INARMERA · INTEGRATING ARMENIA INTO ERA

Integration of the South Caucasus countries into ERA is one of the priorities of EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy. This is the objective of ERAWIDE initiative aimed at reinforcing the cooperation capacity of a prominent R&D centre in these countries by providing the possibilities to improve its research activities in the areas of thematic priorities of FP7. The government of the Republic of Armenia recommended as such a centre the Center of Medical Genetics and Primary Health Care (CMG) due to its high reputation, broad international contacts, participation in FP7, and the importance of the top-level research in Medical Genetics for general population.To reach this objective, the INARMERA project consortium consisting of CMG, the Institute of Cancer Biology of the Danish Cancer Society, and the European Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer (Belgium) will carry out research assessment of CMG, will organise training in FP7 for CMG scientists and their research training in Medical Genetics. For networking and dissemination purposes workshops and summer schools will be organised in Armenia while Armenian scientists will attend events in Europe. Meantime from the start of INARMERA four Pilot Trial Projects in Medical Genetics will be organised between CMG scientists and their colleagues in Europe, but also in Georgia, highlighting the regional aspect of INARMERA. The Pilot Trials will help Participants to identify bottlenecks of cooperation and propose improvements.The Strategy Experts Group will develop strategy of CMG aiming at establishment of CMG as a visible centre of Medical Genetics studies in Caucasus, and turning it into a reliable partner for European institutions in Framework Programmes. Project results and achievements will be analysed and recommendations will be drawn to the authorities on strengthening EU-Armenia R&D cooperation leading to the successful start of integration of Armenia into ERA.