The High Level and Expert Group (HLEG) was an initiative of representatives of six national bodies with a policy interest or substantial research activities in low dose risk research and the EC EURATOM research programme. They were assisted by experts from the research community to identify research priorities and training needs.

The Secretariat functions of the HLEG were carried out by BfS.

The results of the HLEG

• The formulation of the policy goals to be addressed by low dose risk research;
• the development of a strategic research agenda and road map for low dose risk research in Europe;
• the specification of the essential elements of and next steps for establishing a sustainable operational framework for low dose risk research in Europe;
• the creation of a scientific platform named: Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative (MELODI).

There are still uncertainties when it comes to the assessment of risk following low doses of ionizing radiation and their contribution to cancer and non cancer diseases. To fill this knowledge gap is subject to interdisciplinary scientific studies as well as to sustainable fastening of research in the low dose area in Europe. This includes the identification of research needs and the initiation of respective scientific research projects as well as the safe-guarding of necessary infrastructure and the knowledge management in following generations.

It was the aim of the DoReMi Network of Excellence (DoReMi-NoE) to develop research strategies, that allow for effective investigations of fundamental questions in radiation research. There is urgent need to develop a long-term strategy due to the existing uncertainties in the assessment of radiation risk in the low dose area. This aspect has fundamental impact on radiation protection due to the fact that all population groups are exposed to low doses of radiation within their private surroundings and to some extend additionally in their professions or during medical examinations. The open questions of principle have already been identified by the “High Level Expert Group” (HLEG) and are related to:

• Shape of the dose response curve for cancer risk at low doses
• Differences in the individual radiosensitivity including age and gender dependency
• The risk for non cancer diseases at low doses.

Besides those scientific topics the network focused on:

• Development of strategies to comprise and maintain radiation related infrastructure
• Education and training of future radiation scientists.

The network coordinated research activities that were related to those topics on European level and will allow for efficient and long range research integrating different research areas like biology, epidemiology, physics and modelling. The survey on existing radiation related infrastructure in Europe, such as irradiation facilities, epidemiological cohorts and biobanks, will enable for an optimal usage of such fittings and to avoid unnecessary expenses. Moreover, the encouragement of students and young scientists will additionally help to maintain a sustainable basis for future radiation research.

Above all, the ongoing development of an interdisciplinary long-term stategic research agenda (SRA) will guarantee the sustainability of the basic approach. In this context, the DoReMi-NoE was significantly involved in the development of the Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative MELODI.

The DoReMi project started in 2010 with 12 core partner organisations including the BfS. Beginning of 2015 this number increased to 37 partners, spread over whole Europe and Japan. The project had a run time of 6 years and was funded within the 7th framework program of the EU (grant agreement no. 249689).

OPERRA (Open Project for the European Radiation Research Area) has been funded within the EU framework programme FP7. The project (2013-2017) has been successfully completed on 31 May 2017. The objective of the project was to support the Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative (MELODI) in building an umbrella structure for the long-term integration of radiation protection research in Europe.

The umbrella structure covers the main areas of radiation protection:

• effects from low doses of ionizing radiation
• radioecology and emergency preparedness
• dosimetry and radiation protection for medical applications.

Here, MELODI is responsible for the low dose research area and takes the lead in developing and implementing the umbrella structure. For this, MELODI made arrangements with the other radiation protection research platforms. The work being done in OPERRA was an important basis for the execution of the CONCERT project.

CONCERT: 'European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research' interlinked Europe-wide research in all fields of application of ionising radiation. 76 partner institutions from almost all EU countries plus Norway and Switzerland have joined forces to combine their expertise and research activities in order to improve radiation protection. CONCERT was the first of its kind and the largest radiation protection research programme ever and was implemented within the framework of the European research programme Horizon 2020. CONCERT stands for "European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research".

Aim: joint European programme on radiation protection research

CONCERT aimed at establishing a joint programme on radiation protection research in Europe and to thus create synergy effects. The programme is intended to answer unresolved questions, reduce uncertainties and to provide scientific support in the implementation of the EURATOM basic safety standards on radiation protection into national law. It is also intended for establishing foundations for future legislation on radiation protection.

CONCERT united the necessary scientific expertise from the fields of

• radiobiology,
• biophysics,
• epidemiology,
• medicine,
• radioecology,
• dosimetry
• development of models and predictions
• social sciences and humanities

among other things at the European level and integrates them into joint research projects.

It was based on the current strategic research programmes of the European research platforms

• MELODI (radiation effects and risks in the low dose range)
• ALLIANCE (radioecology)
• NERIS (nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness) and
• EURADOS (dosimetry)
• EURAMED (radiation protection in medicine)
• SHARE (social sciences and humanities)

Staff members of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection have been actively involved in the work of these research platforms for many years and have had decisive influence on the strategic orientation of the research programmes especially through leading and participating in the relevant working groups.

Funding

The project was jointly funded by the European Commission and the Member States (co-funding). The EU supported the largest radiation protection research programme ever in Europe with about 20 million Euros, distributed over 5 years (06/2015 - 05/2020). This was 70 % of the estimated project costs of about 30 million Euros in total.

Improving radiation protection in Europe

As coordinator of CONCERT, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection made an important contribution to improving human and environmental radiation protection at the European level and in Germany. Furthermore, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection was thus intensifying its co-operation with other European institutions in the area of research funding and it had a major influence on defining the contents of the future European research landscape in the field of radiation protection.

Call for research proposals

Two open calls on current research priorities from all sectors of radiation protection have been launched. The first call took place in 2016, the second one early 2017. Within the scope of the calls, universities and research institutions from all over Europe had the opportunity to join forces in consortia and to submit proposals for research projects. Altogether nine research projects received funding by CONCERT.