Partners

The SPAN project involves a large number of partners and associate partners from different European countries and institutions.

  • UK: Oxford Brookes University

    About

    Oxford Brookes University (OBU) is a premier UK Higher Education Institution with an outstanding research record. OBU is the only UK modern university to have achieved 24 subjects rated as excellent for teaching. We have a longstanding reputation for employability, and are host to two national centres of excellence in teaching and learning. The Department of Social Work and Public Health (SWPH) specialises in undergraduate (pre-qualifying), post-qualifying and postgraduate courses, as well as offering research opportunities covering a wide range of subject areas from management and education to public health and social work. Researchers in the School of Health and Social Care (SHSC) have been steadily building a profile in prevention science, through a number of research projects, knowledge transfer activities, and plans to develop postgraduate teaching. Through systematic reviews focusing on substance misuse we have looked at the effectiveness of drug and alcohol misuse prevention programmes for young people, the impact of alcohol marketing on children and young people, the performance of screening instruments in brief intervention programmes for alcohol misuse, and trends in alcohol consumption in the UK over the past 20 years. These research projects have been supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Cochrane Collaboration, the European Commission and several research charities. SHSC researchers have also been involved in randomised controlled trials of the Strengthening Families Programme, social normative feedback, school-based curriculum for drug and alcohol prevention, and techniques to reduce unintended teenage pregnancy. These studies involve collaborations with other universities and have been supported by a number of external funding bodies including the Medical Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council. Researchers are also studying health visitor assessments of mother-infant interactions so that early preventive action can be taken where mother-infant relationships are not developing well. More recently, through the writing of a new book, Drug Policy and the Public Good, researchers in the school developed an interest in how effective early classroom behaviour management can promote prosocial behaviour and reduce substance misuse, mental illness, and other issues into young adulthood.

    Primary role in the project

    OBU’s role in the project will be one of overall project co-ordinator, delivering WP1, assuming overall responsibility for liaison with EACEA, managing the delivery of the overall project, and co-ordinating the activities of the various work packages in the project. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, OBU will appoint a 0.6 PT Programme Manager to oversee the delivery of this project. They will be responsible for setting up the necessary project management systems and quality assurance requirements, which will generally follow standard PRINCE2 methodologies. They will establish a Project Management Board (involving representatives of P3, P4, P10, P15, P16, P17 and P29) and an Expert Advisory Group (comprising P31, P32, P33, P34 and the two Associate partners) to oversee the delivery of the project. The Programme Manager will also develop and secure the agreement of the partners to signing a partnership agreement. In order to ensure all these issues are agreed at the outset of the project, and the project is set up in a suitably controlled environment, the Programme Manager will organise a Kick Off Meeting. The project will be mapped into monthly targets with designated outcomes, outputs and milestones. Monthly reports from the Programme Manager will be submitted to the Professor of Community Psychology and Public Health at OBU. All financial management will be maintained via computerised and manual systems, and monitoring of income and expenditure will be reported on a quarterly basis. Progress reports to the assigned Grant Manager in the EACEA will be completed by required dates, and a final project evaluation will be completed at the end of the project.

  • UK: Liverpool John Moores University

    About

    Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) is a ‘modern’ university located in the city of Liverpool, England. The university is named after John Moores and was previously called Liverpool Mechanics’ School of Arts and later Liverpool Polytechnic before gaining university status in 1992, thus becoming Liverpool John Moores University. The university is a member of the University Alliance, a mission group of British universities established in 2007. It is also a member of the European University Association and the North West Universities Association. At present, LJMU serves more than 24,000 students comprising 20,270 undergraduate students and 4,100 postgraduate students, making it the largest university in Liverpool by student population – as well as the twentieth largest in the United Kingdom.

    The Institute for Health (IHR) was established by LJMU in 2006 to provide a cross-faculty structure for all of the University’s health and health-related research. The primary goals of this research network are to ensure that research in health and social care services has a positive impact on professional practice, and to identify and evaluate new or alternative ways to deliver therapies and services. This network brings together researchers from diverse disciplines including nursing, pharmacy practice, sports and exercise science and public health and involves collaboration with a wide range of NHS and other external organisations. Current research reflects the diversity of expertise and interests. Some key areas are medicines for children, adverse drug reactions, community nursing and medical decision-making. Outcomes from our research have already impacted positively on policy and practice.  Membership of this network will encourage the sharing of best practice across disciplines and facilitate skills transfer while also adding value to traditional approaches to this field of research.

    Primary role in the project

    LJMU’s role in the project will be to sit on the RTD Projects/Stakeholder Research Group, under WP5, to guide this work package and carry out some of the relevant research. In addition to these tasks, LJMU will participate in WP2 (Dissemination), WP3 (Education and Research mapping), WP6 (Quality Planning), WP7 (Networking) and WP9. Management of LJMU’s contribution to the project will be undertaken by two dedicated management teams. Overall responsibility will lie with LJMU’s dedicated EU research and finance office, who have successfully administered and delivered European projects for more than a decade, and ensure all reporting and quality assurance requirements are met. For example, since 2000, the EU finance office has assisted LJMU’s schools and service teams to secure over £40m from the Objective 1 ESF and ERDF programmes; €8m for 28 projects funded under EC FP7; and approximately €175,000 a year under the EC Erasmus student exchange programme. Local management of LJMU’s contribution is undertaken by a dedicated contract management team in the Centre for Public Health. This team is responsible for ensuring that deliverables are delivered on time, to a high quality, and to budget.

  • SK: Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Safarika v Kosiciach

    About

    Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice (PJSU) is recognized as a high quality educational establishment in Slovakia and across Europe. At present the University has five faculties – Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Public Administration and Faculty of Arts – which prepare physicians and dentists, experts in natural sciences, mathematics and informatics, teachers, lawyers, specialists for public administration and specialists for psychology, philosophy and theory of communication. The graduates of our University which is the second oldest in Slovakia, have a very good reputation all over the world. The key mission of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice is to provide higher education based on the newest scientific findings in a wide international context, following the European trends and goals laid down in the Bologna Declaration and other documents.

    The University provides a service to the community by spreading the knowledge through its research and development activities, supporting regional and national initiatives, fostering a learning society and encouraging continuing education. The University thus contributes to the development of culture and education of the public. The University will continue its mission as guarantee of freedom, democracy, humanism and ethics not only in its own academic environment but also in the society.  UPJS’ International Relations Office has considerable experiemce of working in LLP/Erasmus applications and has developed Erasmus Echange relationships with 132 partner institutions across Europe. It also has considerable experience of implementing ECTS framework. The history of the Faculty of Arts at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice began in  2007 . The Faculty of Arts, Šafárik University, has 64 study programmes in the Bc part of the study accredited, as well as 21 study programmes of the MA part of the study. The Academic Ranking Agency (ARRA) presented its seventh rating of Slovak university faculties based on publicly available and verifiable data about the quality of education and research at the individual faculties in 2010. 104 faculties of public universities and 5 faculties of private universities were included into the rating divided into 11 areas. The “rocket” start of the UPJŠ Faculty of Arts and its acquired first place is the only considerable change in the philosophical group. Thanks to the highest number of publications registered in international databases in 2010 and its success in acquiring grants, the Faculty of Arts gained a significant lead amongst all the faculties in the group.

    Primary role in the project

    UPJS’s role in the project will participate especially in WP5: Researching the relevant EU RTD Projects and Stakeholders, bt itting on the WP5 steering group of the project. Also, UPJS will also input into the research, dissemination networking quality planning and implementation aspects of the project (WP2, WP3, WP6, WP7 and WP9). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately UPJS will utilize its existing systems for managing EU projects, which have substantial experience with many similar projects. UPJS staff will participate in relevant project meeting and teleconferences and complete the project activities within the necessary timelines. The two key researchers appointed to the project will also work closely with the International Relations Office, to ensure particularly that WP3, WP6 and WP9 are implemented effectively.

  • SI: Inštitut za raziskave in razvoj

    Inštitut za raziskave in razvoj Utrip , the Institute for Research and Development “Utrip” (UTRIP) was established as a private institution in spring 2006, by a number of Slovenian experts that decided a non-profit organisation was a more appropriate vehicle to develop innovative programs and projects related to the prevention of youth risk behaviour. The Institute leads and participates in several European and national projects and networks co-financed by the European Commission (AMPHORA, ALICE RAP, IREFREA, ProSkills, Club Health etc.) and Government of the Republic of Slovenia (especially school-based and family-based prevention programmes). UTRIP also participate in the Civil Society on Drugs, the European umbrella organization of NGOs in the field of alcohol Eurocare(having become full members from March 2009), the Association of NGOs in the field of drugs in the Republic of Slovenia, MOSA project (mobilization of communities for a more responsible use of alcohol in Slovenia). UTRIP is a leading organisation of the European project “Club Health – Healthy and Safer Nightlife of Youth” (2009-2012) co-funded by the European Commission.

    The institute’s mission is to provide quality development and implementation of programmes and projects and research activities in the area of youth risk behaviour and other risk groups. At the same time UTRIPalso provides education and training for professionals, researchers and volunteers who daily deal with issues of risk behaviour of children, adolescents, young adults and other high-risk population groups (e.g. training of health and social workers, teachers and other professionals in schools, educators, professionals and volunteers in NGOs, government officials, etc.).
    UTRIP is developing a partnership with the narrower and wider community, non-governmental sector, media and industry (especially the entertainment industry, in addition to the media plays a key role in the lifestyle of young people), from local to international level. This increases the level of knowledge and education, and indirectly affects the development of local community and state. UTRIP is also an important factor contributing to the classification of Slovenia during the country’s notable work in this area, since it has many international contacts and is involved in many important projects and R & D networks.  UTRIP’s objectives are to:

    • Be the most modern and most successful R & D institutions in Slovenia, distinctive home and abroad, while continuing to work with the environment in which we live and work.
    • Adapt to the needs and strategic priorities of countries and the European Union as a whole, the needs of children, youth and other at risk populations and the needs of professionals and volunteers in developing education and prevention programmes.
    • Care for the personal growth of children, youth and other high-risk population groups and the qualitative relationships between experts and participants in education, training and retraining.
    • Improve themselves professionally and personal communications on the basis of knowledge and mutual trust within the professional circles.
    • Engage in research and development process of modern technology and equipment, according to them the opportunities to develop and improve, so will be an important component of our work and particularly prevention programmes in practice (increasing access to preventive content by younger generations).
    • In activities that provide general, vocational, technical and other knowledge and skills to develop the quality and accountability for it, while also work with partners to implement and coordinate the common interests of the various possible.
    • With those ways of working to build a market competitive capacity and better prospects in their immediate and wider environment – at local, national and European level.

    Primary role in the project

    UTRIP’s role in the project will be to lead on WP4, to map the European Prevention Workforce Needs (WP4) to better understand employers requirements. Because of UTRIPs involvement in this WP, they will also sit on the PMG, under WP1. In common with the majority of other project partners, they will also participate in WP3, WP6, WP7 and WP9, to input into the Education and Training Research, Quality Planning, Networking and ECTS implementation activities. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UTRIP will use all international and national contacts and experience to assure all tasks are completed on time and in a quality way (especially mapping). Several links to other professional networks, European and governmental institutions will be used to implement project activities.

  • SE: Karolinska Institutet

    About

    Karolinska Institutet (KI) is one of the world´s leading medical universities. KI’s mission is to contribute to the improvement of human health through research and education. Karolinska Institutet accounts for over 40%of the medical academic research conducted in Sweden and offers the country´s broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. Since 1901 the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.KI isranked in the top 50 universities globally, and the top 5 medical universities in Europe.
    Karolinska Institutet offers the widest range of medical education under one roof in Sweden. Several of the programmes include clinical training or other training within the healthcare system. The close proximity of the Karolinska University Hospital and other teaching hospitals in the Stockholm area thus plays an important role during the education. Approximately 6,000 students are taking educational and single subject courses at Bachelor and Master levels at Karolinska Institutet. Teachers at Karolinska Institutet often carry out research in parallel with teaching. This ensures that students are involved in the latest advances within the medical field. Ambitious students, teachers and researchers together create an interesting and stimulating environment. We also offer good opportunities for international exchange, which gives students the chance to work abroad for a period of time.
    With close relationships to the clinical milieu, a well established infrastructure and a stable financial situation, Karolinska Institutet has excellent prerequisites for sustaining high quality research and education.There are international career opportunities for graduates, with close links to the public and private sectors throughout the time of study, as well as opportunities for further PhD studies – which are tuition free.
    Educational programs at the KI comprehend:

    • Professional degree education (e.g. MD, dentist, nursing).
    • Education at the Master level, presently encompassing 6 programs, including Global Health and Public Health Sciences.
    • Research education (PhD degree).

     

    In 2010 about 2000 students were heading to their PhD Degree, which is awarded annually to about 350 of them. Research is carried on at the 22 Departments today established in KI, among which the Department of Public Health Sciences (PHS)is one of the largest. Epidemiology is a core discipline represented in both research and education at the PHS, this latter consisting nowadays of a new track of Public Health Master Degree in Epidemiology. Research projects at the Department are truly international, since many of them are carried on in collaboration with developing countries, and there is a strong emphasis on intervention research. The Department also holds close connections with governmental and regional organs involved in the provision of health care and preventive interventions, such as the National Institute for Public Health, several major Hospitals and primary care centres.
    Karolinska Institutet has established exchange agreements with many universities around the world. The exchanges are carried out within different exchange programmes, including Nordplus, Erasmus, Linnaeus-Palme, INK exchanges and Erasmus Mundus.

    Primary role in the project

    KI’s role in the project will be to lead on WP5, co-ordinating the RTD Projects/Stakeholder Research Group and completing the deliverables under this WP. Because of this WPL role, they will also have a place on the PMG. In common with other partners in the project, they will also input into WP2, WP3, WP6, WP7 and WP9. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, KI will:

    • Ensure participation in and coordination of the assigned WP as appropriate.
    • Circulate information on the Network’s activities within departments and relevant research groups.
    • Use the available liaison with the regional and the national clinical and Public Health sectors in order to promote the results of the Network’s activity.
  • RO: Romanian Angel Appeal

    About

    Since 1991 RAA has been responding to the HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics across Romania through pioneering projects and programs, providing integrated treatment, care and prevention services to more than 4,000 beneficiaries per annum: children, adults, health workers and other professionals. RAA counts of 34 staff members, and 30 collaborators national wide. RAA has been involved in various international programs, is an organization member of National Coordination Committee for Global Fund Romania, Member of the Penta Network. As Principal Recipient of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS TB and Malaria (2007 – ongoing) , RAA coordinated and monitored the activity of 35 governmental and civil society organizations involved in the implementation of the Global Fund HIV and TB grants in Romania.  RAA Foundation continues to work to this day in national and international projects dealing with: HIV and TB prevention; developing and delivering services and social integration opportunities for people affected by HIV, TB and ASD; advocacy campaigns; social, medical and operational research in the area of HIV, TB and ASD.

    Primary role in the project

    RAA’s role in the project will be to sit on the Advisory Board of the project, under WP1, and to contribute to WP2 (dissemination), WP3 (Education and Training Research), WP6 (Quality Planning), WP7 (Networking) and WP9 (ECTS/Quality Plan Implementation). As far as this last WP is concerned, RAA will take a stronger role in contributing to the implementation of this WP, by sitting on the WP Steering Group and taking a strong role in guiding WP9.  In performing this task RAA staff will participate in various Steering Group Meetings and Teleconferences and ensure the achievement of the WP deliverables. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, RAA will participate in the key project activities and meetings and provide an overall advisory role in the project.

  • PT: Universidade de Lisboa

    About

    The Universidade De Lisboa’s (UoL) origins date back to the establishment of the Portuguese University by King Dinis in 1290. Rebuilt in 1911, UoL is a public university with outstanding scientific and cultural tradition. The institution now comprises the following units of teaching and research: Faculty of Fine Arts, Sciences, Law, Pharmacy, Arts, Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology. Institutes of Social Sciences, Education, Prince of Geophysical Louis, Geography and Regional Planning, Interdisciplinary Research (under installation) and Vocational Guidance. The University of Lisbon also includes the Museum of Polytechnic (part of the National Museum of Natural History and Science Museum), the Social Services and the Center for Common Resources and Shared Services. The academic level, the University of Lisbon offers a wide range of courses, graduates and postgraduates in five strategic areas: Arts and Humanities, Economic and Legal Sciences, Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Science and Technology. Teaching, research, science, technology and innovation are central elements in the work that develops the University of Lisbon. It is credible as a university, refreshing and open society that the University of Lisbon wants to build innovative solutions for the future. UoL possess a range of experience in delivering LLP projects and in encouraging and promoting academic networking for best practice and student/staff mobility.

    The Centre for Research in Psychology, University of Lisbon (CIPUL) was created in 1977 under the National Institute of Scientific Research, and since then has continued unabated their scientific activities. The main objectives of CIPUL are to:

    • Provide the necessary support (scientific, administrative, infrastructure) to the activities of Research and Development (R & D) conducted by different research groups that constitute it;
    • Promote R & D in the field of psychology through the supervision of graduate students (masters and doctorates), the training of young researchers and the promotion of post-doctorates;
    • Promoting international cooperation with researchers with similar research interests;
    • Promote interdisciplinary research with other national and international researchers;
    • Supporting scientific partnerships, national and international, in basic research (cognitive, social cognition, evaluation and processes of self-regulation) and applied (health psychology, developmental psychology, guidance and career development, psychotherapy, and approaches to learning);
    • Improving the provision of community services in health, career guidance and counseling, in cooperation with the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Lisbon and other institutions in the areas of education and health;
    • Increase the dissemination of scientific knowledge through participation in national and international conferences, publishing in journals with peer review, books for professionals and the general public, and the organization of scientific meetings and seminars for advanced training.

    Primary role in the project

    UoL’s (CIPUL) role in the project will be to support and to welcome the development of transnational research and training activities for graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral students, to disseminate SPAN activities among UoL academic community and to aggregate volunteers willing to collaborate in such activities. It will achieve this goal by playing an active role on the Dissemination Steering Group (under WP2) and also participate equally in WP3, WP6, WP7 and WP9, thereby ensuring UoL possess the ability to input into the networking, dissemination, research and QA elements of the project.

  • PL: Instytut Psychiatrii i Neurologii

    Instytut Psychiatrii i Neurologii, or the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology (IPIN), is a research center specializing in the development of new methods of treatment and rehabilitation of mental and neurological disorders. It has modern diagnostic and clinical facilities, enabling the diagnosis and treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Assists in the hospital, as well as through consultation on an outpatient basis. Re-organisation of the Institute structure was started in 1972 and new clinical and research departments and laboratories were added to the existing ones. Extensive epidemiological, clinical and basic research programmes were launched on genetics, pathogenesis and treatment of schizophrenia, affective disorders, alcohol and drug abuse; psychopharmacology, psychotherapy and neurochemistry.

    New diagnostic and research techniques, including computerised tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), were introduced in the last decade. Simultaneously, the Institute acted as a psychiatric and neurological hospital developing new methods of diagnosis and treatment, as well as a postgraduate training centre for psychiatrists, neurologists and clinical psychologists. The multidirectional scientific activities of the Institute have met with international recognition. The Institute collaborates with over 20 scientific centres abroad. In 1992 the Institute was appointed by the World Health Organisation as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health.

    Current tasks of the Institute include:

    • treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders, as well as of alcohol and drug dependence;
    • development of a national mental health policy and programme;
    • collection and dissemination of epidemiological data on mental and neurological disorders;
    • research in the area of:
      • diagnosis and classification of mental disorders;
      • health-related psychosocial factors;
      • evaluation of the services for the mentally ill;
      • biological aspects of mental disorders;
      • biological and psychopharmacological aspects of alcohol and drug dependence;
      • diagnosis and classification of vascular and degenerative disorders of the CNS,
      • pathogenesis of vascular and degenerative disorders.
    • postgraduate training in psychiatry, neurology, neurophysiology, psychotherapy/family therapy and clinical psychology.

     

    The aims of the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology are to improve health care in the field of psychiatry and neurology and to conduct research in these fields. Different disciplines are represented by 25 departments including, among others, four departments of psychiatry, two departments of neurology, the department for neurotic disorders and psychotherapy, the department of child and adolescence psychiatry and department of forensic psychiatry. Basic research, frequently in co-operation with clinical units, is conducted by several departments and laboratories such as department of biochemistry, department of pharmacology and physiology, department of genetics and department of clinical neurophysiology.
    The Institute has made a significant contribution to the programme of psychiatric and neurological services. Many regulations and legislative acts were prepared with a contribution from the Institute, including the Act of 1982 on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism, the Law of 1985 on Preventing Drug Dependence, and the Mental Health Act, which was passed by the Parliament in 1994. As a consequence of the Mental Health Act, a Mental Health Programme for Poland was drafted by the Institute in collaboration with the WHO and then accepted by the Ministry of Health at the beginning of 1995. The Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology is responsible for the implementation of the programme and it’s revision. The most recent revision has been submitted to Ministry of Health and will be reviewed and, hopefully, accepted by the Cabinet.
    The Institute publishes three journals: Advances in Psychiatry and Neurology; Alcohol and Drug Abuse; and Pharmacotherapy in Psychiatry and Neurology). The Statistical Yearbook is also published every year, containing statistical data on activities of all Polish psychiatric facilities.
    IPIN’s role in the project will be to sit on the Dissemination Steering Group (WP2) and the Prevention Science Education and Training Mapping Steering Group (WP3), supporting the WPL implement the work package. In addition, in common with other partners in the project, they will input into the networking, quality planning and implementation aspects of the proposal (in WP6, WP7 and WP9). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, IPN will delegate two trainers/researchers experienced in providing training in prevention/evaluation and relevant research to the project. They will develop robust systems for planning and implementing the project, in a controlled environment.

  • NL: Verwey-Jonker Instituut

    About

    Verwey-Jonker Institute is a national, independent institute for applied research into social issues. The Institute has a longstanding reputation on policy-strategic and evaluative research into social issues. The outcomes are being used to make adjustments in policies of organisations and governments. The 50 staff members have different scientific backgrounds to cover social (welfare) policy in its broadest sense. Research projects are financed by government bodies at different levels, including the European Commission. Some topics of research are: youth participation, youth welfare, citizenship, volunteering, socialisation, social integration issues, inclusion of ethnic minority youth and disadvantaged youth, and governance strategies for youth policy. At European level the institute participated in a fifth framework project on participatory democracy in European cities (DEMOS) and takes part in one sixth framework project on social cohesion (KATARSIS) and two seventh framework projects: one on Faith Based Organisations and Poverty in European Cities (FACIT) and one on the use of ICT for social inclusion of marginalised youth (INCLUSO). It conducted several projects for DG Employment (Equal, gender equality), for DG Justice, Freedom and Security (INTI, DAPHNE). The institute was involved in the European evaluation of the Youth Community Action programme 2000-2006. The institute has also experience with the coordination of European projects such as the coordination of the ISRD-survey in 6 New Member State of European Union. One of the recent studies of the institutes is about the effectiveness of a community intervention model, Communities that Care, for the prevention of alcohol and drug use and other problem behaviour of young people in the Netherlands. The Institute also conducted a bi-national study on alcohol and drugs among adolescents in the USA and the Netherlands. There is a second bi-national study started recently on community prevention systems in the Netherlands and the USA. The Verwey-Jonker Institute coordinates a big European prevention program on Alcohol Abuse among Adolescents in 25 European countries (‘Effective Environmental Strategies for the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse among Adolescents in Europe’). This three year project (in which we cooperate on regular basis with Universities from Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Belgium, Italy, but also with partners from 19 other European countries) aims to study the different possible effective strategies for the prevention of alcohol abuse among adolescents in different European countries.

    Primary role in the project

    VJI’s role in the project will be to lead the impolementation of WP8, by establishing a Virtual Networking and Learning Steering Group. In addition, as a WP lead VJI will input into WP1 by sitting on the PMG and in WP2, WP6 and WP7. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, VJI will establish a clear terms of reference for the Virtual Networking and Learning Steering Group, will maintain strong relationships with partners and clearly assign actions to them.

  • MT: Universita ta’ Malta

    About

    Universita ta’ Malta, or the University of Malta is the highest educational institution in Malta offering undergraduate Bachelor’s Degrees, postgraduate Master’s Degrees and postgraduate Doctorates (PhD). The University of Malta is the highest teaching institution in Malta. It is publicly funded and is open to all those who have the requisite qualifications. Over the past few years, the University has reviewed its structures in order to be in line with the Bologna process and the European Higher Education Area. Conscious of its public role, the University strives to create courses which are relevant and timely in response to the needs of the country. The supreme governing bodies of the University are the Council and the Senate.

    There are some 10,000 students including over 600 foreign/exchange students from nearly 60 different countries, following full-time or part-time degree and diploma courses, many of them run on the modular or credit system. A basic Foundation Studies Course enables international high school students who have completed their secondary or high school education overseas but who do not have the necessary entry requirements, to qualify for admission to an undergraduate degree course at the University of Malta.

    The University is geared towards the infrastructural and industrial needs of the country so as to provide expertise in crucial fields. Almost 3,000 students graduate in various disciplines annually. The degree courses at the University are designed to produce highly qualified professionals, with experience of research, who will play key roles in industry, commerce and public affairs in general. There are a further 2,800 pre-tertiary students at the Junior College which is also managed by the University.

    The degree courses at the University are designed to produce highly qualified professionals, with experience of research, who will play key roles in industry, commerce and public affairs in general. The University of Malta aims to maintain and confirm its place as a research-intensive institution. Research activity is at the very heart of the University’s vision, to stimulate teaching and to build strong links with business and industry as well as with other academic institutions. The Faculty of Medicine and Surgery incorporates 12 departments and is responsible for all the teaching and training of medical and pharmacy students at the University of Malta. The Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics is a key department in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery serving several degree courses at the University. It is responsible for co-ordinating all the pharmacology modules and related practical and tutorial sessions for the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Law. On a postgraduate level, the Department runs its own M.Sc. (Pharmacology/Clinical Pharmacology) course, which is offered every two years as a part-time degree programme.

    A pharmacotoxicology study unit is also available. It also offers M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes within its main research areas. The principle research activities of the department focus on the pharmacology of drugs used chronic disorders and abuse and misuse of prescribed and over the counter medication. It collaborates closely with the Departments of Medicine, Neurology and Paediatrics at Mater Dei Hospital and the Caritas Malta Epilepsy Association both in research activities as well as in the organization of academic conferences. The Department also works closely with the Medicines Authority in Malta and members of the department have been appointed as experts on the Pharmacogenomics working party of the European Medicines Agency. It has also successfully obtained RTDI research funds from the Malta Council for Science and Technology. On the international level, the Department has collaborated with the University of Minnesota in organising an International Pharmacokinetics School. It also has strong research links with Queen’s University of Belfast, N. Ireland, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham and the European Epilepsy Academy (EUREPA). Members of the Department also participate in several UNESCO and EU international funded projects

    Primary role in the project

    UoM’s role in the project will be to sit on the Quality Planning Group under WP6 and to take over the leadership in this group in WP9.In addition, in common with other partners, UoM will input into WP2, WP3, WP7 and WP9. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UoM will allow staff time to participate in this project and use its experience and systems for delivering transnational EU funded research projects to add value to the overall project.

  • LV: Latvijas Universitates Filozofijas un socioloģijas institūts

    About

    Latvijas Universitates Filozofijas un socioloģijas institūts, or the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia (LUFSI) is a research institute that initially was founded in 1981 as and institute within the Latvian Academy of Sciences; since 1997 it is integrated in the University of Latvia and since 2006 transformed into an academic institute of the University. Institute of Philosophy and Sociology (LUFSI) operates as an unaffiliated legal entity and it has 60 academic employees.
    LUFSI is the only institute in Latvia that has been engaged in an integrated interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences. The main directions have a number of subdivisions.In sociology the work is conducted under the following subdivisions:

    • Ethnopolitics, ethnic relations and the problems of society integration, national identity changes in Latvia, the intellectual tradition of Russian culture in Latvia, Old Believers in Latvia.
    • National Oral History.
    • Youth and Education Research, social exclusion and deviant behaviour.

    Since 2008 the youth problem research directions in LUFSI have been formed by joining two projects and that is why they refer to the analysis of two different aspects of young people’s life – the problems of embarking on independent life and the risk of substance or process dependence formation. Youth research is one of the research directions of LUFSI for more than two decades, a stable research team has emerged that covers most different aspects of young people’s lives: education, employment, free time spending, identity formation and values, health characteristics, habits of substance abuse, initiation of substance and process abuse etc. The research team has prepared and published a number of collective monographs; the last one entitled The Portrait of Latvian Youth: Integration into Society and Marginalization Risks (2009). Separate youth problem research results are published in more than ten monographic editions and made use of in preparing more than 50 scholarly publications. The next monograph devoted to the portrayal of Latvian youth summarizing the project research results is to appear in 2012.
    The project researchers (R.Rungule, I.Koroleva, I.Trapenciere, S.Snikere, I. Mierina, I. Karklina, M. Trapencieris, A.Aleksandrovs) have joined the International Sociological Association (ISA) and European Sociological Association (ESA) youth research group, regularly presenting work at Youth sociological sections in World Sociological congresses and forums, world youth researcher conferences, European sociological conferences and Northern youth researcher’s conferences.
    Part of the project researchers are involved in the European Social Survey (ESS) andon regular basis improcvingtheir qualification at GESIS courses mastering comparative research methodology as well as the database analysis methods that are not yet widely used in Latvia.
    Since 1999 LUFSI researchers work on the implementation of largest comparative and national surveys on addictions: ESPAD (waves III, IV and V), ECAD (European Cities against Drugs, waves I, II and III), GPS on drugs and alcohol, national surveys on work safety, researches on drug use in entertainment places, traffic accidents in the context of alcohol use, drug use in prisons and among youth risk groups.
    All the researchers have perfected their experience working under the APA grant scheme in Europe (EEA) on The Risk of Dependence Formation among Youth: Comparative Analysis of the Baltic and Northern States (2009-2010) that included analysis of ECAD data from four countries for all the three waves.
    Within the framework of ESPAD in cooperation with the specialists from the Public Helath Agency the researchers organized a conference: Deviancy of Youth and the Risks of Social Rejection (Riga, October 20–21, 2009) with the participation of specialists and researchers from 34 countries. In 2011 at the World Latvian Congress of Scientists a youth problem research section was organized at which 20 researchers and youth policy makers participated with reports. In its turn in cooperation with The Reykjavik University Iceland Social Research and Analysis Centre (headed by Jon Sigurdson) a seminar was organized to share the work experience: Risk for Developing of Dependence Syndrome within Youth: Comparative Analysis of Situation in Baltic and Nordic States (May 19-25, 2010).
    All the project researchers are involved in the organizational work of the international conference Youth in Latvia, Europe, the World: Possibilities and Risks. The conference is to signify the conclusion of the work on the project in June 2012. Its is designed to analyse youth problems in Latvia and the world, to draw wider attention to the youth problem research results, to form a closer cooperation among researchers and the youth policy makers.

    Primary role in the project

    UoL’s role in the project will be to sit on the Steering Group for WP7 and WP8, the physical networking and virtual networking/learning elements. In addition, in common with other partners, they will also input into WP2 (dissemination) and WP3, WP6 and WP9 (Mapping, Quality Planning and ECTS implementation) In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, LU FSI will involve inthe project the necessary number of the human resources and will use special project management software system to plan and monitor activities. UoL will also ecchange best practice and learning in the project, to achieve the project outcomes.

  • LT: Vilnius University

    About

    Vilnius University, one of the oldest and most famous of Central and Eastern European universities, founded in 1579. For a long time being the only higher education institution in Lithuania, the university had a significant impact not only in Lithuania but also in neighboring countries and cultural life, nurtured a number of scholars, poets and people of culture time.  The Faculty of Philosophy is an integral part of the Old Vilnius University – the start of its activity dates back to the foundation of the University itself in 1579. The modern Faculty of Philosophy of today was reopened in 1989, after more than a 200-year interval. Modern philosophy and sociology study programmes were developed, psychology – hitherto a part of the studies in the Faculty of History – was reinstated into its curriculum, and a new speciality – social work – was launched. The Faculty of Philosophy has again become an institution of wide-spectrum humanitarian and social education and science, with its staff composed of over 50 prominent Lithuanian scientists and lecturers, including philosopher. Today, the Faculty of Philosophy is a wide-spectrum institution of science and education that offers study programmes in philosophy, educology, psychology, social work and sociology as well as organizes scientific research in those areas. By their research, creative effort and educational activity, the lecturers and researchers of the Faculty strive to provide a wide-spectrum tertiary humanitarian and social academic education, to build professional competence as well as to develop creative, daring and free people. Currently, the faculty has signed over 60 bilateral agreements with foreign higher education institutions from 16 countries on cooperation in the organization of the Lifelong Learning / Erasmus faculty and student exchange program. Initiated within 50 practices in the organization of bilateral agreements with the Lithuanian authorities on the undergraduate and graduate degree programs for students practice. Active in cooperation with social partners in joint projects, research, exchange of relevant information.

    Primary role in the project

    VU’s role in the project will be to actively participate on the Workforce Skills Research Group (WP4) and on the Quality Planning Group (WP6). In common with guiding these WP’s VU will also input time into WP2 (supporting the dissemination), WP3 (mapping the sector), WP7 (networking) and WP9 (quality plan implementation). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, VU will be responsible for coordination and quality assurance of the activities assigned in the project and for administrative/financial management of it’s as a partner part. To ensure the quality of participation as partner in the project an experienced project management group will be appointed for all project implementation period: one person will be appointed for project administrative and financial work and three persons from teaching staff will work for project activities implementation. One person from the teaching staff (main contact person) will be responsible for coordinating activities, keeping contact with the contact persons and the coordinator and partners institutions, controlling the project tasks.

  • IT: Universita' Degli Studi Del Piemonte Orientale, Amedeo Avogadr

    About

    Universita’ Degli Studi Del Piemonte Orientale, Amedeo Avogadr (UPO). The University of Piemonte Orientale was born as a decentralized part of the University of Torino in 1990, and became an autonomous university in 1998. It has three campuses, one in Vercelli (where the central offices are located, as well as the Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy), one in Novara (with the Faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Economy), and one in Alessandria (with the Faculties of Sciences, Law, and Political Science). The University offers 30 bachelor degrees, 17 master (laurea specialistica) degrees, 16-advanced medical school degrees, and one Doctoral School. The University has 54 didactic and 38 research partnerships with foreign universities. Universita’ Degli Studi Del Piemonte Orientale has extensive experience of working in Erasmus and has signed over 60 Exchange Agreements with partner institutions across Europe. The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” currently has a training program designed to meet the needs of those wishing to move towards a profession in health and biomedical research. Alongside the traditional degree course in one cycle Medicine and Surgery , are active, two Master of Science in Nursing and Midwifery and Medical Biotechnology, and eight three-year degree courses, some with seats / poles teaching in other cities in the Piedmont (Alba, Alessandria, Biella, Fossano, Tortona and Verbania).

    The training activities are carried out largely in collaboration with the University Hospital “Maggiore of Charity” in Novara, Piedmont to the second in number of beds, but considered the first in efficiency by regional bodies. The lectures take place at the Salesian Institute and at the area reserved for Teaching Medicine at the University Complex (former barracks) Perrone. Also offering post-graduate training is of particular importance, and consists of 17 Schools of Specialization , 5 University Master I level and 4 level II , 3 PhD and 1 Course. The research activity is carried out in medicine, managed by the two departments (Health Sciences and Translational Medicine), is of high standard. The working groups that operate in laboratories and at the Palazzo Bellini University Hospital each year, in fact, produce a considerable amount of data, which are published in major international journals and obtain substantial funding from both private and public entities. The brilliance is fostered by the constant organization of seminars, conducted by researchers of undisputed value, and preparatory to increasingly intense exchanges between the groups operating in our departments and the best international companies.

    Primary role in the project

    UPO’s role in the project will be focused on mapping the European Tertiary Prevention Science Education and Training Sector, through participation on the Education and Training Steering Group in WP3. In particular UPO will contribute in designing the research methodologies able to drawn an accurate map of the European education activities. UPO will also contribute in conducting the data collection and analysis. Once the mapping exercise will be concluded, UPO will contribute to the matching exercise between prevention needs (developed by WP3), and the actual picture of the European Tertiary Education drawn by WP4, in order to identify gaps and draft possible recommendations for close these gaps. In addition to these inputs UPO will participate in WP2, WP6, WP7 and WP9, ensuring suitable inputs into the networking, dissemination and quality implementation aspects of the project. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UPO will accomplish the quality of the planned activities within all workpackages, the correspondent outcomes, the defined milestones and expected results; by assuring the communication and transparency of the information among the consortium as well as the communication with Programme Manager Authority.

  • IS: Háskóli Íslands

    About

    The University of Iceland (Icelandic: Háskóli Íslands) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country’s oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants’ school to a modern comprehensive university, providing instruction for about 14,000 students in twenty-five faculties. Subjects covered include social sciences, humanities, medicine, natural sciences, engineering and teacher education. It has a campus concentrated around Suðurgata street in central Reykjavík, with additional facilities located in nearby areas as well as in the countryside. The University of Iceland is a progressive educational and scientific institution, renowned in the global scientific community for its research. It is a state university, situated in the heart of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. A modern, diversified and rapidly developing institution, the University of Iceland offers opportunities for study and research in almost 300 programmes spanning most fields of science and scholarship: Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Humanities, Education, Natural Sciences and Engineering.
    The International Office at the University of Iceland (Office of International Education – Alþjóðaskrifstofa háskólastigsins) assists students, professors and the university administration in relation to the university’s participation in multinational cooperation, such as in Erasmus, Nordplus, ISEP and MAUI, in addition to various bilateral agreements. The office serves both Icelandic and international students.The School of Social Sciences is the largest school within the University of Iceland, and offers a multitude of academic programmes in six faculties: Faculty of Social and Human Sciences; Faculty of Social Work; Faculty of Economics; Faculty of Law; Faculty of Political Science and Faculty of Business Administration. Academic programmes are diverse, and great flexibility allows students to select a major and minor discipline, or to specialise within their selected discipline.

    Primary role in the project

    HI’s role in the project will be to sit on WP9, overseeing the implementation of the Quality Plan, and the development of the Prevention Science ECTS framework. HI will also input into WP2 (Dissemination), WP5 (RTD Project/Stakeholder Mapping), WP6 (Quality Planning) and WP7 (Networking). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, the School ofSocial Sciences at HI will work closely with the International Office to implement this project. HI will participate in the various project meetings and events and provide support to deliver WP9.

  • IE: National University of Ireland Galway

    About

    The National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) was established in 1845, and with over 16,000 students and more than 2,200 staff, is one of Ireland’s foremost centres of academic excellence. NUIG has a distinguished reputation for teaching and research excellence in the fields of arts, social science, and Celtic studies; business, public policy and law; engineering and informatics; medicine, nursing and health sciences; and science.NUIG offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and diplomas of international standard, which provide students with opportunities for personal and academic development, as well as giving them the knowledge and skills they need to pursue successful careers. The University’s approach to innovative programme development means that courses are developed to reflect the ever-changing needs of the job market and the economy.
    Today, approximately 1200 of NUIG’s 16,000 students are enrolled as international students for a semester or a year, or are taking full degree programmes. NUIG has a long and valued tradition of learning and scholarship and in recent years the University has committed itself to expanding and deepening its international links through staff and student exchanges and research collaboration. The Discipline of Health Promotion is the only one of its kind in Ireland and was established with the support of the Department of Health as part of a revised National Structure for Health Promotion.
    Its brief is to develop training and education courses in the field of health promotion and to carry out relevant research. The Discipline of Health Promotions mission is to promote health and well being, and to reduce inequities in health by:

    • Providing high quality and innovative education and training.
    • Stimulating, conducting, and disseminating exemplary research.
    • Contributing to the development of healthy public policy and best practice in health promotion.
    • Working in the University and the wider community in ways that reflect and support the principles and values of health promotion.

    The Health Promotion Research Centre (HPRC) at the National University of Ireland Galway was established in 1990 with support from the Irish Department of Health. The Centre produces high quality research, of national and international significance, that supports the development of best practice and policy in the promotion of health. As the only designated research centre in Ireland dedicated to health promotion, the Centre collaborates with regional, national and international agencies, including the EU and WHO, on the development and evaluation of health promotion initiatives. The Centre has an active multidisciplinary research programme in place with over 30 staff undertaking independent, commissioned and consultancy work (further details at http://www.nuigalway.ie/hpr). The Centre has attracted circa €15 million of external research funding and was designated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre in 2009. Staff of the Centre also contribute to educational programmes in Health Promotion and the supervision of Doctoral and Masters research dissertations.

    Primary role in the project

    NUIG’s role in the project will be lead on the Dissemination work package of this project (WP2). This will necessite NUIG establishing a Dissemination Steering Group at the outset of ther project, which will meet periodically over the lifetime of the project. Because of their involvement in this WP, they will also sit on the Project Management Group (WP1). In addition to the above, NUIG will have an input into WP3, agreeing the research methodology and providing data to guide the mapping exercicse, WP6 to ensure the quality plan develops appropriately, WP7 to ensure they are able t share their best practice and experiences, and WP9 to implement the ECTS framework across the EU. As far as managing this project appropriately is concerned, the Health Promotion Research Centre has substantial experienced in the management of large-scale research projects of national and international significance. We have an experienced team of project leaders and researchers drawn from a wide range of disciplines, together with dedicated administrative staff. The Centre operates collaboratively, with well-developed research management protocols, in accordance with recognised best practice. In order to deliver this project NUIG will establish a Dissemination Steering Group to guide the implementation of the WP. NUIG will be responsible for developing a Dissemination Plan, a project logo and a range of marketing collateral, as set out in the plan. Through the mechanism of the PMG and the Dissemination Steering Group, the NUIG will develop press release and email marketing templates. Regular communication between the partners will ensure the co-ordination of marketing activity. The steering Group will also be responsible for organising the final Dissemination conference.

  • HU: Eötvös Loránd University

    About

    Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), the longest continuously serving university of Hungary, was founded in 1635. It serves the interests of high quality education and research, building upon the best European traditions. The mission of ELTE is to preserve and enrich national and universal culture, to cultivate science and to pass on academic knowledge, as well as to shape and satisfy the real, long-term needs of Hungarian society and of mankind. ELTE aims to educate intellectuals with up-to-date knowledge and versatile culture, who:

    • Can identify and analyze problems, and who are able to propose problem-solving strategies and bring about responsible decisions.
    • Seek consensus, understanding and respecting different cultures.
    • Are aware of their individual responsibilities with regard to the future of their immediate environment, of Hungary, of Europe and of mankind.
    • Represent the values of professionalism, solidarity and humanism; and
    • respect universal ethical norms¸ human dignity and the freedom of thought and opinion.

    In harmony with all the above and its four centuries of tradition, ELTE aims:

    • To offer, through the joint efforts of its members, valuable, up-to-date knowledge, modern thinking and competitive degrees to its students.
    • To give high priority to programs at Master’s and PhD levels and above; and to widen the range of inter- and multidisciplinary programs and of courses offered in foreign languages, as well as programs conducted in partnership with top-ranking foreign universities.
    • To pursue research, development and innovation activities that are globally acclaimed and capable of responding to complex social challenges, and which focus on social and technological issues still to be tackled, and thus to perform its role as a competitive research university in Europe.
    • To foster the development of talented individuals and to increase the numbers of highly qualified and productive instructors and researchers by providing them with an attractive teaching and research environment.
    • To maintain a value-based and efficient relationship with its immediate and broader context, thus acting as one of the leading university centers of the Central European region.

    Motivated by the conviction that a high standard of teaching at a university is inconceivable without high-quality research, ELTE aims to represent both sides of the traditional concept of a universitas, and at a high level: the creative community of instructors and students (universitas magistrorum et discipulorum) and the ideal of an institution actively engaged in the pursuit of many scientific and scholarly disciplines (universitas scientiarum).
    The Faculty embraces disciplines of long tradition: Pedagogy, the old discipline of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), and Psychology, which was first established here in our country, and undertakes the amalgamation of these two in the area of teacher training. The historically significant reorganisation of the Hungarian higher education – Bologna Process – brings the education of Community Culture (as a special field of Andragogy) close to our profile, which is organised by our Faculty as well, and the Physical Education also belongs to our organisational units. The Institute of Psychology is one of the main institutions of Hungarian psychological education and research. With a growing reputation for research and innovation, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE – the longest continuously serving university of Hungary), provides its diverse student population with high quality education and research, building upon the best European traditions. The mission of ELTE is to preserve and enrich national and universal culture, to cultivate science and to pass on academic knowledge. The number of our lecturers exceeds 100 and we maintain good professional relations with more than 50 organizations which offer internship possibilities for our students. We put special emphasis on research and development projects, where international cooperation and the collaboration of our teachers, research fellows and students are both priorities.  Institute of Psychology with its 9 faculties and 6 research groups is involved in approximately 20 large scale research projects, more than 50% of these projects are carried out in collaboration with European Universities and Research centres. The research projects cover a wide range of topics from psychophysiology to political psychology including psycho genetics, personality disorders, addiction related problems and the study of social attitudes and cognitive systems. Eötvös Lorand University, Dept. of Clinical Psychology and Addictions (ELTE) is newly formulated department of the Faculty with 4 full time researchers and 9 Ph.D students mostly interested in health psychology, addiction research, prevention activities.

    Primary role in the project

    ELTE’s role in the project will be to sit on the RTD Projects/Stakeholder Research Group (WP5) and to input into WP2, WP3, WP6, WP7 and WP9. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, ELTE Institute of Psychology will provide research, dissemination and management capacities in order to be able to meet the requirements of the proposed project. We will also work closely with Corvinus University of Budapest to implement this project.

  • HR: Sveučilište u Zagrebu, University of Zagreb

    About

    Founded in the second half of the 17th century, the University of Zagreb is the oldest Croatian university and also the oldest one in South Eastern Europe. It is the biggest educational and research institution in Croatia, contributing with more than 50% to the yearly research output of the country.
    The University of Zagreb aims;

    • To continue to develop as a leading research & teaching institution in the region.
    • To develop & apply new ideas & technologies.
    • To implement international dimension in all areas of research & studies.
    • To promote & support mobility programmes.
    • To develop joint & double degrees.
    • To develop continuous education.
    • To promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.
    • To contribute to economic progress & sustainable development of the society as a whole.

    The Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences is an institution of higher education of the University of Zagreb. It is the central and unique higher education institution in the Republic of Croatia providing education for professionals who will work with persons who have special needs. In 2007, the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences celebrated its 45 birthday. The core activities of the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences are scientific and educational, including scientific-research and professional training, defined in line with the obligation of organizing and implementing the university studies – undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate doctor’s degree and specialized as well as scientific-research; organization and implementation of the lifelong learning programme; organization and management of scientific and professional conferences and symposiums, professional counselling and other types of events; publishing activities; development of expert studies, expert opinions, professional programmes, to provide research and development services in the institutions and commercial businesses; implementation of the programme of prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation or treatment of the persons experiencing social integration difficulties and language-speech communication difficulties. Undergraduate/graduate studies: (1) Rehabilitation studies, (2) Speech and Language Pathology Studies, (3) Social Pedagogy Studies. Postgraduate studies: (1) Postgraduate specialized studies of Early Intervention in the Education and Rehabilitation and (2) Ph.D. study programme Prevention Science and Disability Studies. The Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb participates very actively in all aspects of international cooperation with foreign universities. That cooperation enables our students and employees the exchange of know-how. It also enables the foreign students and teachers to get better acquainted with all the activities at our Faculty and obtain high-quality professional development.

    Primary role in the project

    UoZ ERF’s role in the project will be to sit on the Workforce Skills Research Group, to guide the implementation of WP4. UoZERF will also input into WP2, WP3, WP6, WP7, WP9, in common with other partners. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UoZ ERF will use all disposable resources at the institution – teaching and non teaching, scientific and administrative/technical staff as well as lecture rooms and equipment.

  • FR: L'Instance régionale d'éducation et de promotion de la santé

    About

    The IREPS Bretagne has four principal missions :

    1. To develop and structure the offer of prevention and health promotion in the Brittany region.

    The IREPS coordinates the Regional Pole of Competencies in health education and promotion, and provides methodological support to policy makers and institutions

    2. To strengthen professionals’ specialization and quality of practice.

    The IREPS is involved in training programs for students and professionals, methodological counselling, organization of seminars, distribution of prevention tools, and specialized documentation.

    3. To develop the field of health education and promotion. \n

    The IREPS conceptualizes, writes and distributes reports and publications, including research and studies.

    4. To support its own professionals’ skills and expertise

    This project will be managed through the Regional Pole of Competencies in health education and promotion, which associates seven non-profit organizations in Brittany. These organizations are all specialized in health education and promotion, whether through thematic (addictions, aids, cancer prevention…), populational (young people…) or global approaches. They have been working together for 8 years and are used to provide coordinate work. The project management will benefit from the collaboration with the EHESP, National School of High Studies in Public Health.

    Primary role in the project

    IREPS’s role in the project will be to sit on the Advisory Board of the project, under WP1, and to maintain an overview of WP2 (dissemination), WP3 (Education and Training Research), WP6 (Quality Planning) and WP7 (Networking).In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, IREPS will participate fully in the project, helping advise OBU on their views of the project and guide its overall implementation.

  • FI: University of Turku

    About

    Turun Yliopisto, or the University of Turku (UTU) is an internationally acknowledged, multidisciplinary scientific university located on the Southwest coast of Finland, in the city of Turku. With over 21,000 students and 3,500 employees, it is one of the major universities in Finland. The Faculty of Social Sciences hosts three departments: The Department of Behavioural Sciences and Philosophy, the Department of Political Science and Contemporary History*, and the Department of Social Research. *The Peer Relations Research Group is in the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Philosophy. The group is led by professor Christina Salmivalli and it focuses on the peer relations of children and youth, especially aggressive behavior and peer-to-peer bullying in the school context. Research themes include the mechanisms of aggressive behaviors and exchanges at the individual, dyadic, classroom, and school levels. A major accomplishment during the past six years has been the development and evaluation of a national bullying prevention program, KiVa, which is currently being implemented in 90% of Finnish comprehensive schools. The most recent line of research consists of studies investigating the effects of the KiVa anti-bullying program, along with the mediators and moderators of these effects, utilizing Finnish samples collected during a large randomized controlled trial and during nationwide dissemination of the KiVa program. Further, evaluations of the KiVa program outside of Finland have recently begun (Delaware, Netherlands, Wales).

    Christina Salmivalli, PhD, is a Professor of psychology at the University of Turku, Finland. She and her team have done school based research on bullying and its prevention for over 20 years. Prof Salmivalli is the principal investigator of the evaluation of KiVa antibullying program. The program received first prize in the European Crime Prevention Awards (2009) for increasing student safety and wellbeing and reducing the risk of being bullied, and several national awards in Finland (the Humanist Act of the Year, 2008; The Child Act of the Year, 2010, Campus Award, 2012). The latest evaluation study of KiVa received the 2012 Social Policy Award for best article in the SRA (Society for Research on Adolescence) conference in Vancouver this year. Salmivalli has published numerous widely cited research articles, reviews, book chapters and books on the topic of school bullying. Salmivalli has been leading several large-scale projects funded by the Academy of Finland and other funding organizations in Finland and at the European level. Recent relevant publications include:

    • Kärnä, A., Voeten, M., Little, T., Poskiparta, E., Kaljonen, A., & Salmivalli, C. ( 2011). A large-scale evaluation of the KiVa anti-bullying program: Grades 4-6. Child Development, 82, 311-330.
    • Salmivalli, C., Kärnä, A., & Poskiparta, E. (2011) Counteracting bullying in Finland: The KiVa program and its effects on different forms of being bullied. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 405-411.
    • Kärnä, A., Voeten, M., Little, T., Alanen, E., Poskiparta, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2011). Going to Scale: A nonrandomized nationwide trial of the KiVa antibullying program for comprehensive schools. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 796-805.
    • Smith, P.K., Salmivalli, C., & Cowie, H. (2012). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: A response. Journal of Experimental Criminology.

     

    Silja Saarento, MA (Psych), currently works as a doctoral student in the Peer Relations Research Group in the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Philosophy, University of Turku. Her research focuses on the individual-, classroom-, and school-level risk factors for bullying and victimization as well as on the working mechanisms of the KiVa antibullying program at the multiple levels. In addition to research activities, Saarento’s work includes collaborating with and training teachers implementing the KiVa program. Publications include:

    • Saarento, S., Kärnä, A., Hodges, E., & Salmivalli, C. (second revision submitted, August 2012). Student-, classroom-, and school-level risk factors for victimization. Journal of School Psychology.
    • Saarento, S., Boulton, A., & Salmivalli, C. (in preparation). Reducing bullying and victimization: Student- and classroom-level mechanisms of change.

    Primary role in the project

    UTU’s role in the project will be to be involved on the Steering Group in WP8, focussing on the creation of a Virtual Learning Environment. In addition, UTU will sit on the Advisory Board of the project, under WP1, and to maintain an overview of WP2 (dissemination), WP3 (Education and Training Research), WP6 (Quality Planning) and WP7 (Networking). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UTU will support the Project Co-ordinator in their overall implementation, provide guidance on the virtual aspects of the project and ensure the partnership is performing as effectively as it could.

  • FI: Helsingin Yliopisto

    About

    Helsingin Yliopisto, or the University of Helsinki (UoH), is one of the best multidisciplinary research universities in the world. The high-quality research carried out by the university creates new knowledge for educating diverse specialists in various fields, and for utilisation in social decision-making and the business sector. The university, with almost 4,000 researchers and teachers, operates on four campuses in Helsinki and at 17 other locations. There are 35,000 students, and a further 30,000 participate in adult education. University of Helsinki (UoH), Faculty of Medicine houses five institutes: the Institute of Biomedicine, the Institute of Dentistry, the Hjelt Institute, the Institute of Clinical Medicine, and the Haartman Institute (clinical-theoretical medicine).
    Helsingin Yliopisto’s Department of International Exchange Services also has significant experience of organising exchange programes and Erasmus Agreements with a range of partner institutions. The Departments of Forensic Medicine and Public Health at the University of Helsinki were merged in early 2010, to form the Hjelt Institute. The Department of Public Health Department trains medical students, doctoral degree graduate students performing as well as health care, and physicians specializing in occupational health care. In addition, the facility is responsible for all specialty areas specializing in local leadership training. The Department work function of epidemiology, medical sociology, health economics, health care management, genetics and occupational health experts. Scientists doing research cooperation with many domestic and international groups. The Department also acts as a microbiological laboratory that makes the microbiology within the scope of such testing. In addition, the faculty has a financially independent research programme unit with 6 research programmes.

    The Hjelt Institute provides basic training for medical students, specialist training in forensic science, health care and health care, education, the right to a specialist qualification in dentistry to dentists as well as scientific training. Students from other disciplines are also involved in the Institute’s teaching. The Department of Forensic Medicine also performs forensic autopsies, forensic chemical assays, DNA analysis, paternity testing and clinical forensic examinations. The Institute’s researchers work in large-scale national and international collaborative networks in diverse domestic and international funding.

    Primary role in the project

    UoH’s role in the project will be to sit on the Quality Planning Group to oversee the implementation of the Quality Plan. In addition, they, in common with all partners in the project, they will input into the networking and dissemination activities of the project (WP2 and WP7) and input into the Education and Training Research aspects of the project (WP3). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UoH will define its role in the project clearly, participate mutually in the key work packages, plan project inputs, manage project outcomes and outputs carefully, suggesting remedial actions, where appropriate, to get the project back on track. UoH will maintain IT and paper based records of the project.

  • EU: European Institute of Studies on Prevention (IREFREA)

    About

    The European Institute of Studies on Prevention (Irefrea) is possibly the oldest European network in drug prevention and research (founded in 1988). The network is composed either by national Irefrea entities as other institutions as Universities or other professional organisations belonging to 14 European countries. IREFREA members are very active in several professional and scientific arenas, having been invited to collaborate with organizations including, Pompidou Group, UNODC and the National Coordination on Drugs and drug abuse (Spanish National Plan on Drugs) and actively participate in networks such as Club Health, Eurocare, EuroNet, DC&D and The Civil Society Forum on Drugs. Irefrea is at the steering committee of Club Health. The Portuguese group has had the scientific participation and at national level of the different research projects since the group’s initiation. The areas covered by IREFREA include alcohol and drug prevention (research, evaluation and programme implementation) covering questions like risk factors, risky behaviours, related violence and programmes efficiency among others.

    Specific study, training and research areas are:

    • Scholl prevention . “ Decide Yourself” programme . Implemented at Azores Regional level since 2007.
    • Family prevention : Strengthening Families Programme; Development of a parental education training(Training and capacity as group leader gained in the Course: “Families Strengthening” at Princeton – USA – 2005)
    • Recreational nightlife problems: Super Vision for Azores Regional Health department of two out reach teams and night life preventive projects: X- Pressa-te and In – Formate
    • Alcohol and drug Community prevention (with interventions taking actually place in different parts of , Portugal and Cabo Verde)
    • Protocol with the Cap Verde Government, Youth Minister for implementation of a Community project denominate “ BoKi Ta Dissidi” for violence and drug prevention
    • Peer education in College night life context

     

    Irefrea is familiarized with prevention research professionals trough the participation in multiple European research projects, the organization of seminars and conferences all around Europe, the participation and presentation of findings in national and international conferences.

    Primary role in the project

    IREFREA’s role in the project will be to participate in activities organised by other groups in relation to training or research issues in drug prevention and promote the project via the network inside several countries as Portugal and Spain and at national level also around Europe. IREFREA will sit on the Advisory Board of the project, under WP1, and to maintain an overview of WP2 (dissemination), WP3 (Education and Training Research), WP6 (Quality Planning) and WP7 (Networking). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, IREFREA participate fully in the various tasks of the project, including the meetings, seminars and events and ensure the project goals are achieved.

  • EU: EMCDDA

    The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) was established in 1993. Inaugurated in Lisbon in 1995, it is one of the EU’s decentralised agencies.

    The EMCDDA exists to provide the EU and its Member States with a factual overview of European drug problems and a solid evidence base to support the drugs debate. Today it offers policymakers the data they need for drawing up informed drug laws and strategies. It also helps professionals and practitioners working in the field pinpoint best practice and new areas of research.

  • ES: University of Oviedo

    About

    The University of Oviedo (UNIOVI) was established in 1608. It is a public institution, with more than 1500 researchers and 250 research groups, devoted to higher education teaching and research that fosters the social, economic and cultural development of the local community through the generation and diffusion of knowledge. Today, it has become the main research centre of the Principality of Asturias, a Spanish autonomous region with a population of over one million inhabitants located in the north-west of Spain. The infrastructures at the University are organized in several campuses, structured in Departments, Faculties, Schools and University Institutes. Experimental sciences, technological studies, social sciences, humanities and health sciences are all present at our host institution. The office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research includes a research service in charge of the management and processing of the research projects and contracts. The University of Oviedo has a long experience in the different Framework Programmes, with more than 50 projects in the last 5 years. Furthermore, the University has a European Research & Development Office, co-financed by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation, to assist researchers in the administration of EC research projects. This Office has experienced members of staff to support main investigators and project coordinators in their administrative tasks selected to EU projects, facilitating greater scientific dedication of research staff.

    Worth mentioning is also that on November 2009, the University of Oviedo was among the eight first in Spain to be awarded with the seal of “Campus of International EXCELLENCE”. This award founds the global strategy called “Ad Futurum”, fostering excellence in research, development and innovation, with special stress in two areas: Energy, Environment & Climate Change, and Biomedicine & Health. The project was jointly decided with the main agents of the Asturian society and aims consolidation of an Asturian Ecosystem of Knowledge, clearly leaned towards internationalization and collaboration with productive sectors.

    The overall objective of the Faculty of Psychology is to train professionals to acquire the scientific knowledge to understand, interpret, analyze, explain and predict the human behavior in order to acquire the skills and expertise to assess and intervene in the individual and group, throughout the life cycle, in its aspects of normality and abnormality. This training will enable graduates to access post-graduate specialist training in various professional fields of psychology, and allow them access to research both basic and applied. To achieve these goals the curriculum is organized in five years, with core, compulsory and optional courses through which students may begin at the professional expertise and research.

    Primary role in the project

    The University of Oviedo’s (UNIOVI) role in the project will be to sit on the RTD Projects/ Stakeholder Research Group organised to guide WP5. In addition, UNIOVI will input into WP2 (Dissemination), WP6 (Quality Planning), WP7 (Networking), and WP9 (ECTS implementation). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UNIOVI will use the Internationalization Department. This university section has a long tradition in managing this kind or projects. Currently it coordinates many European programmes, including Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Alpha, Marie Curie, etc. Its experience is accredited by several European audits.

  • ES: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

    About

    Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC) is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain (www.usc.es). A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia. The objective of the University of Santiago de Compostela is education and knowledge at the service of the society. It is a singular institution due its history, the impressive settings of Compostela and Lugo, and its commitment to modernisation. Founded in 1495 by Don Lopez Gómez de Marzoa, this institution maintains one of the most important academic traditions in Europe, being always attentive to the growing demands of society and open to international collaboration.

    The USC, the cradle of university studies in Galicia, covers a total area of more than 1,300,000 squares metres with more than 80 buildings. In terms of human resources, the USC is made up of around 42,000 students, two third of them are female students, more than 2,000 teachers involved in study and research, and more than 1,000 people working in administration and services. It is also incorporates more than 300 research groups, some of which are internationally known. The USC is an outward-looking institution which has set up more than 250 bilateral agreements with universities all over the world. Cultural, educational, committed, scientific, enterprising, efficient, academic, international, and prestigious values are its main faces.
    The University of Santiago de Compostela also has 19 Faculties, 4 Schools own university, 3 University schools, 2 Polytechnics, 1 Center linked, 17 Research Institutes, 1 Professional specialization school, and a total of 76 departments. And there are 1,350 accommodation vacancies available in the USC Colleges and Halls Residence.

    Respect to the European Space of Higher Education, the USC has a fruitful relationship with outstanding universities in Europe. It promotes constant and increasingly profound research cooperation between teachers and departments, as well as dynamic student exchange programmes. Under the Socrates (Erasmus grants) Exchange Programme with European Universities, the USC receives more then 650 students/year and it sends more tan 400 students/ year. Under the SICUE (Seneca grants) programme, the USC exchanges students with other Spanish universities.
    The USC founded the Compostela Group of Universities in 1994, a project that enjoys the collaboration of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Universia web, UNESCO, the Xunta de Galicia, and the Galicia-Europe Foundation. Made up of more than 80 universities from 26 countries, the main objectives are the internationalisation of the Higher Education institutions and the mobility of their students and administrative personnel. It aims to promote academic, cultural and scientific cooperation, taking advantage of the social phenomenon resulting from the Way of St. James, as a decisive contribution to the concept and personality of Europe. It is being extended worldwide with the integration of countries such as Tunisia, Australia, Mexico, Peru and the United States.
    The USC is one of the nine Spanish universities included in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (2004), completed by the Shangai Jiao Tong University. Academic developments, highly acknowledged researchers, papers published in scientific journals are some of the criteria selected by the Chinese institution, which handles data from 2,000 universities.

    In Spain USC has been:

    • 1st in: Obtaining ISO 9001 Certification for the academic area, presenting the Social Responsibility Report, and graduates who occupy the post of intern resident of radiophysics and of intern residents of psychology in the Ministry of Health of Spain.
    • 3rd as regards Academic Excellence Awards.
    • 6th in research and in the number of patents applied for.
    • 8th in founds received from the National Research + Development Plan.

     

    Respect to the Faculty of Psychology, it was established in 1991 and it is unique in the Galicia University System. The study of Psychology began in the 1973-1974 academic year. The University of Santiago de Compostela can presume that the degree of psychology offering is among the best quality of Spanish university system. Serve for a fact supporting this claim: In the state exam announcements PIR (Internal resident psychologist), who presented at over 2,000 psychologists annually, graduates of this faculty achieve the best outcomes of all faculties of Psychology in Spain. Respect to the research, there are several groups that were at the forefront of the Spanish research in their respective areas and significant international recognition. It is significant the increase in research projects and publications in international journals.

    Primary role in the project

    USC’s role in the project will be to lead on WP7, the Physical Networking activities of the project. In leading this work package, they will be guided by a Steering Group and will be supported by partners in Belgium, Italy and the UK, where he main activities will be organised. They will also work closely with NUIG on the organisation of the 2014 Annual Conference and Young Researchers Network as this will co-ordinate with the Final Dissemination Conference. Because of this role, they will also sit on the PMG. In common with other partners, USC will also input into WP2 (Dissemination), WP3 (Education Research and Mapping), WP6 and WP9 (Quality Planning and implementation). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, USC made available to the project the Office for Research and Technology (OIT) and its experience in international project management.

  • EL: ΕΡΕΥΝΗΤΙΚΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΑΚΟ ΙΝΣΤΙΤΟΥΤΟ ΨΥΧΙΚΗΣ ΥΓΙΕΙΝΗΣ

    About

    ΕΡΕΥΝΗΤΙΚΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΑΚΟ ΙΝΣΤΙΤΟΥΤΟ ΨΥΧΙΚΗΣ ΥΓΙΕΙΝΗΣ, or the University Mental Health Research Institute (UMHRI) was founded in 1989, as a body corporate under private law) is linked to the Medical School of University of Athens, yet it is administratively and financially independent.

    UMHRI is directed by a 7-member Management Board which consists of the Director of the Institute, the Deputy Director and 5 members appointed or elected according to special provisions (four by the General Assembly of the Medical School of the University of Athens and one by the General Assembly of the Institute’s research staff). In 2011 UMHRI’s staff consisted of 85 people.
    UMHRI’s key activities include:

    • Conducting and promoting research in the basic sectors of mental health (biological, psychological and social).
    • Undertaking an advisory role and offering medical and psycho-social services.
    • Planning and developing training courses on mental health, and;
    • organising seminars and conferences.

     

    With regard to prevention, since 1993 UMHRI has been commissioned by the Greek Ministry of Health to operate the Greek REITOX Focal Point of the EMCDDA, while since 1998 the Focal Point has been assigned and operating as the Greek Documentation and Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Alcohol (EKTEPN, www.ektepn.gr). The National Focal Point has ever since a) developed an expertise in prevention issues (producing relevant publications and organising training seminars), b) participated in numerous national and European research projects and partnerships, EMCDDA projects, as well as EU twinning projects. Particularly in the field of prevention, UMHRI and EKTEPN participated in the 1st phase of EU-DAP project (2003-2005, www.eudap.net).
    In addition, since 1994 UMHRI is the research institute that conducts in Greece the European School Survey Project on Alcohol & other Drugs (ESPAD, www.espad.org), while also since 1995 UMHRI represents Greece in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC/WHO Collaborative Cross-National Study, www.hbsc.org), whose output bear strong implications for prevention. UMHRI is also a member of IREFREA network (www.irefrea.org).

    UMHRI had been commissioned by the Greek coordinating body in the field of drugs, Organisation Against Drugs (OKANA), to establish the Educational Centre for the Promotion of Health and the Prevention of Drug Abuse in order to provide training courses for prevention professionals. The Educational Centre which was operated for the period 1995-2006, was one of the key training providers for prevention professionals in Greece, while it has produced the most important prevention programmes used in the implementation of prevention interventions.

    Primary role in the project

    UMHRI’s role in the project will be to sit on the Conference and Research Network Group (which will co-ordinate WP7) and the Virtual Networking and Learning Steering Group (which will co-ordinate WP8). In addition UMHRI will input into WP2 (Dissemination), WP3 (Mapping), WP6 and WP9 (Quality Planning and Implementation). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, some of the UMHRI’s expertise/experience/resources that will be offered include Experience with European projects (projects financed by the EC, EU twinning projects, EMCDDA projects, international research projects etc.); Experience in designing and implement surveys and handling/statistically analysing cross-national data; Access to a large number of experts in the field of prevention, nationally and internationally; Leading role in the field of drug prevention in Greece; Well-networked with prevention professionals and services in Greece; and experience in training of prevention professionals, drug demand reduction professionals, students and professionals in the area of mental health, and in organising workshops and conferences.

  • EL: Ethniko kai Kapodistriako Panepistimio Athinon

    About

    Ethniko kai Kapodistriako Panepistimio Athinon, or the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UoA)is the largest state institution of higher learning in Greece, and among the largest universities in Europe. Founded in 1837, it is the first University not only of Greece but both the Balkan peninsula and the Eastern Mediterranean region. With a student body of about 125,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, over 2.000 members of academic staff and approximately 1.300 administrative and secretarial staff and specialized personnel, the University of Athens aims at excellence in both teaching and research in a significantly varied range of disciplines. The Departments of the University of Athens are grouped in 6 large academic units, the Schools, though some Departments for historical or practical reasons are not part of any School: School of Theology, School of Philosophy, School of Law, Economics and Political Science, School of Health Science, School of Science and Independent Faculties. The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is one of the top ranking universities in Greece, and ranked 177th in the world according to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009.

  • DE: Leibniz-Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology

    About

    Leibniz-Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, is a specialist German research and services organisation, which is active in the field of public health care. The purpose of the institute is to foster public health care as well as to carry out medical and psychological science and research. IFT-Nord is sponsored by a range of organisations, including the Federal Ministry of Health; the Federal Centre for Health Education; the European Commission; the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Health; Various ministries of the Länder; Various Institutes for Health Promotion and Addiction Prevention and Public Education Offices; the German Cancer Society; the German Heart Foundation; the German Lung Foundation; and the Schleswig-Holstein Society for the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Association.

    The Institute’s work programme is focussed on:

    • Research on the causes and prevention of health risks and health-promoting lifestyles.
    • Development of projects in the field of prevention and health promotion and their implementation in practice.
    • Evaluation of health promotion programs and programs for prevention of health risks, scientific monitoring of pilot projects.
    • Advising national and international institutions.
    • Coordination of international projects in the “Public Health”.
    • Training of psychologists and physicians in psychotherapy with a focus on behavioural therapy, training programs for psychologists and physicians in behavioral therapy and outpatient psychotherapy for people with mental health problems.

    The Institutes research programme focuses on three main areas:

    • Evaluation of the measures in the field of health promotion.
    • The descriptive and analytical epidemiology of risk factors and risk behaviors in childhood and adolescence, and;
    • The scientific monitoring of pilot projects.

    Primary role in the project

    IFT-Nord’s role in the project will be to support the Dissemination elements of the project, by sitting on the Dissemination Steering Group. In performing this task, IFT-Nord will be active in promoting the project widely, but also ensuring the involvement of relevant actors from the Prevention Science research community. In addition to this, IFT-Nord will participate in the networking and dissemination activities of the project (WP3 and WP7) and assist in developing the Quality Plan (WP6). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately IFT-Nord will establish robust systems for managing, planning and delivering this project project. Regular project meetings will take place between IFT-Nord staff, to ensure all those involved in the project share information, and the implementation of tasks is monitored closely. In addition, we will work closely with partners to implement the various work packages.

  • DE: Institut für Epidemiologie und Präventionsforschung

    About

    The Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, BIPS is located in Bremen, Germany. Currently 130 people (faculty and staff) are working at the institute. As an epidemiological research institute, our aim is to identify causes of health problems as well as to develop new concepts for disease prevention. Our research provides a basis for societal decisions. It informs the general population about health risks and contributes towards a healthy living environment. Our research areas are: Bioinformatics and Genetic Epidemiology; Cancer Epidemiology (‘The Bremen Cancer Registry’); Clinical Epidemiology; Environmental Epidemiology; Epidemiological Methods; Gender Studies; Health Reporting; Molecular Epidemiology; Occupational Epidemiology (e.g. lung cancer, carpal tunnel syndrome); Pharmacoepidemiology; and Prevention and Health Promotion.

    Primary role in the project

    BIPS role in the project will be to sit on the Quality Planning Group, which will be chaired by P4, CUNI. In performing this role, BIPS will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of activities designed to improve the integration of QA methods and systems across the EU. In addition, BIPS will participate in the networking and dissemination elements of the project (WP2 and WP7) and in WP3, the Education and Training Research element. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, BIPS will assign two key contact persons to the project, Drs. Claudia Pischke and Antje Hebestreit. These staff will be involved in delivery of the project and will maintain relationships with the other partners. BIPS will also establish effective systems for managing/delivering the project, including suitable project management and research skills.

  • CZ: Univerzita Karlova V Praze

    About

    Univerzita Karlova V Praze, or Charles University in Prague (CUNI), was founded in 1348 and is one of the world’s oldest universities. The university has more than 7,500 employees, 4,000 of these being academic and research staff. Over 51,000 students are studying at CUNI (which is roughly a sixth of all students in the Czech Republic), in more than 300 accredited degree programmes and 660 study disciplines. More than 18,000 are studying in bachelor’s programmes, 25,000 in master’s programmes and more than 7,000 in doctoral programmes. Since 1998, the University has been active in the LLP Erasmus (former Socrates/Erasmus) European programme with a steadily growing number of student and teacher exchanges. Today Charles University has signed more than 1500 bilateral agreements with 563 partner universities.

    The Clinic of Addictology (CA) is part of the 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University Prague and of General Teaching Hospital in Prague. CA´s core activities: i) College tuition; ii) Research and development (of new approaches in prevention, treatment, and social reintegration of those affected); and iii) the creation of lifelong learning for professionals in the field. CA employs a multidisciplinary team of experts – representatives of the various scientific disciplines and research approaches. CA is ‘centre of excellence’ for teaching; it´s teaching provision includes a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in addictology, Ph.D. degree in addictology. Besides the classical medical subjects (psychiatry, epidemiology, neuroscience, psychopathology and psychopharmacology, etc.) students also study a variety of other subjects such as psychology, foundations of law, social work and politics, cultural and social anthropology, psychotherapy, criminology, education and project management. Past research and development projects have explored new approaches in prevention, treatment and the harm reduction. CA has wide experience with quantitative and qualitative research in the field of substance abuse. The CA is experienced in development implementation, field work, evaluation and dissemination of Czech national Prevention Standards of Primary Prevention and the National Certification Guidelines. CA actively collaborates with The Czech National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (National Focal Point; NFP), national and local authorities as well as with wide range of professionals in the field. CA participated in various international development and research projects, e.g. funded by EC project EUDAP2 „Implementation of European Drug Addiction Prevention trial at a population level“ (A/790627) or “EUDAP FACULTY” (JLS/2007/DPIP-1/21), or “European Family Empowerment: Improving family skills to prevent alcohol and drug related problems” (JLS/2008/DPIP/AG/112 30-CE-0312762/00-34). In many cases, the team at the Centre combine their expertise on aiming to improve the understanding of the causes of various forms of risk and dependent behaviour and the importance and impact of the measures of prevention, treatment, harm reduction and law enforcement in relation to these forms of behaviour. Emphasis is placed on evaluating the quality and effectiveness of implemented measures and interventions, and drug policy and drug prevention services. In the area of the Lifelong Learning CA staff is involved in implementing development projects. This has included the accreditation and implementation of distance and e-learning studies, the expansion of a Master’s or Doctorate and preparing short-term specialized courses for personnel of various professions in the field Addictology.

    Primary role in the project

    CUNI’s role in the project will be to lead on the delivery of WP6 (The development of the Quality Plan). CUNI have been selected to lead on this work package because of their experience within the LLP programme, and their high standing in the European Prevention Science Academic Community. CUNI’s core Prevention Science Academics will work closely with their International Office in implementing this WP and will also form a Quality Planing Group to oversee its implementation. In common with all the partners in this project, they will also input into WP2, WP3 and WP7, to ensure they actively input into the Dissemination, Networking and Virtual Networking elements of the project, to ensure the effective sharing of best practice and the successful dissemination of the results. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, CUNI will actively cooperate with the lead partner and will consult the content, goals, objectives and methodology of the proposed activities, most of which will be accepted mutually. CU possesses extensive experience of managing similar projects.In addition, the Clinic of Addictology will establish a Quality Planning Group (comprising P1, P5, P7, P11, P19, P23 and P27) who will be responsible for preparing and overseeing the implementation of the Quality Plan. In order to ensure these partners, and the wider partners inputs are well planned, CUNI will develop a WP implementation plan, setting out clear roles, responsibilities and timelines for the project activities.

  • BG: Meditsinski Universitet - Pleven

    About

    Meditsinski Universitet – Pleven, or the Pleven Medical University (PMU), one of the five medical Universities in Bulgaria, was established in 1974, expanding the horizons, size and reputation of the City Hospital, founded in 1865. Today, combining traditions of the past with the present possibilities, it incorporates educational and therapeutic facilities, contemporary pre-clinical base, Institute Hospital with more than 1000 beds with clinics in all major medical fields, as well as a large number of specialized clinics and research units with modern diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. These are efficiently used to treat patients, train students, trainee doctors, post-graduates and for research work. The University has all theoretic, pre-clinical and clinical departments required for the higher medical education. Up to date, more than 6000 Bulgarian and foreign students from over 30 countries have graduated from the University. The current number of students is 2044. 275 of them are foreign students, including 78 of Indian nationality – the biggest community of foreign students at the university. Other international students are coming from the following countries: Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Greece, Turkey, Nigeria, Albania, Cyprus, Congo, Syria, Algeria, USA, Japan, Great Britain and France. 835 young doctors from Bulgaria and abroad are taking postgraduate courses at the different specialized clinics of the University Hospital. The current number of PhD students is 53. The University employs highly qualified lecturers with comprehensive academic experience. The course of instruction is carried out in 24 departments by more than 60 professors and around 300 assistant professors. Most of them are members of national and international scientific and medical societies and authors of research studies.

    To achieve European and world standards in medical education, the university has introduced innovative practices: 1. it was the first higher educational institution in Bulgaria to establish English-medium course of study of international medical students; 2. Integrated Problem-based Learning (PBL) for medical students was also initiated in MU-Pleven; 3. Since 1999, MU-Pleven has been included in European educational programs (Socrates-Erasmus and Leonardo da Vinci) for collaboration with higher schools of medicine and for academic exchange of students and faculty staff; 4. In 2007, MU-Pleven opened the first East-European Experimental Center for Endoscopic Surgery (TELEC), with virtual facilities for training in endoscopic surgery. Scientific research is one of the main activities at the University and it greatly contributes to improving diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Studies are also carried out in the field of public health and nursing care. Following high standards and quality practices in research has become the norm in the institution. Efforts have been made to attract and engage younger faculty staff in the research work. So far, 128 dissertations have been defended, of which 96 PhD theses and 32 DSc theses. The University has 3 faculties (Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Faculty of health care), Department of language and specialised education and a Medical College.

    Primary role in the project

    PMUs role in the project will be to sit on the Education and Training Research Mapping Steering Group, guiding this WP and undertaking some of the necessary Research. In addition, PMU will participate in WP2, WP6, WP7, and WP9, helping to deliver the main outputs of the project. The academic and administrative staff of the Faculty of Public Health will be involved in these various WPs. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, PMU will establish a team, will take financial responsibility for co-payment in accordance with the financial help of EC. The University will provide administrative support for the activities.

  • BE: Hogeschool Gent

    About

    Hogeschool Gent, or University College Ghent (UCG), is the largest hogeschool in the country in terms of budget, staff and student population, with more than 17,000 students and 2,000 staff members. UCG’s academic provision is divided over 22 professional Bachelor programmes, 14 academic Bachelor programmes and 24 Master programmes. UCG also has a strong research tradition and boasts a number of research groups of international excellence. The number of researchers at UCG has been increasing ever since the Bologna Declaration and the start of the academisation process. Currently, nearly 450 researchers are actively involved in more than 250 research projects, 100 of which are Ph.D. projects. USG also undertakes a considerable amount of contract research for third parties (often SMEs). UCG also possesses considerable experience of working within the Lifelong Learning Programme and of promoting/encouraging Lifelong Learning. Within UCG, the Faculty for Education, Health and Social Work is an active contributor to public health and prevention. One of the dominant projects is the EU-DAP Faculty, has developinged a particular expertise in Prevention Science. The overarching goal of the EU-DAP Faculty is to ensure quality of efficacy tested school-based programmes based on a Comprehensive Social Influence model by Training Trainers. The interactive training of trainers is evidence based and an indispensable component in such prevention programmes.

    The Faculty also works closely (at an arm’s length from) the European Drug Addiction Prevention Network. The EU-DAP Faculty has worked particularly closely with the European Drug Addiction Prevention Network, to undertake a research study, entitled “Unplugged”, to examine the effectiveness of, and develop a Comprehensive Social Influence programme delivered during a school semester by the teacher to students aged 12 to 14. Unplugged has been tested during a robust Randomized Controlled Trial with 7.079 pupils in 2005 with results that include a decreased chance for recent drunkenness by 30%, for daily smoking by 28% and for cannabis use by 23%. A follow-up study one year later showed that effectiveness was sustained for most of the behaviours. It was concluded that “Unplugged” is an effective programme to delay the onset of drug use and the transition of experimenting to frequent drug use. The “Unplugged” programme and training model has been tested and is sound, the material is translated and available in several languages. UCG’s leading position in the EU-Dap Faculty paved the way for a prevention team, conducting practice-oriented research. Connection to the highest quality prevention and public health networks in the European Union and beyond, combined with a vast expertise and involvement in practice in Belgium and some European countries, is a solid base for the projects, programmes and networks the prevention team takes part in or lead of.

    The team has taken the lead in the Media Influence group of the Club Health Network, publishing recommendation on the influence of classical and new social media on healthy nightlife behaviour. This project tied demand reduction to harm reduction interventions. The UCG’s prevention team at the Faculty for Education, Health and Social Work was recently commissioned grants for projects regarding implementation quality in healthy nutrition programs and social network influence on youth. It signifies the opening from addiction-related prevention expertise to a broader scope.

    Primary role in the project

    UGC’s role in the project will be to lead WP3 of SPAN, coordinating the task of Mapping the European Tertiary Prevention Science Education and Training Sector. Because of this responsibility, UGC will sit on the overall Project Management Board and also develop strong relationships with the project partners. In addition, UGC will input into WP2 (helping to disseminate the results of the project in Austria and within their networks), WP6 (helping to develop an action plan for developing more consistent Prevention Science QA frameworks), WP7 (inputing into and attending the delivery of the Annual Conference/Young Researchers Network) and WP9 (implementing the Quality Plan). As part of their role in WP7, UGC will help source/provide a venue for the Event Kick Off Meeting and the 20014 Annual Confrence & Young Researcher Network and Dissemination event. In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately, UCG will establish a Education & Training Research Group (comprising, as a minimum, P1, P12, P14, P22 and P25). It will furnish the team with its expertise in combining Prevention practice with research, and lean on the Erasmus expertise of the Central International Services. In order to ensure WP3 is managed appropriately, we will establish an implementation plan for the package and assign clear roles and responsibilities for the partners. Having developed a research methodology, in consultation with partners, we will worlk with partners to implement the research and complete the report. The prevention team within the UCG-Faculty is particularly experienced in bringing evidence based programmes into practice. Research initiatives taken by the team are contributing to this wide area in which so many practitioners in the EU are participating. Exchanging good practice, enhancing the awareness for research and effectiveness studies, providing tools for quality control, enabling programme designers and developers to train trainers as a quality standard instrument are some of the focal issues UCG will advocate and establish in the SPAN project.

  • AU: Institut für Sozial- und Gesundheitspsychologie

    About

    Founded in 1994, the Institut für Sozial- und Gesundheitspsychologie (ISG) is a pre-eminent Austrian social science research institute connected with psychological and psychotherapeutic practice operation. It has a strong track record of working with the Prevention Science community on a range of European Prevention Science research projects.

    Under the leadership of Dr. Karl Bohrn and Dr. Sebastian Bohrn Mena, ISG comprises a multidisciplinary team of researchers from different disciplines (including psychology, psychotherapy, sociology, economics, etc.) based across two sites in Vienna and Lower Austria. The primary focus of the Institute is on potential-and resource-oriented research, prevention and treatment of mental disorders, both in a private and an operational context. In addition, its activities are focused on transferring the findings of scientific research and practical work in health psychology into the wider society, in order to provide decision-makers, experts and citizens in general with the latest information. For many years the ISG determined its own research interests and developed a particular specialism in migration and integration research. Under the direction of Mag.a Dr.in Aida Bohrn, whose decades-long involvement in the field of migration has already won several awards (eg MiA Award 2009, the Federal Medal of the Republic of Austria, 2010), our researchers and practitioners developed a particular expertise in the study and development of innovative and sustainable solutions.

    The work of the Institute of Social and Health Psychology and its employees is based on a vision of:

    • Intensive exchange of research and practice.
    • The collaboration of private and public health and social services.
    • The involvement of all stakeholders and affected groups.
    • Encouraging social entrepreneurship, with a view to encouraging sustainable solutions.
    • The integral good of man in the foreground of our work.

     

    All scientific and practical courses are aligned to these guidelines and must meet the high professional quality standards of the Institute and its partners.

    The Institute of Social and Health Psychology currently employees 8 people, which comprise a mix of researchers and practitioners. In a number of projects we are involved in, our humanities and social science researchers work closely with our practitioners of psychotherapy and psychology. In this way, we are able to bring together the latest research findings together with professional practitioners.

    Primary role in the project

    ISG’s role in the project will be to bring the opinions and members of the independent European prevention science research community to the project, and their links with the Austrian & European prevention science community. ISG will also sit on the Virtual Networking and Learning Steering Group (WP7) which will be led by P16. In addition to guiding the development of a Virtual Learning Environment, ISG will also input into WP2 (helping to disseminate the results of the project in Austria and within their networks), WP3 (helping to map the European Tertiary Prevention Science Education and Training Sector – particularly through the existing academic links they have) and WP6 (helping to develop an action plan for developing more consistent Prevention Science QA frameworks). In order to ensure this project is managed appropriately ISG will input into the development of the WP7 implementation plan, clearly defining staff roles and responsibilities and mapping out project timelines to ensure goals and milestones are monitored and met. As far as financial management is concerned, ISG has a strong track record of managing and monitoring similar projects, with financial records maintained through paper and computerised systems. As far as their other inputs are concerned, these will be ‘called off’ by the relevant WP lead and/or a member of the relevant WP Steering Group.