Łukasiewicz – PORT with the Horizon Europe grant

The Life Science and Biotechnology Center team at our Institute received a EUR 1,5 million grant for a project related to the study of neuropsychiatric diseases. Łukasiewicz – PORT is the leader/coordinator of a consortium of prestigious European research institutes.

The project “Standardized Approaches to Modeling and Examination of Neuropsychiatric Disorders (SAME-NeuroID)” was created together with three recognized European research centers: the Paris Brain Institute, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, and the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam. Łukasiewicz – PORT has a leading/coordinating role in this project. Our project was among the top five selected from 391 applications submitted under the Horizon Europe Twinning program.

The main goal of the SAMENeuroID project is to develop common standards for the generation and use of neuropsychiatric disease models. Currently, one of the biggest problems facing scientists is the use of different test methods by laboratories, which often makes it impossible to compare the results obtained. The unification of procedures and standards between laboratories will enable the efficient and reliable implementation of many future research projects using already existing and proven procedures of our Twinning partners. The long-term goal of the project is to create a pan-European network of laboratories using the same standardized methods of research work.

The result of the project will be, among others, a platform conceived as a repository of developed procedures and the creation of a facility in Łukasiewicz – PORT, in which these procedures will be tested and validated. As a part of the cooperation, laboratories in partner institutes will also test developed methods.

A Łukasiewicz – PORT team consists of:

• Witold Konopka, Ph.D., Project Coordinator (Leader of the Neuroplasticity and Metabolism Group),
• Michał Ślęzak, Ph.D., (Leader of the Biology of Astrocytes Group),
• Tomasz Prószyński, Ph.D., (Leader of the Synaptogenesis Group),
• Michał Malewicz, Ph.D., (Director of the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Center, Leader of the Genome Dynamics Group),
• Beata Lubicka (Main Specialist for Acquisition of International Projects).

The SAME-NeuroID project encompasses both scientific and peri-scientific activities and its agenda is divided into several areas. In addition to research, they include educational and workshop activities for experienced scientists and students, organization of symposia, conferences, and technology transfer.

The project is scheduled to run for three years and will be completed in the second half of 2025.