BBMRI-ERIC: the Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure - European Research Infrastructure Consortium, aims to establish, operate and develop a Pan-European distributed research infrastructure in order to facilitate the access to biological resources as well as facilities and to support high quality biomolecular and biomedical research. The ADOPT BBMRI-ERIC proposal aims at boosting and accelerating implementation of BBMRI-ERIC and its services. Its main deliverables are designed to complete or launch the construction of key Common Services of the Research Infrastructure as required for ESFRI-projects "under implementation", reflecting the targets of the European Research Area (ERA). One of the challenges in the post-genomic era is the research on common complex diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Revealing these diseases will depend critically on the study of human biological samples and data from large numbers of patients and healthy individuals. The EU’s ageing population is will result in an increase in many of those diseases and consequently an increased healthcare expenditure for senior citizens. BBMRI-ERIC is a specific European asset having become a fundamental component in addressing the ongoing and future requirements particularly of Europe's health service frameworks, including competitiveness and innovativeness of health-related industries. Its implementation is essential for the understanding of the diversity of human diseases, biological samples and corresponding data, which are required for the development of any new drug or diagnostic assay and are, therefore, critical for the advancement in health research, ultimately leading to personalised medicine. BBMRI-ERIC will provide a gateway access to the collections of the European research community, expertise and services building on the outcome of ADOPT BBMRI-ERIC.

Rare diseases (RD) are diseases that affect not more than 5 per 10 000 persons (according to the EU definition). 7000 distinct rare diseases exist, affecting between 6% and 8% of the population (about 30 million EU citizens). The lack of specific health policies for rare diseases and the scarcity of the expertise, translate into delayed diagnosis, few medicinal products and difficult access to care. That is why rare diseases are a prime example of a research area that strongly profits from coordination on a European scale. At present only few European countries fund research on rare diseases through specific dedicated programmes. Therefore, the funding of transnational collaborative research is the most effective joint activity to enhance the cooperation between scientists working on rare diseases in Europe and beyond. The E-Rare consortium was built to link responsible funding bodies that combine the scarce resources and fund rare disease research via Joint Transnational Calls (JTCs). The current E-Rare-3 project proposal will extend and strengthen the transnational cooperation by building on the experience and results of the previous E-Rare-1&2 programmes. The consortium comprises 26 institutions from 17 European, Associated and non-European countries. Its international dimension will be directly translated into close collaboration with IRDiRC and other relevant European and international initiatives. IRDiRC guidelines and policies will be implemented in the four JTCs and representatives of the IRDiRC Scientific Committees will be invited to join the Advisory Board of E-Rare-3. Members of the EUCERD group will be involved in identifying rare disease research needs. Patients’ organizations from Europe (represented by EURORDIS) and beyond will be invited as a key partner towards collaborative efforts for research promotion and funding. The collaboration with European Research Infrastructures will be consolidated to enhance efficient and participative research.

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.

The biodiversity-climate change interaction is strong, bi-directional, and often positive (actions in favour of one are also beneficial to the other). While the main drivers of biodiversity loss are habitat degradation, the syndrome of factors directly & indirectly associated with climate change is the dominant threat to biodiversity. It is therefore imperative to understand with sufficient detail and confidence the interactions between biodiversity & climate change so they can be incorporated into decision-support models & tools. By networking 36 funding agencies from 25 countries from Europe & other continents, BiodivClim aims to promote coordinated international research on biodiversity & climate change in all environments, incl. agricultural areas. It will strengthen research & research programmes coordination with the ultimate aim to provide policy makers & other stakeholders with adequate knowledge, tools & practical solutions to improve the conservation & sustainable use of biodiversity & ecosystems under a changing climate. The BiodivClim objectives are to: -Coordinate the research agendas of major European & international research funders to agree on shared research priorities related to biodiversity & climate change -Reinforce collaboration with other relevant initiatives in the field to increase synergies & avoid fragmentation -Design & implement a joint co-funded call for research proposals and a knowledge hub in this field -Promote research collaboration across national borders & disciplines in order to build capacity, exchange best practices & have a lasting effect on the international research community & landscape -Support dialogue & collaboration between academia & stakeholders, and stakeholder engagement in research projects in order to increase the impact of research on policy & practice -Ease rapid & efficient uptake of funded research results by the IPBES & IPCC for their future assessments, & by other relevant initiatives -Reinforce data open access