PROTECTED aims to develop expertise and protective capabilities against Endocrine Disruptors (EDs). EDs and their mixtures are a modern day health concern leading to failing ecological systems, poor agricultural production and health effects such as obesity, cancer and infertility. While analytical methods have advanced enormously, focus has been mainly on synthetic chemicals, overlooking emerging EDs and real-life multiple substance exposure. A new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative early-stage researchers equipped with skills to assess and understand the real-life risk of complex mixtures of EDs and trained to convert resulting knowledge and ideas into accessible tools and services for the long-term control of potential ED risk is urgently needed. The PROTECTED Innovative Training Network [ITN] proposes a holistic approach by providing 15 individual, personalised research projects with exposure to scientific, innovative and entrepreneurial training mobility across the ITN. The intersectorial network is comprised of 12 training sites at academia, research centres, a bioassay technology SME, a QSAR technology SME, water provider, and animal feed supplier. Together they cover multiple disciplines including analytical science of food, feed, and environment, epidemiology, risk assessment, social science and toxicology. This combined expertise enables a highly focused program for developing novel tools and concepts and training for the detection, analysis and improved risk assessment of EDs, especially mixture effects. Methodology will include emerging technologies; multiplexed analysis, mixture modelling, mechanistic and exposure studies, explants and cell or whole organism bioassays. The project will provide a unique and high level of training for a new generation of specialists with transferable skills and enhanced career perspectives. These specialists will ultimately aid the efficient development of future control strategies for improved health.

The EU-LAC-MUSEUMS project directly meets the challenge of fostering EU-CELAC relations by studying the close connections between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in the field of community museology. To address this challenge, EU-LAC-MUSEUMS assembles a team of leading academics, museum professionals and policy makers elected by the European and LAC Regional Alliances of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) (www.icom.museum). Together, we are committed to exploring the cultural, scientific and social dimensions of EU-LAC relations with a view to “supporting the process of EU-CELAC cooperation outlined by the EU-CELAC Action Plan 2013-2015 in defining a common vision for the years to come”. Through a series of thematic work packages we will pursue the theme of “Museums and Community: Concepts, Experiences, and Sustainability in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean”. A good deal of research has been carried out into this subject at local, national, and regional levels in both EU and LAC, but a concerted bi-regional investigation is yet to appear. EU-LAC-MUSEUMS will overcome this gap in knowledge by creating parity of esteem and sustainable dialogue and co-operation between academia, museums and communities in each region. It will achieve this goal by pursuing work packages dealing with the cross cutting societal challenges of: a) "Technology and Innovation for Bi-Regional Integration"; b) "Museum Education for Social Inclusion and Cohesion"; c) "Investment and Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Museums”, and d) “Exhibiting Migration and Gender”. In so doing, we will push forward the agenda of the EU-CELAC Action Plan in museum practice and theory.

Currently, most decisions in the academic settings in Latin American HEIs are based on preconceptions or feelings. If data is used, it is in the form of database reports that only provide the most basic level of information. Due to the last decade modernization of academic systems in most Latin American HEIs, there is a large amount of data being produced every day, but this data is usually ignored.This project aims to build local capacity in Latin American HEIs to create, adapt, implement and adopt Learning Analytics tools to improve academic decision making processes. These tools will facilitate the process and analysis of large amount of data produced by the different educational process that occur inside Latin American HEIs (registration, academic performance, online systems usage, etc.). Stakeholders will use the output of these tools to inform and support their decisions. These evidence-based decision making process improves the performance and quality of the education inside the HEI.To be able to develop the local capacity to create, adapt and use Learning Analytics tools in Latin America, first a framework that describe the methodological, technical, institutional, ethical and communal aspects of the deployment of Learning Analytics in the context of Latin American HEIs should be developed by the project. Moreover, the project will adapt two existing tools created originally in the context of Europe to the Latin American context. One will be directed to academic administrators and the other, to professors and counselors. Both of these tools will be piloted to test their efficacy.The final result of the project will be the compilation of the LALA Handbook, a guide containing the LALA Methodology, the Infrastructure recommendation and the adoption experiences and best-practices gained during the pilot. This handbook will be the guiding resources to any other Latin American HEI interested in adopting Learning Analytics to modernize their operations.