Academic Collaborative Centres

An academic collaborative centre is a long-term partnership between one or more community health services (municipal public health departments) and a university. The main purpose of the academic collaborative centre is to improve knowledge transfer between practitioners, policymakers, researchers and the education sector.

The centres are facilitated by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw, The Hague). The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare & Sport and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) have allocated 14 million euros over the next four years for ZonMw to implement the Academic Collaborative Centres for Public Health programme. ZonMw announced a Call for Proposals for the programme in 2005. In 2006 ZonMw was able to select and award grants to a total of nine applications, establishing nine academic collaborative centres.

Launch        2005
First projects started    2006
Duration         4 years
Funding        Min. of Health, Welfare & Sport / NWO

Programme aim
The programme invests primarily in facilities for setting up academic collaborative centres. The infrastructure needed to set up such a centre has been documented in a contractual agreement. Partnerships between universities and one or more municipal public health departments are based on equal participation by both parties. Academic collaborative centres are operating in several regions of the Netherlands.

The general aim of the programme is to establish and strengthen research activities in the public health sector by setting up at least seven academic collaborative centres. This measure is designed to improve cooperation between scientists, policymakers, practitioners and the education sector (post-graduate or otherwise), ultimately leading to accessible, high-quality evidence-based products, services and facilities in the field of public health. The application of knowledge is essential to achieve a strong public health infrastructure. The specific goals of the programme are therefore:
•    to strengthen and establish a knowledge infrastructure with an equal balance between science and practice
•    to support researchers (PhD or otherwise) working in regional or municipal public health departments
•    to foster high-quality scientific research relevant to day-to-day practice in public health services
•    to disseminate and implement research results
•    to improve the application of evidence-based interventions and methods in regional or municipal public health services