To establish a data science unit it is necessary to have an excellent team. The first and second period of this project aimed to establish the ERA Chair team. This meant to hire not only the ERA Chair holder, but also the research team, and the support team (project manager, communication officer, and funding officer).
This task was concluded in the beginning of the fourth year and conditioned the project impact. Being strategic, the scientific team together with the support team, were focused in establishing partnerships and collaborations within and outside the Academic Medical Centre (CAML), to otimize the project outcomes by building on existing projects. So far, these efforts resulted in seven partnerships (maintained over time) and the application to 19 funding calls.
During these time period, iSTARS progressed in ERA priorities by organising the Gender Mainstreaming in medical research, being awarded with Human Resources excellence award by EURAXESS, and continued to offer training in health research integrity.
Other relevant progress was in the organization of research infrastructure: iSTARS organised the process of acquistion of computational infrastructure, while initiating the process of implementing RedCAP platform for data collection. In parallel, iSTARS offered to FML community (and other interested researchers) a training in research data management.
Communication and dissemination are also pillars of iSTARS. In this field, several activities were developed. A brand new strategic communication plan was developed and implemented, which included the creation of a new website and social media accounts. Additionally, team members were present in several scientific meetings and conferences, starting to present the work done at iSTARS and FML. Beyond the traditional communication and dissemination activities, the ERA Chair holder in charge developed dialogues with designated plastic artists to produce new forms of science communication.
The team also developed efforts to identify a stakeholders interest group, through networking and project communication.
iSTARS is a project dealing with health data, which is often sensitive data. Thus, the team has implemented an internal ethics screening with the support of the independent ethics advisory board.
In the end of the second reporting period, iSTARS has already achieved 3 of its milestones and produced 28 deliverables.
