TWINNIBS to advance non-invasive brain stimulation in the Western Balkans
27. Oct. 2022
TWINNIBS - Twinning for excellence in non-invasive brain stimulation in Western Balkans is a Horizon Europe-funded project under the Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation scheme, which started on September 1, 2022.
The project's kick-off meeting took place recently in Belgrade, Serbia, on October 18-19. ZSI, together with its consortium partners (Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance/Capital Region of Denmark, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich/University Hospital of Munich, University of Trento, Institute for Medical Research/University of Belgrade as the coordinator), is looking forward to implement this project for the next three years and to contribute its part to raise the profile of the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) in non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) at European level.
IMR plays a leading role in research and promotion in the multidisciplinary field of NIBS. NIBS is a set of techniques for transcranial (non-invasive) modulation of the activity in the specific brain areas and the large-scale brain networks to which they contribute. Through TWINNIBS, IMR not only aims to raise NIBS reseach in Serbia to a new level and to promote it on a European scale, but also to improve in scientific excellence, research management and EU grant acquisition institutionally through launching and providing skills to a new R&I unit, whose establishment is an integral part of the project's work plan. ZSI, together with IMR, not only coordinates this process on the R&I unit, but is also involved in steering all dissemination, exploitation and communication activities for TWINNIBS.
The kick-off meeting in Belgrade made room for WP presentations and for the first meetings of the project's open science and gender equality committees. Moreover, the designated persons involved in the R&I unit met for their second hands-on meeting (a first one was organised online soon after the start of TWINNIBS) under the lead of ZSI to prepare for the unit's launch and first ideas on possible research collaborations in NIBS were discussed.
As described, the core objectives of TWINNIBS are to increase IMR's scientific and research management excellence and to promote the quality of NIBS research conducted in Serbia. Against this background, the forthcoming activities for the first project period already attain an important role, including the formal establishment of the R&I unit, short-term mobility arrangements between Serbia, Denmark, Italy and Germany for researchers from consortium partners, virtual and in-person short term expert visits (on common standards of Horizon Europe, e.g. open science, gender equality), workshops, and capacity building trainings (project management; R&I management).
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Tags: increasing excellence, research and innovation unit, research management, Serbia, twinning