Mathematical, computational models are central in biomedical and biological systems engineering; models enable (i) mechanistically justifying experimental results via current knowledge and (ii) generating new testable hypotheses or novel intervention methods. SyMBioSys is a joint academic/industrial training initiative supporting the convergence of engineering, biological and computational sciences. The consortium's mutual goal is developing a new generation of innovative and entrepreneurial early-stage researchers (ESRs) to develop and exploit cutting-edge dynamic (kinetic) mathematical models for biomedical and biotechnological applications. SyMBioSys integrates: (i) six academic beneficiaries with a strong record in biomedical and biological systems engineering research, these include four universities and two research centres; (ii) four industrial beneficiaries including key players in developing simulation software for process systems engineering, metabolic engineering and industrial biotechnology; (iii) three partner organisations from pharmaceutical, biotechnological and entrepreneurial sectors. SyMBioSys is committed to supporting the establishment of a Biological Systems Engineering research community by stimulating programme coordination via joint activities. The main objectives of this initiative are: * Developing new algorithms and methods for reverse engineering and identifying dynamic models of biosystems and bioprocesses * Developing new model-based optimization algorithms for exploiting dynamic models of biological systems (e.g. predicting behavior in biological networks, identifying design principles and selecting optimal treatment intervention) * Developing software tools, implementing the preceding novel algorithms, using state-of-the-art software engineering practices to ensure usability in biological systems engineering research and practice * Applying the new algorithms and software tools to biomedical and biological test cases.

Breast and colorectal cancer (BC and CRC) are the most frequent cancers accounting for 19% of all deaths from cancer in Europe. In case of triple-negative BC (TNBC) targeted therapies are not available and non-selective chemotherapy is the only treatment option. Targeted therapy has been approved for the treatment of advanced CRC, but response rates are low and treatment is limited to a subgroup of patients. Also, TNBC and CRC patients are prone to develop metastases and have a poor prognosis underpinning the need for new targeted and broadly applicable therapeutic strategies. Tumor cell secretion contributes to hallmarks of cancer e.g. hyperproliferation, evasion of growth suppression, loss of cell polarity, activation of cell motility, invasion and metastasis, shaping of the tumor microenvironment through altered presentation of proteins and the secretome, and resistance to cell death. Dysregulated secretion is thus a driver of cancer progression and therefore holds promise as a general therapeutic target for the treatment of cancers. However, strategies to exploit the secretory pathway for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes are still in their infancy due to the incomplete understanding of how this pathway is regulated by aberrant signaling. The overall research objective of SECRET is to drive the understanding of the mutual regulation of the secretory pathway and signaling in cancer, which will serve as a platform to identify and interrogate novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. SECRET comprises 11 beneficiaries and 7 partner organizations from 9 countries. Coordinated by the University of Stuttgart, SECRET will train 15 talented ESRs in the field of translational cancer systems cell biology and systems medicine towards a career in industry or academia through a highly interdisciplinary and intersectoral research training programme and inspire them to exploit the SECRETory pathway as a treasure trove to design novel therapeutic strategies against cancer.

The European community requires early stage researchers (ESRs) who can work across the boundaries of traditional disciplines, integrating experimental and in silico approaches to understand and manage complex multifactorial disorders. This training network utilises intervertebral disc degeneration (LDD) leading to low back pain (LBP) as a relevant application for data integration and computational simulations in translational medicine. LBP is the largest cause of morbidity worldwide, yet there remains controversy as to the specific cause leading to poor treatment options and prognosis. LDD is reported to account for 50% of LBP in young adults, but the interplay of factors from genetics, environmental, cellular responses and social and psychological factors is poorly understood. Unfortunately, the integration of such data into a holistic and rational map of degenerative processes and risk factors has not been achieved, requiring creation of professional crosscompetencies, which current training programmes fail to address. Disc4All aims to tackle this issue through collaborative expertise of clinicians; computational physicists and biologists; geneticists; computer scientists; cell and molecular biologists; microbiologists; bioinformaticians; and industrial partners. It provides interdisciplinary training in data curation and integration; experimental and theoretical/computational modelling; computer algorithm development; tool generation; and model and simulation platforms to transparently integrate primary data for enhanced clinical interpretations through models and simulations. Complementary training is offered in dissemination; project management; research integrity; ethics; regulation; policy; business strategy; and public and patient engagement. The Disc4All ESRs will provide a new generation of internationally mobile professionals with unique skill sets for the development of thriving careers in translational research applied to multifactorial disorders.

Novel treatment options and associated personalised, patient-tailored therapies need to be explored and developed for highly heterogeneous and chemotherapy resistant cancers, such as malignant melanoma. This can only be achieved by industry-academia collaborations in newly emerging, innovative research disciplines such as translational cancer systems biology and systems medicine. These disciplines and the associated European training needs provide the foundation for the MEL-PLEX ETN. MEL-PLEX aims to understand the network-level and multi-scale regulation of disease-relevant signalling in melanoma through a combination of quantitative biomedical and computational research approaches that go significantly beyond the current state-of-the-art. Coordinated by the RCSI Centre for Systems Medicine, MEL-PLEX will train 15 early stage researchers through a highly interdisciplinary and intersectoral research training programme. MEL-PLEX comprises 11 beneficiaries and 7 partner organisations from 11 countries, including European and international leaders in personalised melanoma therapy, melanoma systems biology and cancer systems medicine. MEL-PLEX aims to (i) achieve an unmatched depth of molecular and mechanistic disease understanding, (ii) will exploit this knowledge to develop and validate predictive models for disease progression, prognosis and responsiveness to current and novel (co-)treatment options, and (iii) will provide superior and clinically relevant tools and biomarker signatures for personalising and optimising melanoma treatment. The MEL-PLEX ETN addresses current needs in academia and the private sector for researchers that have been trained in an environment that spans across biology, medicine and mathematics, that can navigate confidently between clinical, academic and private sector research environments, and that have developed an innovative and creative mindset to progress research findings towards applications.

Aging is an inexorable homeostatic failure of complex but largely unknown aetiology that leads to increased vulnerability to disease with enormous consequences on the quality of individual lives and the overall cost to society. Although, aging is driven by limitations in somatic maintenance, it is also subject to regulation by evolutionarily highly conserved molecular pathways. Indeed, macromolecular damage may drive the functional decline with aging; however, a battery of conserved, longevity assurance mechanisms may set the pace on how rapidly damage builds up and function is lost over time. Human efforts over the last centuries have succeeded in substantially lengthening lifespan, allowing aging to become a common feature of western societies. However, The discouraging complexity of the aging process, the noticeable lack of tools to study it, and a shortage of experimentally tractable model systems have made it significantly challenging to unravel the molecular basis of the processes that cause loss of bodily functions and degeneration of cells and tissues with advancing age. HealthAge was carefully designed to create a joint European program of excellence in training and research with a core intellectual focus on the functional role of “Lifespan Regulation Mechanisms in Health and Disease”. To tackle this, HealthAge combines top-level, state-of-the-art and interdisciplinary research skills that range from basic molecular mechanisms and ‘omics’ level understanding to translational research and clinical applications. This interdisciplinary strategy will allow us to gain functional insight into the fundamental mechanisms regulating longevity as well as to develop a series of rationalized intervention strategies aimed at counteracting age-related diseases.