A European consortium formed by 20 organisations from 10 different countries (Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Israel) is going to work for the next four years to study the health and environmental effects of electric and magnetic fields exposure in the framework of the EU-funded NextGEM project.
This will be accomplished by generating relevant knowledge that ascertains appropriate prevention and control and actuation actions of EMF exposure in residential, public, and occupational settings. The project will provide a framework for the generation of health-relevant scientific knowledge and data on new scenarios of exposure to EMF in multiple frequency bands. The project also aims to develop and validate tools for evidence-based risk assessment.
Among the 20 organisations, we find 4 Research Institutions, 6 Universities, 5 Public and Government organisations, 3 Small and Medium Enterprises and 2 Industrial partners. Each project partner brings to the consortium a unique expertise, essential for the development of the project: from measurements and modelling of the EMF sources, analysis of the health effects by experimental and human studies, risk assessment procedures and quality review, or development of software and application for citizens’ self-awareness of EMF exposure.
The project’s results will be consolidated in a tool to maximise NextGEM’s social impact, termed the European NextGEM Innovation and Knowledge Hub (NIKH) for EMF and Health. It is envisioned that this tool could be utilised by European regulatory authorities, the scientific community and the general public to provide insights into how EMF exposures affect health.
Moreover, the project will include a communication and dissemination programme full of activities to maximize the impact of the results generated and increase general awareness on the subject, and a website and social media available to the general public, which you can already follow to be updated with all the project outcomes.
The NextGEM Kick-off Project Meeting took place at Heraklion, Crete (Greece), between 19 and 21 July 2022 at the premises of the project coordinator, the Institute of Computer Science of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH).
The meeting counted with partners’ introductions, a presentation of the vision and main objectives of the project and the expected programme, results and impact, an overview of the overall project expectations and guidelines by the European Commission, and the planned tasks in every one of the work packages of the project.
List of partners
Research Institutions:
- Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Crete, Greece
- Consiglio Nationale delle Ricerche (CNR), Italy
- Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE), Spain
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
Universities:
- University of Cassino (UCAS), Italy
- The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), The Netherlands
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Israel
- Delft University of Technology (TUD), The Netherlands
- Universitat Zurich (UZH), Switzerland
- Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz (IMBEI), Germany
Public and Government Organisations:
- Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), Italy
- Sciensano (National Public Health Institute of Belgium) (SC), Belgium
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands
- Ministry of Health Spain (MHS), Spain
- Dutch Radio Communications Agency (AT), The Netherlands
Small and Medium Enterprises:
- eBOS Technologies Limited (EBOS), Cyprus
- SciProof International AB (SPi), Sweden
- Sphynx Technology Solutions Ag (SANL), Cyprus
Industrial Partners:
- Intracom Sa Telecom Solutions (ICOM), Greece
- Telecom Italia S.p.a (TIM), Italy
