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.
