WP5 Infrastructures and data management for radiation protection research

The range of infrastructures relevant to radiation protection research is wide and diverse and it is important that PIANOFORTE WP5 supports implementation of the research roadmap.

To this end we will establish an Infrastructures Oversight Committee (IOC) that will provide support for the WP tasks outlined below, a forum for coordination between WP5, Platforms, WP4 in respect of training and education, across the entire PIANOFORTE partnership, PIANOFORTE supported projects and with the successful NRT-01-12 consortium.

In addition to the coordination function, the IOC will be the body responsible for evaluating applications for funding; a number of focused WP5 ‘internal’ calls are planned with the objective of encourage access to training in trans-national infrastructures, and to facilitate small-scale technical inter-comparison exercises to promote harmonization of techniques and protocols at the European level, particularly in support of the research roadmap. The key tasks will focus on identification and appointment of IOC members, to draft and agree the Terms of Reference for the IOC, to convene the first of the planned series of virtual meetings (to také place at very least annually), to draft and agree the evaluation criteria for WP5 focused internal infrastructure training calls and to establish the regular virtual meeting schedule to include the launching and evaluation of WP5 infrastructure training calls and intercomparisons.

The key objectives of this task will be:

1. to promote the use of key existing RPR infrastructures (with WP6 facilitating consortium-wide and community-wide communication);
2. to develop a fair and transparent system to allow researchers to access key infrastructures through open calls within the consortium (with WP2);
3. to develop and promote training in the use of key RPR infrastructures (with WP4)

This task will continue and extend the CONCERT approach to infrastructures and harmonization of their standard protocols and practices, taking into account the latest platforms and network communities (e.g. EURAMET) achievements and current activities in this direction.

The support of the POMs which represent the main infrastructure owners will be guaranteed by direct involvement of key collaborators. Collaboration with both RP Platforms and POMs is essential considering the large heterogeneity of the infrastructures (e.g. exposure facilities with different irradiation sources and related technologies, radioecology observatories, databases including bio and sample banks and cohorts, analytical platforms, modelling tools including recent advanced artificial intelligence based models.

Moreover, due to the large number of organizations involved in RP research, it is vital to harmonize the methods and protocols for measurements.

This task develops a coordinated vision and strategic plan to enhance sustainability of RPR infrastructures, addressing considerations such as utilisation, novel uses and inter-operability.

The aim is to facilitate access, enhance the visibility of infrastructures, and assure their sustainability beyond short-term constraints. Dialogue between Task 5.4 and Task 2.2 is foreseen to address RPR infrastructures issues in the PIANOFORTE Joint Roadmap.

The main focus of this task is to develop and promote a Data Management Plan (DMP) according to the FAIR principles to support its use within the radiation research community and the move to the principles of ‘open science’.

The DMP includes the security, regulatory and ethical issues to ensure secure, transparent and efficient data storage, maintenance, access and utilisation.