HALRIC: a new chapter for cross-border collaboration begins
The University of Copenhagen is a partner in the Hanseatic Life Science Research Infrastructure Consortium (HALRIC). The consortium aims at establishing collaborations between industry, hospitals and universities that will lead to mutual benefits from the unique research infrastructures and competencies available in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany.
HALRIC continues and expands on the activities initiated by HALOS. It is both more ambitious and more flexible, particularly in the structure of the pilot projects. It is more ambitious in its aims to bolster connections between industry, hospitals, universities and infrastructures. But it is more flexible in how researchers structure pilot projects to achieve this. HALRIC collaborators might include lab technicians, senior scientists, junior VIPs, clinical researchers, facility managers, industry representatives, etc. There is no set formula and all constellations of collaboration are welcome. As long as your project involves cross-border collaboration with infrastructure in the HALRIC region, we encourage you to apply.
Over the next three years, HALRIC will provide funding for 75 pilot projects and we expect UCPH researchers to be involved in at least a third of these. HALRIC thus promises many new opportunities to visit facilities, bring collaborating researchers to UPCH, benefit from the experience of external researchers and develop solid foundations for further collaborations.
During HALOS, Elisabeth Gjøe Kvist Thomsen, PhD Student in SpiNLab, Department of Biology used funding from HALOS to visit EMBL Hamburg. "Overall, the HALOS Cross Border Research project provided a holistic structural landscape of the master regulator of adipogenesis, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma)" she explains. "Measuring at EMBL Hamburg allowed us to understand how the structural ensemble of the disordered AB domain of PPARgamma was modulated in the presence of its DNA and ligand binding domain. The collaboration with staff scientist Cy Jeffries was essential to the project."
Through HALRIC, UCPH will provide access to our infrastructure and expertise. Particular emphasis is placed on collaboration with the Core Facility for Integrated Microscopy (CFIM), the Copenhagen Center for Open NMR Spectroscopy (cOpenNMR), CPHSAXS, and the Center for Advanced Bioimaging (CAB). But pilot projects can also be carried out with other UCPH infrastructures, and we particularly encourage you to apply if you are working with an industrial or clinical partner.
Calls will be made on a running basis and we expect the next call to open after the summer. If you have a relevant idea, you can already download the guidelines and application form (only 3 pages) from the HALRIC website. If you have any questions, please contact HALRIC ambassador Lucy Holt: lucy.holt@bio.ku.dk.