Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NEUROTWIN (Promoting S&T excellence and increasing the innovation capacity of the Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience)
Période du rapport: 2022-04-01 au 2024-06-30
In Europe, brain diseases are the most burdensome, with costs reaching hundreds of billions of euros annually. As a result, neuroscience has become a priority research field in many developed countries, including the UK, Germany, and France. However, in Eastern Europe, particularly Romania, life sciences, and neuroscience in particular, have been neglected and remain underdeveloped.
The Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience (TINS) was established in 2017 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to address this gap in systems neuroscience research. In just a few years, TINS has become a leader in Romanian neuroscience, with its research disseminated in leading scientific journals. TINS also organizes the Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School (TENSS), one of the top training venues in experimental neuroscience globally.
The NEUROTWIN project, funded by the European Commission, aimed to accelerate TINS’ development into a neuroscience hub in Romania and Eastern Europe. TINS received guidance from top international research institutions like the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI), the IMAGINE Institute (IMAGINE), and University College London (UCL) to boost its scientific and technological expertise and innovation capacity.
The project's primary goals were to strengthen neuroscience research at TINS, increase its global visibility, and enhance its innovation and management capacities. This included improving the scientific competence of TINS researchers, boosting the institute’s reputation and ability to compete for research funding, and involving young scientists in cutting-edge projects to build a skilled future research team.
NEUROTWIN has had a tremendously positive impact on TINS. Originally planned for 36 months, the project was extended to 42 months. Over this time, TINS experienced substantial growth and achievements across multiple areas. From a start with just 8 employees, TINS expanded significantly, growing to over 40 employees, with 25 active work contracts by June 2024. The institute attracted significant funding in research grants, in addition to the support from NEUROTWIN. These funds enabled TINS to establish a wide network of collaborations with leading scientific groups across Europe and beyond, involving countries such as Hungary, Norway, the UK, Germany, and the USA. At the time of the report, TINS had 15 additional research grant applications under evaluation. TINS scientists produced 33 research papers, including high-impact publications in prestigious journals like Nature, Nature Communications, and Cerebral Cortex. The institute also attracted top-tier researchers, such as Dr. Gabriel Balmuș and Dr. Delia Gheorghe, who brought substantial funding and established a new department, further boosting TINS’ research capabilities.
NEUROTWIN also helped TINS gain credibility and visibility through events like the Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School (TENSS) and the TINS Neuroscience Seminar Series (TINS NSS). TENSS, now recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious neuroscience summer schools, trained 54 students from 22 countries and received 351 applications globally during the project’s implementation. TINS NSS organized 15 seminars, reaching over 1,400 participants directly and thousands more online. Furthermore, TINS enhanced its innovation and commercialization efforts by developing an innovation strategy and securing several patents. Collaborations with major companies, including Merck, and the founding of a startup company by TINS scientists, demonstrate the institute’s growing influence in both academic and industrial spheres.
Finally, TINS strengthened its administrative framework by developing internal procedures for procurement, safety, and travel, and creating a Gender Equality Plan. The institute also initiated its affiliation with the European Charter for Researchers, aligning itself with European standards for research excellence. Overall, NEUROTWIN played a pivotal role in transforming TINS into a prominent and innovative neuroscience research institute.
The Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience (TINS) was established in 2017 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to address this gap in systems neuroscience research. In just a few years, TINS has become a leader in Romanian neuroscience, with its research disseminated in leading scientific journals. TINS also organizes the Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School (TENSS), one of the top training venues in experimental neuroscience globally.
The NEUROTWIN project, funded by the European Commission, aimed to accelerate TINS’ development into a neuroscience hub in Romania and Eastern Europe. TINS received guidance from top international research institutions like the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI), the IMAGINE Institute (IMAGINE), and University College London (UCL) to boost its scientific and technological expertise and innovation capacity.
The project's primary goals were to strengthen neuroscience research at TINS, increase its global visibility, and enhance its innovation and management capacities. This included improving the scientific competence of TINS researchers, boosting the institute’s reputation and ability to compete for research funding, and involving young scientists in cutting-edge projects to build a skilled future research team.
NEUROTWIN has had a tremendously positive impact on TINS. Originally planned for 36 months, the project was extended to 42 months. Over this time, TINS experienced substantial growth and achievements across multiple areas. From a start with just 8 employees, TINS expanded significantly, growing to over 40 employees, with 25 active work contracts by June 2024. The institute attracted significant funding in research grants, in addition to the support from NEUROTWIN. These funds enabled TINS to establish a wide network of collaborations with leading scientific groups across Europe and beyond, involving countries such as Hungary, Norway, the UK, Germany, and the USA. At the time of the report, TINS had 15 additional research grant applications under evaluation. TINS scientists produced 33 research papers, including high-impact publications in prestigious journals like Nature, Nature Communications, and Cerebral Cortex. The institute also attracted top-tier researchers, such as Dr. Gabriel Balmuș and Dr. Delia Gheorghe, who brought substantial funding and established a new department, further boosting TINS’ research capabilities.
NEUROTWIN also helped TINS gain credibility and visibility through events like the Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School (TENSS) and the TINS Neuroscience Seminar Series (TINS NSS). TENSS, now recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious neuroscience summer schools, trained 54 students from 22 countries and received 351 applications globally during the project’s implementation. TINS NSS organized 15 seminars, reaching over 1,400 participants directly and thousands more online. Furthermore, TINS enhanced its innovation and commercialization efforts by developing an innovation strategy and securing several patents. Collaborations with major companies, including Merck, and the founding of a startup company by TINS scientists, demonstrate the institute’s growing influence in both academic and industrial spheres.
Finally, TINS strengthened its administrative framework by developing internal procedures for procurement, safety, and travel, and creating a Gender Equality Plan. The institute also initiated its affiliation with the European Charter for Researchers, aligning itself with European standards for research excellence. Overall, NEUROTWIN played a pivotal role in transforming TINS into a prominent and innovative neuroscience research institute.
During the project implementation (1 January 2021 – 30 June 2024) TINS, ESI, IMAGINE, and UCL started a number of collaborative research projects that involve both senior staff and early stage researchers (ESRs) from these institutions. This was supported by several short stays and visits of TINS ESRs and senior scientists to ESI (Frankfurt), IMAGINE (Paris), and UCL (London). A second important activity was the organization of the TINS Neuroscience Seminar Series, which has featured lectures from 18 world-leading scientists and reaching out directly to >1400 live participants and to >3200 viewers online. Third, with the support of NEUROTWIN partners, TINS has organized four editions of the prestigious Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School (TENSS – https://tenss.ro(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)) welcoming 54 trainees from 22 countries and a total of 251 international participants. Fourth, the consortium organized two extensive consortium retreats in Sölden, Austria (2022) and in Heraklion, Crete, Greece (2023). The second retreat was organized in the form of an international workshop, opening new collaborations with the IMBB-FORTH institute in Crete. Fifth, an ambitious plan was set in motion to increase TINS’ innovation capacity, developing an innovation and technology transfer strategy. Based on this experience, TINS secured a United States Patent and multiple European patents. Finally, a communication and dissemination plan was put in motion, developing a strategic communication plan that was implemented during the project. Thus, TINS reached out to the national and international public, the Romanian press, and to commercial entities. Importantly, TINS has started long-term collaborations with industry partners, such as Merck KGaA from Darmstadt and other collaborative projects with companies from Germany, UK, and Romania. A startup was also established by TINS scientists in 2023.
The NEUROTWIN project has greatly contributed to boosting TINS R&D and innovation potential. As such, the following key impacts have been achieved: i) the number of scientists at TINS increased > 300%; ii) a significant number of prestigious international research grants have been attracted, such as ERA-NET, FLAG-ERA, Norwegian, National grant, etc.; iii) TINS has signed a strategic partnership with the largest university in Romania (Babeș-Bolyai University), while actively collaborating with 26 international institutions from Germany, France, UK, Hungary, Spain, Belgium, Norway, USA, etc.; iv) TINS has started fruitful collaborations with industrial partners such as Merck and Envelopers and has secured a US and an EU patent, with multiple other pending patents; v) TINS scientists funded a startup company to transfer research results towards the market (https://intelimensa.com); vi) a significant number of top neuroscientists had lectures in TINS seminars and its summer school, creating a solid international community around the institute. All these key impacts have strongly contributed towards transforming TINS into a solid regional hub for the development of neuroscientific research. In addition to generating novel technologies that can be transferred to a competitive market, TINS’ emergence as an important player in brain research will also contribute to the understanding and treatment of debilitating brain disorders.