The main objective of the proposal is to contribute to a better harmonisation and synchronisation of priority-setting-, funding- evaluation and life-cycle management of Research Infrastructures (RI through the exchange of best practices among the main stakeholders in member states, associated countries and at European level. The regional dimension will explicitly be taken into account by integrating, where appropriate, smart specialisation strategies in the work carried out. InRoad will achieve this by a) the identification and dissemination of best-practices and common trends of national RI roadmapping procedures and of ex-ante, interim (monitoring) and ex-post evaluation of RI in Europe, b) establishing a trustful dialogue and an intensive exchange of information about national RI roadmapping procedures, RI monitoring and evaluation and sustainable approaches for RI, in line with the objectives laid out in the European Research Area communication and c)fostering a dialogue with the European Commission, ESFRI, the e-IRG and all relevant stakeholders at regional, national and European levels in order to discuss the project findings and promote the dissemination of its recommendations. The InRoad activities and objectives contribute to the specific challenge highlighted in the work programme by a) promoting comparability and synchronisation of national procedures and a possible harmonisation of ex-ante and ex-post evaluation mechanisms through a survey, case studies, interviews and theoretical analyses of current frameworks in use, in close cooperation with the relevant stakeholders, b) supporting RI policy development in terms of exchange of best practices for national roadmap drafting and evaluation procedures and c) support the information sharing with stakeholders in charge of priority-setting, evaluation, funding and operation of RI through their inclusion in a dedicated Reflection Group.

Systems medicine is a new approach which integrates biological and medical data with mathematical and computational modelling in order to understand the underlying mechanisms of disease and to develop new strategies for individualised diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Systems medicine can fill the gap between experimental data produced by modern technologies and medical knowledge. Through the implementation of systems biology approaches in both clinical research and medical practice systems medicine will provide a new tool to clinicians that will change the capabilities of the clinician to diagnose and treat patients faster, better and more effectively – a tool, which has the potential to become a generic prerequisite for any personalized or P4 medicine approach. The central idea of ERACoSysMed is to implement systems biology approaches in medical concepts, research and practice by structuring, coordinating and integrating national efforts and investments during its project duration of five years. To achive this main goal the specific objectives of ERACoSysMed are: 1) Strengthen the systems medicine community both across national borders as well as across specific research areas 2) Establish a network of funding bodies to sustainably implement systems medicine across Europe 3) Launch joint trans-national research calls with the aim to push forward the desired paradigm shift towards P4 medicine 4) Provide a platform for the implementation of the actions recommended by the CASyM road map For this aim Joint transnational calls (JTCs) for research proposals will be implemented. As a first step a co-funded JTC call will be launched with the aim to select transnational research projects in a competitive approach that shall demonstrate the social and economic benefit of the systems medicine approach. The consortium intends to implement further JTCs and other networking activities in order to keep alive the momentum which will be created by the co-funded JTC.

ACT will enable better access, sharing, and improvement of gender equality knowledge by advancing Communities of Practice (CoP) as agents for implementing gender equality actions among RPOs and RFOs in ERA, including integration of the gender dimension into research content and process. Considerable advances have been made in the EU in the last decade in these areas, but the resulting experiences and practices are scattered widely, which prevents systematic and systemic action. ACT will improve this situation by starting up a network of 7 Communities of Practice and developing a Practice Toolkit, as well as creating an EU-wide change monitoring and benchmarking system, and an on-line Hub for knowledge and experience sharing. The design of these outputs will take into consideration inter- and intra-institutional diversity, as well as differences in national contexts. The Consortium includes 19 organisations (experienced and novice), and includes 50 experts, to ensure that results are sustainable and produce the desired impact. The expected impacts include: 1) ensuring that researchers, their organisations, and the projects they are involved in are better equipped to stop gender bias affecting quality of science knowledge making; 2) improving understanding of gender issues in science, and how to address them, including in science curriculum, and researcher training; 3) enhancing standards for assessment of institutional excellence through incorporation of gender equality as a criterion of success; and 4) more systematic and systemic adoption of best tools and practices for GEP implementation.