Next up in our ‘Why..?’ series, we will answer ‘Why do we need to map research’?
Research on the microbiome is extremely popular at the moment, with most of the attention going to findings from the human gut. Being a relatively new research field, however, microbiome research funding is currently not aligned and mostly explorative meaning we cannot distinguish causation from effect.
This means that research funding needs to be aligned between funding agencies on a regional, national and international level to avoid:
- Duplication of research efforts
- Waste of financial resources that comes with it
Aligned research funding means research can get funded which shows clear cause and effect. Further, money can be prioritised to the causes that need it most urgently and be used more efficiently depending on needs. Consequently, the MicrobiomeSupport project will aim to:
- Identify and map microbiome activities in the EU and worldwide, including programmes and facilities, along the food chain and beyond
- Better align R&I (policy) agendas in Europe and worldwide
