The general objective of the VET-TWIN project is to increase the potential and research capacity of the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) by cooperation with internationally-leading counterparts from Germany (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment-BfR) and Denmark (Technical University of Denmark, National Veterinary Institute; DTU Vet) − to act in an international scientific and research environment as a leading institute in the fields of animal infectious diseases, zoonoses and food chain safety. The objective defined in such a way will be accomplished through a number of activities, in particular through the implementation of the Joint Strategy of Cooperation and Development, and by introduction of mechanisms for the interaction of scientists at the operational level, as well as through activities helping in the exchange of knowledge and experiences among scientists. The concept of the VET-TWIN project fully addresses the objectives of the Horizon 2020 programme. Through activities planned in order to increase the level of scientific excellence of the institute and its research staff, the project fully implements the specific objective Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation. The Implementation of the project fits directly in with the specific challenge of Twinning. By creating a partnership between the aforementioned entities, it will be possible to cooperate and exchange knowledge on an international level. Furthermore, the involvement of two scientific centres of excellent repute in the international research community to the VET-TWIN project, will prevent the crowding-out effect for an institution from a country with a lower Composite indicator of Research Excellence. The above-mentioned factors justify the need for the implementation of the project because it responds directly to the problems diagnosed within the Specific Challenge.

The increased population density in modern animal production systems has made them vulnerable to various transboundary infectious agents & diseases. During the last decades in the developed world, a reduction in the direct burden of livestock diseases has been observed, because of more effective drugs & vaccines. However, the total impact may actually be increasing, because in a highly-interconnected world, the effects of diseases extend far beyond animal sickness & mortality. Therefore, early diagnosis and establishment of reliable countermeasures to infectious disease outbreaks is essential to limit severe biophysical and socio-economic consequences. To date, the time between initial disease outbreak and laboratory confirmation of the etiologic infectious agent can be up to several weeks. Reliable & simple diagnostic testing directly on site would enable rapid local decision making, which is crucial to prevent further spreading of the disease. Silicon-based Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) have been demonstrated as a powerful platform for biosensing systems. In combination with integrated monoclonal antibodies, they can provide portable multiplex detection of proteins with sensitivity & specificity previously not realized. SWINOSTICS addresses the sector needs, by developing a novel field diagnostic device, based on advanced, proven, bio-sensing technologies to tackle viruses causing epidemics in swine farms and leading to relevant economic damages, complying to the objectives of the STAR-IDAZ. The diagnostic device will allow threat assessment at the farm level, with the analytical quality of commercial laboratories. The device will be developed for a panel of 6 important swine diseases. The device will be portable & will provide results in 10 minutes for 5 samples simultaneously, making it highly suitable for field use. It is based on 3 lab-verified concepts: a) PIC technology, b) Label-free optical detection, c) patented nano-deposition technology.