Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MIROR (Methods in Research on Research)
Reporting period: 2018-03-01 to 2020-02-29
A study published in 2009 estimated that 85% of research conducted is wasted. This waste represents tens of billions of Euros spent each year on studies that are redundant, flawed in their design, never published or poorly reported. The public is the main victim of this waste. If clinical research is not adequately planned, conducted and reported, clinicians are prevented from using effective health interventions in practice and researchers from adequately prioritizing future research questions. This situation ultimately has a detrimental impact on patient care. Therefore, reducing waste and increasing value of research represents a major societal challenge.
Our aim was to create an innovative and ambitious multidisciplinary intersectoral joint doctoral training programme in Europe dedicated to Methods in Research on Research (MiRoR) in the field of clinical research. “Research on Research (RoR)” is an emerging new scientific discipline that aims to reduce waste in research and increase research value. With this project we created an International Training Network of 15 Early Stage Researchers, each enrolled in two of the seven European universities of the consortium with the aim of obtaining a European Joint Doctorate on this topic. Our consortium included also 6 non-academic partners and 6 major academic partners, most of them hosting ESRs during secondments.
We tackled several steps of a clinical research project (planning, conduct, reporting and the peer-review); various study designs (observational studies, randomised trials, systematic reviews); and various study questions (therapeutic, diagnostic, and prognostic evaluation) using various methods (scoping reviews, meta-epidemiologic studies, qualitative studies, experimental studies, simulations etc).Our main objectives were to: 1) Prepare students for envisioning the future challenges in clinical research and find innovative solutions to face them; 2) Train students to go beyond the state-of-the-art in their research; 3) Help students think differently.
Research findings resulted in the publication of 37 research articles and protocols (all available in open access) and 10 conference papers. Three ESRs have already defended their thesis and the other defenses are planned in the next months: all fellows are planning to conclude their PhD by the end of 2020.
Our aim was to create an innovative and ambitious multidisciplinary intersectoral joint doctoral training programme in Europe dedicated to Methods in Research on Research (MiRoR) in the field of clinical research. “Research on Research (RoR)” is an emerging new scientific discipline that aims to reduce waste in research and increase research value. With this project we created an International Training Network of 15 Early Stage Researchers, each enrolled in two of the seven European universities of the consortium with the aim of obtaining a European Joint Doctorate on this topic. Our consortium included also 6 non-academic partners and 6 major academic partners, most of them hosting ESRs during secondments.
We tackled several steps of a clinical research project (planning, conduct, reporting and the peer-review); various study designs (observational studies, randomised trials, systematic reviews); and various study questions (therapeutic, diagnostic, and prognostic evaluation) using various methods (scoping reviews, meta-epidemiologic studies, qualitative studies, experimental studies, simulations etc).Our main objectives were to: 1) Prepare students for envisioning the future challenges in clinical research and find innovative solutions to face them; 2) Train students to go beyond the state-of-the-art in their research; 3) Help students think differently.
Research findings resulted in the publication of 37 research articles and protocols (all available in open access) and 10 conference papers. Three ESRs have already defended their thesis and the other defenses are planned in the next months: all fellows are planning to conclude their PhD by the end of 2020.
The first reporting period was mainly dedicated to administrative and management activities, and most of all to the recruitment of Early Stage Researchers (ESRs). The 15 fellows come from both EU (7) and non-EU (6) countries, with 13 different nationalities: Kenya, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Vietnam, Colombia, Italy, USA, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Germany and Spain. Some months after their recruitment ESRs presented their projects during a scientific “speed-dating” session organized at the first network meeting; they prepared a Career Development Plan and a protocol and they started to work on their research projects assisted by their supervisors and mentors. In the second reporting period, they developed their research projects, they attended all the planned training events (organized in Ghent, Liverpool, Amsterdam, Split and Barcelona), they took part in several secondments and presented their results at over 50 international scientific conferences organized in Europe, USA, South Africa, Japan and Australia. For the time being, three fellows have defended their thesis and the other defenses are planned in the next months: all fellows are planning to conclude their PhD by the end of the year.
ESRs were involved in several innovative “Training through action” activities (cooperative and collaborative learning opportunities in which they work in small teams to develop their interpersonal skills, learn how to deal with conflict and reinforce their ability to develop interdisciplinary interactions): 10 journal clubs, internal peer-reviews, a challenge and a common research project on Questionable Research Practices involving all ESRs.
We developed a project website and established a Twitter account, that we used on a daily basis. We set up a YouTube account where we have uploaded several videos, including interviews realized in the framework of the project, webinar sessions and video recordings of our last conference. We have sent out 9 newsletters to a growing network of people interested in our work and we have created and distributed a booklet gathering the main project results.
The second reporting period focused on carrying on research activities in line with the project objectives. As a result, ESR2, ESR6 and ESR8 explored how research is planned, conducted and analysed; ESR10 and ESR11 explored new concepts such as the concept of spin; ESR5 investigated new forms of research involving collective intelligence; ESR3 and ESR13 explored complex processes in research to improve its understanding. Also, fellows developed new methods and tools for research planning (ESR1, ESR4), research synthesis (ESR7, ESR8, ESR12), research reporting and peer-review (ESR9, ESR14, ESR15).
ESRs were involved in several innovative “Training through action” activities (cooperative and collaborative learning opportunities in which they work in small teams to develop their interpersonal skills, learn how to deal with conflict and reinforce their ability to develop interdisciplinary interactions): 10 journal clubs, internal peer-reviews, a challenge and a common research project on Questionable Research Practices involving all ESRs.
We developed a project website and established a Twitter account, that we used on a daily basis. We set up a YouTube account where we have uploaded several videos, including interviews realized in the framework of the project, webinar sessions and video recordings of our last conference. We have sent out 9 newsletters to a growing network of people interested in our work and we have created and distributed a booklet gathering the main project results.
The second reporting period focused on carrying on research activities in line with the project objectives. As a result, ESR2, ESR6 and ESR8 explored how research is planned, conducted and analysed; ESR10 and ESR11 explored new concepts such as the concept of spin; ESR5 investigated new forms of research involving collective intelligence; ESR3 and ESR13 explored complex processes in research to improve its understanding. Also, fellows developed new methods and tools for research planning (ESR1, ESR4), research synthesis (ESR7, ESR8, ESR12), research reporting and peer-review (ESR9, ESR14, ESR15).
Only a limited number of research teams in Europe and the world are addressing the topic of Research on Research. If we want to improve the research system in Europe, similar initiatives must be multiplied. MiRoR aimed to create and strengthen a network to tackle this issue: many members of our consortium, both academic and non-academic partners, have been working together for several years. With this project we joined forces to create a more structured network, bringing together internationally recognized experts and researchers in the different fields of planning, conduct and reporting of various study designs used in clinical research.
We have created a joint doctoral training programme dedicated to Methods in Research on Research (MiRoR) in the field of clinical research with the idea of training the future generation of European researchers to develop creative solutions to transform clinical research practice and increase its value. We enhanced interactions among these students and among participants in the whole network as much as possible, in order to develop strong links and favor the development of future collaborative, multidisciplinary, high-level projects in this field.
We paid special attention to adequately train students to generate new and innovative ideas, move from the idea to a funded project, lead and manage a project by favoring cooperative learning.
This programme is an opportunity to create the cornerstone for a future innovative training programme that will be perpetuated in the long term and possibly expanded to other fields. In addition, we are paving the way for the establishment of joint degrees with most of the academic partners of the network, to permit a more flexible reciprocal exchange of students and a joint education at the doctoral level in the long term.
Finally, by contributing to raise awareness among the whole research community of the necessity to systematically question research methods and practices, we strive to avoid, or at least drastically reduce, waste in research. Our efforts to increase the value of research and contribute to a better use of research funding will have an impact on the whole research system.
We have created a joint doctoral training programme dedicated to Methods in Research on Research (MiRoR) in the field of clinical research with the idea of training the future generation of European researchers to develop creative solutions to transform clinical research practice and increase its value. We enhanced interactions among these students and among participants in the whole network as much as possible, in order to develop strong links and favor the development of future collaborative, multidisciplinary, high-level projects in this field.
We paid special attention to adequately train students to generate new and innovative ideas, move from the idea to a funded project, lead and manage a project by favoring cooperative learning.
This programme is an opportunity to create the cornerstone for a future innovative training programme that will be perpetuated in the long term and possibly expanded to other fields. In addition, we are paving the way for the establishment of joint degrees with most of the academic partners of the network, to permit a more flexible reciprocal exchange of students and a joint education at the doctoral level in the long term.
Finally, by contributing to raise awareness among the whole research community of the necessity to systematically question research methods and practices, we strive to avoid, or at least drastically reduce, waste in research. Our efforts to increase the value of research and contribute to a better use of research funding will have an impact on the whole research system.