Preparing for EU funding by leveraging the Norwegian network in severe mental disorders

he overall goal is to develop an alliance in mental health research in Norway to strengthen the ability to raise funds from the Horizon 2020 program to further expand our leadership position in mental research in Europe. Through participation in the Horizon 2020 project, we will expand our collaboration network, identify new collaborative opportunities and further develop our expertise and expertise in the field and other adjacent research areas such as clinical studies, environmental impact, genetic vulnerability to mental disorders, and using new eHealth methods. To achieve these goals, we will establish and improve cooperation between leading research institutions within the thematic areas of mental disorders. The cooperation is based on the NORSMI network, covering institutions, disciplines and areas of expertise. We will share good practice, knowledge and contacts to develop a tight network to make each other stronger and better equipped to apply for Horizon 2020 projects. Implementation of clinical studies and translation research are priority areas for the Horizon 2020 program and are closely related to innovation. We will utilize existing Norwegian clinical cohorts from hospitals integrated with large populations such as MoBa and HUNT. We will be able to include genotypes from biobank material and data from registry and health surveys, and enter into cooperation with major international consortia. Norwegian biobanks and registers represent valuable materials with unique characteristics that have significant international interest. With these well-written cohorts, we will be able to gather further European and international expertise in planning and launching Horizon 2020 applications. Furthermore, we integrate state-of-the-art technology, focusing on collaboration between clinicians and founders, to set the stage for new Horizon 2020 projects. The project participants have participated in the development of several networks as well as EU applications, and have been successful in obtaining several EU grants.

Prosjektet har bidratt til flere EU-fokuserte nettverksmøter for planlegging, prosjektmøter for søknadsskriving, og en serie med søknader, hvor flere har blitt innvilget.

The overall objective is to develop an alliance in Mental Health research in Norway to strengthen our opportunity to obtain funding from the Horizon 2020 program to further expand our leading position in the field of mental research in Europe. Through participation in Horizon 2020 project we will expand our collaborative network, identify novel collaboration opportunities and further refine our expertise and excellence in the field and other adjacent research areas such as in-silico clinical trials, environmental impact on mental disorders etc. To reach these objectives, we will establish and improve the cooperation between leading research institutions within the thematic areas of mental disorders. The cooperation is based on the NORSMI network, and goes across institutions, disciplines, and expert areas. We will share good practices, knowledge and contacts to develop a tight network to make each other stronger and better equipped to successfully apply for Horizon 2020 projects. Implementation of clinical trials and translational research are key priority areas for Horizon 2020 and are closely connected to innovation, which is most important in Horizon 2020. We will exploit existing Norwegian well-characterized clinical samples from hospitals (health services) integrated with large population samples such as the Mother and Child Cohort (MoBa) and the HUNT samples from biobank material with registry and health surveys information which are being genotyped, and collaborate with large international consortia. MoBa and HUNT represent extremely valuable samples with unique characteristics that have attracted considerable international attention. Using these biological samples we will be able to gather additional European and international expertise to plan and launch Horizon 2020 proposals. Further, we will integrate state of the art technology, and focus on translational collaboration between clinicians and basic researchers, to set the stage for new H2020 projects.