The ENIUS network was has been established to bring together Research Institutions, Patients’ Associations, Scientific Societies, policy makers and Industry community, to address the challenges of the COST Action and fulfil the objectives, having a wide geographical distribution of the participants. All the specialties (medical, technologic and industrial) that are necessary to develop and reach the proposed objectives are highly represented. The different WG consist of multidisciplinary groups composed by researchers with wide experience in their research fields, with proven aptitude for the development of Research Projects (FP7 and H2020, and medical devices patents). The strength of the network consists in, not only the individual fields of knowledge of each group, but in the ability of the network to share and create synergies focused in the improvement of urinary stents. In order to accomplish this goal, experts have been distributed in the different WG in a way that in each WG all the fields involved are represented. The coexistence of these different but well-balanced secondary partners is thought to allow the understanding of the objectives and the achievement of the goals from different points of view, contributing with knowledge from each field with the same final goal. Although this multidisciplinary network is completely novel, some researchers that have already worked together will compose it. Furthermore, the proposers of this Action are world-leading researchers in each field of the different WGs. Thus, the risks associated to this network are minimized. Due to great amount of groups involved, the development of the network will not be affected even if one of the groups does not fulfil the expectations.
Another important aspect of the network is this Action will promote the collaboration with industrial partners, and improve the commercial application of newly developed technologies achieve in this Action. Also the network will benefit from the input of commercial partners. The participation of commercial partners will enable fruitful collaboration between R&D and business for the benefit of all, but mainly for the patients, improving their quality of life. It is also important to highlight the presence in this network of stakeholders like Patients’ Associations and Scientific Societies, both at European level. This circumstance provides a wide discussion and dissemination platform, which will lead to the recruitment of future partners. We therefore assure the representation of all the stakeholders in this network, as patients are the final clients of stents. This Action will work to involve more COST member countries, and ITC, NNC, IPC countries. This will be done by means of: 1.Dissemination through Patient-Scientific Societies. 2.Through ENIUS-webpage. 3. Action promotion on International Congress. 4.Through personal partners contacts. ENIUS also includes IPCs institutions and industrial partners, who broaden the know-how and expertise of the network to achieve proposed aims. The collaboration with those world partners complements and fill in ENIUS by reaching the main global research groups of the expertise areas included. The participation of IPC ensures the use of all available resources at international level.
Special efforts will be made to include NNC countries. The inclusiveness of NNC countries ensures the rapid and wide dissemination of the research findings across the national NNC experts. In addition, we bring in contact highly experienced groups, mainly with high clinical experience rather than technological. On the other hand, there is a mutual benefit, as the participation of NNC in the network will provide them with the resources and knowledge acquired in the network, so they can apply them in their countries. It will also approach them to the most important groups worldwide in biomedical development and synergies will be created as a result of the meetings. They will count as well with the participation of their young researchers in the Training Schools and STSM.
Hence, ENIUS ensures high critical mass, with experts of the highest level from different fields of science and technology that guarantee a correct transmission of knowledge and therefore the achievement of the objectives. Finally, another notable aspect of ENIUS is that have worked to obtain the best balance between genders, and GBC will develop actions to improve this aspect. The network will be expanded as the Action progresses, to promoting openness and inclusiveness (webpage, OpenAire, meetings and European Congress) to researchers.
