Despite heavy investments and other funding coming in past decade from the EU, a substantial gap in research performance and innovation potential persists between the East and the West of the EU. Member institutions of the Alliance4Life believe that to a large extent solution to this problem is to be found in improved governance and managerial practices as well as development of institutional culture at research institutions.

Alliance4Life aims at addressing the existing gap in health research and innovation performance between EU15 and EU13. This new initiative has been supported by the European Commission in the frame of Horizon 2020 Health Working Programme as it is expected that outcomes and recommendations of the Alliance4Life could bring useful suggestions for science policy at both European and Member States level.

„The importance of institutions in providing favourable environment for science has too long been underestimated in this part of Europe“, says Jiří Nantl, Director of CEITEC at Masaryk University and Chair of the Alliance for Life Board.

Findings of the two-year initial project carried out by the Alliance for Life will be available to the European Commission and are expected to shed more light on what policies and approaches might better work to close the research and innovation gap in Europe. Alliance for Life member institutions will also strengthen their own scientific collaborations and will support each other in the area of institutional development.

Alliance4Life members:
CZ: CEITEC Masaryk University, International Clinical Research Center - FNUSA 
SVK: Biomedical Research Center SAS
POL: Medical University of Lodz
HRV: School of Medicine, University of Zagreb
EST: University of Tartu
LTU: Vilnius University
LVA: Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis
SVN: University of Ljubljana
HUN: Semmelweis University

Read full article published by Masaryk University.