to boost the university's research potential on integrative molecular biophysics and structural biology by promoting collaborative science and providing synergy focused on translational research. The ERA Chair holder will participate in training and be instrumental in developing the university's national and international visibility to ensure UPAT’s R&I ecosystem sustainability.
The general purpose of the ESPERANCE ERA Chair project is to capitalize on UPAT's research and innovation capabilities in the field of Life Sciences, as well as to broaden and intensify the current groups' joint efforts with the assistance of a part-time ERA Chair holder. This is separated into five objectives.
O1. Increase UPAT's research and innovation potential within the current life science and structural biology communities.
O2. Strengthen UPAT's human resources through research and training by developing a targeted research portfolio to solve societal concerns through integrated structural biology research.
O3. Improve linkages with industry and the potential for innovation in order to translate knowledge into innovation.
O4. Expand UPAT's strategic alliances and societal connections to establish and strengthen strong relationships between local and national groups, as well as to increase awareness at the European research level.
O5. Reverse "brain-drain" for long-term development and competitive research funding.
Together with his NKI and UPAT teams, they aim to boost the university's research potential on integrative molecular biophysics and structural biology by promoting collaborative science and providing synergy focused on translational research. The ERA Chair holder will participate in training and be instrumental in developing the university's national and international visibility to ensure UPAT’s R&I ecosystem sustainability.
The general purpose of the ESPERANCE ERA Chair project is to capitalize on UPAT's research and innovation capabilities in the field of Life Sciences, as well as to broaden and intensify the current groups' joint efforts with the assistance of a part-time ERA Chair holder. This is separated into five objectives.
O1. Increase UPAT's research and innovation potential within the current life science and structural biology communities.
O2. Strengthen UPAT's human resources through research and training by developing a targeted research portfolio to solve societal concerns through integrated structural biology research.
O3. Improve linkages with industry and the potential for innovation in order to translate knowledge into innovation.
O4. Expand UPAT's strategic alliances and societal connections to establish and strengthen strong relationships between local and national groups, as well as to increase awareness at the European research level.
O5. Reverse "brain-drain" for long-term development and competitive research funding.
During RP1, all objectives were addressed according to the foreseen time plan through activities in WP2, WP3, WP4, WP5, and WP6, while the Coordination and Management (WP1) of the project was smooth and according to the original implementation plan. The ERA Chair project was embedded in the UPAT organisation after the start of the project (D2.1 M6). UPAT attracted talented and experienced researchers through open calls (O1 and O5) and was also able to retain local talent to UPAT. Namely four post-doctoral researchers were hired for UPAT collaboration groups, and five PhD candidates (D2.2 M12). Importantly, UPAT attracted a group leader (D2.2 M12) to set up a local group at UPAT and perform joint collaborative projects with the participating UPAT groups, initiating new research initiatives with two of the PhD candidates. Additionally, UPAT appointed research support and administration and management staff, as planned. Two researchers at the host institution of the ERA Chair (The Netherlands Cancer Institute) were also appointed, a project manager and an early career researcher, to facilitate joint collaborative projects.
According to the project implementation plan, activities aimed at strengthening UPAT’s human capital through research and training and are ongoing (O2). For training, we organized seminars on soft skills, a practical course (PC), with significant participation of NKI and UPAT senior staff as well as from UPAT's research community (WP3).
UPAT staff completed four outgoing visits, ‘secondments’ (SCDM). (WP3).
Additionally, we discussed and prepared a plan for dissemination, exploitation, and communication (WP5, D5.4 M6), as well as a data management plan (D5.2 M6). We launched the project's website (WP5, D5.1) at https://era-esperance.eu/(si apre in una nuova finestra) which has been operational since the project's inception. We are currently implementing new features for data sharing.
To inform the partners and staff about the project and the partner’s responsibilities and activities the Coordinator organised a kick-off meeting at UPAT in M3 of the project (D1.2). The ‘external advisory board’ (EAB) was formed as planned, including Prof. Harald Schwalbe (Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Prof. Kristina Djinović-Carugo (EMBL Grenoble), and Prof. Anna Akhmanova (Utrecht University, The Netherlands). Moreover, KPIs were collected based on the 5-year period before the start of the ESPERANCE project. These will be monitored throughout the project to measure efficiency and success (D1.3 M7). Research supporting staff was hired and trained to manage the facilities of the participating groups and access was provided to internal and external (academic & non-academic) users (WP4).
Overall, during the first 15 months of the ESPERANCE project, the participating groups performed all planned activities to expand their scientific networks. In addition, UPAT prepared new proposals and grant applications, and they were invited to participate in Academia-Industry EU grant applications and Greek research infrastructure projects to effectively tackle O3 and O4 of the project.
According to the project implementation plan, activities aimed at strengthening UPAT’s human capital through research and training and are ongoing (O2). For training, we organized seminars on soft skills, a practical course (PC), with significant participation of NKI and UPAT senior staff as well as from UPAT's research community (WP3).
UPAT staff completed four outgoing visits, ‘secondments’ (SCDM). (WP3).
Additionally, we discussed and prepared a plan for dissemination, exploitation, and communication (WP5, D5.4 M6), as well as a data management plan (D5.2 M6). We launched the project's website (WP5, D5.1) at https://era-esperance.eu/(si apre in una nuova finestra) which has been operational since the project's inception. We are currently implementing new features for data sharing.
To inform the partners and staff about the project and the partner’s responsibilities and activities the Coordinator organised a kick-off meeting at UPAT in M3 of the project (D1.2). The ‘external advisory board’ (EAB) was formed as planned, including Prof. Harald Schwalbe (Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Prof. Kristina Djinović-Carugo (EMBL Grenoble), and Prof. Anna Akhmanova (Utrecht University, The Netherlands). Moreover, KPIs were collected based on the 5-year period before the start of the ESPERANCE project. These will be monitored throughout the project to measure efficiency and success (D1.3 M7). Research supporting staff was hired and trained to manage the facilities of the participating groups and access was provided to internal and external (academic & non-academic) users (WP4).
Overall, during the first 15 months of the ESPERANCE project, the participating groups performed all planned activities to expand their scientific networks. In addition, UPAT prepared new proposals and grant applications, and they were invited to participate in Academia-Industry EU grant applications and Greek research infrastructure projects to effectively tackle O3 and O4 of the project.
The potential impact of the project will be a serious enforcement of local activities on several local, national and international platforms. For scientific and societal impact, the researchers from the different groups will collaborate on different research topics, with a clear focus on different biochemical questions related to health and disease. Economically, the ESERANCE project allows multi-annual employment of several young researchers to prevent - even reverse - Greek brain drain. In addition, interactions with local company will be actively sought to stimulate exploitation of results as well as local innovation