WhyWeAge

Ageing research is an area of great socioeconomic and political importance for Europe. A crucial step to reinforce the constructive results arising from previous FPs in the Biogerontology area is to establish a road map for European research on the molecular aspects of healthy human ageing, also including some relevant aspects of development. Based on an assessment of the state of the art in molecular gerontology and breakthroughs in biotechnology, we shall strive to identify the main research priorities for the next 10 to15 years.

To achieve this objective, we shall organise preparatory workshops on thematic issues before a final summit conference where final texts will be agreed upon before publication. Each workshop will include intense discussion on which research directions in each particular field should be prioritized to obtain maximum benefit within the foreseeable future. We will facilitate discussion of a “brainstorming” nature rather than on a series of scientific workshops aimed at presenting scientific results.

All participants will be asked to prepare their contributions to the workshop by answering a list of questions sent to them at least one month in advance. Each thematic workshop will send a maximum of 4 delegates (2 elected and the 1 or 2 partners in charge of organizing the thematic workshop) to the final summit conference. These delegates will carry the messages formulated at their respective thematic workshops. The negotiated documents emerging from the summit conference will serve as a reference tool for further support of European policies on ageing, considering other stakeholders in the field who will also be invited to participate and share their views.

Thus, the main goals of the WhyWeAge workshops are to identify emerging fields of interest for molecular gerontology which could allow great scientific achievements and applications of socio-economic interest and to inform the stakeholders, including the Eropean Commission, dealing with scientific research via the production of a policy document entitled: ‘A road map for molecular gerontology research in Europe’