New European radiation protection research programme

PIANOFORTE, the new European Partnership for Radiation Protection Research, began its work in Paris in June 2022. Funded by Euratom and the governments of the participating states, the research programme is intended to help further improve the protection of the general public, workers, patients and the environment against the harmful effects of ionising radiation.

Overall coordination of PIANOFORTE is the responsibility of the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), as leader of the work package Stakeholder Involvement, will be responsible for achieving broad-based integration of the research questions and projects within various scientific and societal contexts. Moreover, as a member of the partnership's board, the BfS will also bring its experience as a coordinator of the predecessor programme CONCERT to the table.

Interconnection of radiation protection research and stakeholders

Dr. Florian Rauser

"Radiation protection affects broad areas of everyday life," says BfS Vice President Florian Rauser. "Radiation protection research must therefore be closely interlinked with other scientific disciplines and authorities, with radiation protection practitioners, and with civil society. The aim of the BfS's engagement in PIANOFORTE is to integrate the expectations of this wide range of stakeholders as effectively as possible and to build bridges with other sectors – especially healthcare."

Key aspects of PIANOFORTE

During the partnership's five-year term, PIANOFORTE will support research projects from four key subject areas within the framework of three open calls:

• improvement of radiation protection for patients during applications of ionising radiation in medicine
• improvement of the understanding of individual radiosensitivity
• investigation of mechanisms of action in the event of chronic radiation exposure in the low-dose range
• improvement of preparation for nuclear and radiological crises, societal resilience and management of the post-accident phase.

The partnership therefore also supports the objectives of the European Union, such as:

• the fight against cancer (European Cancer Action Plan)
• improvement of preparation for disasters and of resilience in such situations (implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction).

The open calls will be open to grant applications from all research institutions from the European Union.

Retention of expertise in European radiation protection

Furthermore, PIANOFORTE will contribute to the retention of expertise in European radiation protection by supporting the joint use of research infrastructure at the European level as well as through education and training activities.

PIANOFORTE brings together 58 partners from 22 EU countries as well as the United Kingdom and Norway. Total funding of €46 million is available for the project's implementation.