IOPC INSTITUTE OF ORGANIC AND PHARMACEUTICAL
CHEMISTRY
IPC INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
IRRP
IPR
INSTITUTE OF RADIOISOTOPES RADIODIAGNOSTICS
PRODUCTS
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
PCG PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTRY GROUP
OMCG ORGANIC AND ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY GROUP
CCG COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY GROUP
LMA LABORATORY FOR MOLECULAR ANALYSIS
PET POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY
IAEA INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
GAEC GREEK ATOMIC ENERGY COMMITTEE
NIH NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PART I
1.1
General description of the field
1.2
State of the art in Greece compared
to Europe and the rest of the world
1.3
Opportunities and threats in relation
to national and regional economy
1.4 Recommendations and Measures to be taken
PART II page 4 page 6 page 7 page 7 page 9 page 10 page 12
2.1
Institute of Organic & Pharmaceutical Chemistry
2.1.1
General outlook
2.1.2 Criteria for Evaluation
(a) Quality of research: page 13 page 13 page 14 page 14
(b) Exploitation of the Research
(c) Evaluation of Resources page 15 page 17
(d) Comparison to Similar R & D Activities Elsewhere page 18
(e) Assessment of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Management page 18
2.1.3 Conclusions and Recommendations for:
(a) RTC and Innovation activities of the Institute
(b) The structure and the management pattern of the Institute
2.2 Institute of Physical Chemistry
2.2.1 General outlook page 19 page 19 page 20 page 21 page 21
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2.2.2 Criteria for Evaluation
(a) Quality of research
(b) Exploitation of the Research
(c) Evaluation of Resources
(d) Comparison to Similar R & D Activities Elsewhere page 21 page 21 page 23 page 23 page 24
(e) Assessment of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Management page 25
2.2.3 Conclusions and Recommendations for: page 26
(a) RTC and Innovation activities of the Institute
(b) The structure and the management pattern of the Institute page 26 page 26
2.3 Institute of Radioisotopes – Radiodiagnostic Products
2.3.1 General outlook
2.3.2 Criteria for Evaluation page 27 page 27
(a) Quality of research
(b) Exploitation of the Research page 27 page 27
(c) Evaluation of Resources page 30 page 31
(d) Comparison to Similar R & D Activities Elsewhere page 33
(e) Assessment of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Management page 34
2.3.3 Conclusions and Recommendations for:
(a) RTC and Innovation activities of the Institute
(b) The structure and the management pattern of the Institute
ANNEX page 35 page 35 page 35 page 37
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The evaluation committee consisting of :
Prof. E. C. Constable
Prof. G. W. Gray
Prof. M. W. Hosseini
Prof. P. A. Schubiger
Dr. N. Ragoussis met 16-20/10/00 and visited the Institute of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
(IOPC), the Institute of Physical Chemistry (IPC) and the Institute of Radioisotopes and Radiodiagnostic Products (IRRP). The assessment has been made on the basis of the site visits, discussions with personnel of the Institutes and the written submissions from the Institutes.
The overall impression of the scientific work was very favorable and the general conclusion is that the bulk of the work is comparable to that in other European laboratories.
The present emphasis of the GSRT upon the exploitation and commercialisation of results and IPR is to be applauded. The GSRT must provide the legal, commercial and financial infrastructure to facilitate such activity.
The GSRT must define Mission Statements for the Institutes. The Institutes should develop business plans in consultation with the GSRT as a matter of urgency. Future appointments of Directors must be made within this strategic planning framework.
To rectify some of the anomalies arising from the non-structured development of the
Institutes we recommend the relocation of some of the research groups.
Significant investment in the buildings and the instrumental facilities and equipment is needed if Greece is to maintain its international competitiveness.
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Specific recommendations
1.
The role of the Institutes must be clearly defined.
2.
Mission Statements and business plans must be written for the Institutes
3.
The GSRT must develop a clear strategic plan for the Institutes.
4.
A number of research groups should be relocated to optimise the scientific effectiveness.
5.
The PCG (IOPC) should be relocated to a new "virtual" institute at "Demokritos".
6.
The computational groups should be located at a common site.
7.
The groups working on immunoassay methodology should be relocated to a clinical environment.
8.
The provision of an 18 MeV cyclotron and PET facility is a matter of national urgency.
9.
Investment in the buildings and infrastructure of the Institutes is essential.
10.
The Institutes should receive a basic running budget in addition to personnel costs.
11.
The age-profile of the personnel must be urgently corrected to incorporate younger researchers.
12.
The position of the Special Functional Scientists must be regularised.
13.
A new unit should be established for the distribution of radioproducts.
14.
A centralised facility should be established within the GSRT to facilitate commercial exploitation of results.
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The three Institutes which have been assessed work broadly in the field of chemistry or applied chemistry. Although an exceptionally wide range of different projects has been presented within the Institutes, these fall within three broad categories : a)
Synthetic Chemistry; b) Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry and c)
Computational and Materials Chemistry.
Synthetic chemistry extends from the preparation of biologically active molecules, through metal complexes to polymeric materials and synthetic peptides. Synthesis is at the root of all chemistry, and these core skills provide the essential basis for activity in the programmes falling within categories b) and c).
The interests in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry are equally wide-ranging and extend from novel synthetic derivatives with potential bioactivity, through radionuclide derivatised synthetic and biological molecules, to de novo synthesis of peptides and immuno- or bio-assay.
The three Institutes contain two computational groups whose research interests are fully complementary to those of the groups involved in the synthesis and fabrication of new materials. The very wide remit of materials chemistry is seen in the portfolio of the three Institutes which extends from "smart polymers", through bio-conjugates to emerging "laboratory on a chip" bio-assay devices.
The overall research portfolio is wide-ranging and the breadth of research activity is similar to that in other European countries .
The three Institutes that we have assessed are essentially independent of the
Universities and funded through a combination of direct stream and competitive sources. The basic infrastructure and core personnel costs are sourced from the GSRT.
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Although we recognise that the financial background may differ, we have assessed the
Institutes in rigorous comparison to similar establishments in Europe, on a purely scientific basis.
The activity in synthetic chemistry is certainly state-of-the-art in Greece. Very often this work is being performed in laboratory conditions which are not ideal, and almost universal consideration to investment in the laboratory infrastructure and equipment is necessary if Greece is to remain competitive on the European stage. In particular, the fume-hoods within the synthetic laboratories are at the lower limits of acceptable standards and are absolutely unsuitable for the preparation and handling of bioactive and biohazardous materials. Within these constraints, the work is generally of a high standard and internationally competitive. The research effort in organometallic chemistry (IOPC) is unique and has been at the fore-front of this area in the past. The lack of investment has meant that this group is now lagging behind its competitors.
The general synthetic effort in the other groups within the three Institutes is to be applauded, but future competitiveness will be somewhat dependent upon additional investment. Some of the research proposals are very ambitious when related to the laboratory facilities available. Standards of safety, particularly within laboratories handling radioactive or bioactive material are not up to European standards. There is no clear distribution between areas containing biologically hazardous material and those containing chemical hazards.
The pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry groups are producing state-of the-art materials which are, in general, comparable with those from other European laboratories. The comments made above concerning the laboratories and infrastructure apply equally to this area of activity. Some of the research activities of the IRRP find themselves in a somewhat anomalous position. In particular the development of a number of groups in molecular biology has resulted in a new research activity which is not placed in an ideal research environment. It is not clear that there is the necessary critical mass in this area to remain internationally competitive. To date, the majority of these groups are producing competent if not necessarily innovative results.
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The computational and materials science groups are distributed across three institutes.
The computational chemistry groups have set themselves realistic and achievable goals which are compatible with their resources. We feel that this area of activity is internationally competitive and of high quality. The groups involved in various aspects of materials chemistry have very variable interests. The accommodation of the polymer group within the IOPC will strongly improve the international profile of this
Institute and is expected to result in international exploitation of the intellectual property. The other groups are generally internationally competitive, although in some cases their small size raises some worries about their long term viability.
Overall, the evaluation committee was impressed by the research profiles presented, although we very often had the feeling that results were obtained despite, rather than because of, the level of support provided.
It is obvious that there have been lost opportunities in several areas from all three
Institutes for the transfer of Intellectual Property into the commercial sector.
An adequately functioning, professional office to advise the Institutes on the legal and commercial aspects of exploitation and to promote active transfer of IPR is essential.
The publication of research in journals, public lectures or conference proceedings to promote personal assessment must not pre-empt patenting and exploitation. A clear example of this exists in the IRRP in the case of a specialized peptide synthesis resin that has been developed, but cannot be patented and exploited because of prior publication.
With respect to the above points, the GSRT should, for regional and / or national interest, define a clear policy that research should where possible be exploited, and the incorporation of this policy in a clear Mission Statement applicable to all institutes is recommended. This must be accepted and acted upon by all staff.
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A good opportunity to maintain the domestic radiopharmaceutical activity from production through to distribution could also be lost from the IRRP if from now on it is not properly and efficiently organized both financially and administratively.
1.
It is essential that the role of the Institutes be clearly defined by the GSRT. This is required for both the regional and national interest and also in terms of the relationships with University and Industrial research. The Institutes offer an invaluable resource to enable technology transfer and to provide a mechanism for exploitation of basic research.
2.
The individual Institutes urgently require Mission Statements and business plans.
The Mission Statements must be defined by the GSRT and the business plans developed in discussion with the GSRT.
3.
Due to the lack of clear strategic planning, the Institutes have developed in a noncoherent manner, which has prevented the optimisation of core strengths and activities. The recommendations which follow attempt to rectify this.
4.
The non-strategic development of new research areas within all three Institutes has resulted in scientifically related groups operating in isolation. We specifically propose the relocation of some groups to provide a critical mass of personnel and expertise in synthetic chemistry. Although not part of our remit, it occurs to us that a number of the basic research groups would be more appropriately placed in a university environment.
5.
We recommend that the pharmaceutical chemistry group (IOPC) be relocated to the Demokritos site and be incorporated into a new virtual institute of synthetic chemistry consisting of this group, the bio-organic group (IPC) and the synthetic radiopharmaceutical group (IRRP). The virtual institute requires no independent building of its own, but its establishment has a space-consequence in that the pharmaceutical chemistry group must be provided with synthetic laboratory facilities on the Demokritos site.
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6.
The two computational groups should be located at the same site. We make no concrete recommendation regarding the location. This represents a future economy of scale and will optimise the provision of infrastructure.
7.
The research groups working on immunoassay materials should be relocated to a clinical analytical surrounding. An appropriate environment would be in a hospital or a university clinical department.
8.
For Greece to maintain her European reputation and status in nuclear medicine the provision of a PET facility is regarded as of high priority for national health. The location should be selected to allow optional clinical usage under operating procedures developed with IRRP facilities and personnel.
9.
Investment in the existing laboratory facilities and buildings is critical if Greece is to maintain her international competitiveness and reputation on the European and world stage.
10.
It is necessary to establish some fixed level of funding to cover core activities of the Institutes (essential maintenance of laboratories and instruments, administrative costs unrelated to research projects etc.).
11.
The strategic planning needs not only to consider research priorities, but also to address the age–profile of the Institutes and to allow a long-term incorporation of younger scientists into the programmes.
12.
The non-strategic development of the Institutes has resulted in a number of staffing anomalies, which must be immediately rectified. In particular, the
Institutes contain a number of long-serving Special Functional Scientists of high quality and international reputation who should be promoted to the appropriate level of Researcher. All of these people are effectively fulfilling all of the duties of Researcher at present.
13.
The activities related to the distribution of radionuclides and radioproducts in
Greece, which are currently fulfilled by the IRRP, should in the future be associated with an administratively independent unit.
14.
The GSRT should set up a centralised office to facilitate the commercialisation and exploitation of results and IPR. This center should contain both legal and commercial expertise. A centralised facility will be able to provide expertise of the type that the present system cannot. This facility must also be able to provide financial assistance for the costs associated with filing and maintaining patents.
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2.1.1
General outlook
The Institute of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (IOPC) is one of the six institutes of the Hellenic National Research Foundation and arose in 1989 from the former Institute of Organic Chemistry following an expansion of its areas of interest.
The Institute in its self-presentation set the following objectives :

To carry out high caliber research in the fields of Organic, Organometallic,
Pharmaceutical and Computational Chemistry.

To provide services and technological expertise for significant industrial sectors of
Greece

To train undergraduates and post-graduates enrolled in higher degree programmes.
The IOPC is now organised in four groups as follows :

Organic and Organometallic Chemistry Group (OMCG)

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Group (PCG)

Computational Chemistry Group (CCG)

Laboratory for Molecular Analysis (LMA)
The creation of a new group of Polymer Chemistry is among the future plans of the
Institute and follows the recent appointment of Prof. Hadjichristidis as Director.
During the last five years a move towards more competitive-based funding has been achieved through participation in national and European R&D programmes.
Collaborations with European and Greek organizations have been expanded.
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2.1.2 Criteria for Evaluation
(a) Quality of research:
1. Organometallic Group
This group is rather special with respect to its work in paramagnetic organometallic compounds (radical anions) and in the synthesis of organometallic reagents for use in the preparation of functional materials, in organic synthesis in a wide sense and in new catalytic processes of the anionic type. The work also involves a modified UV absorber produced in conjunction with Viochrom SA for protection of automobile upholstery from photo-bleaching. The work is good in its quality considering the laboratories in which it is done, for these are not ideal apart from two laboratories which have been remodelled. Clear goals and objectives do not seem to exist in all the areas. Although publications have been produced in good journals, the record of publication on an average per capita basis is low. Research income is also low and the patent application situation is poor, but in both cases the reasons are understandable.
2. Pharmaceutical Chemistry Group
The work done in this group is excellent and its oral presentation to the assessors deserves special mention because of its quality. Again one is amazed that so much imaginative synthetic work of quality is produced from research laboratories which are so obviously in need of refurbishment. Again the publication record is on average poor, but once more good journals have been used for several of the publications made.
Research income is low – a bit higher than that of the Organometallic Group - and the patents produced are zero.
3. Computational Chemistry
The equipment of the group and its laboratory housing are fine and link-ups to the
National facility are available. The work is interesting, but some of the obvious follow-ups need to be pursued energetically. The publication record of the group, all in good journals, is quite high. There are no patents and outside income has not been
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generated and is probably in this case neither needed nor expected at this stage in the group’s development.
4. Laboratory for Molecular Analysis is a service group that cannot be looked at under the same criteria as the OMCG, PCG or CCG. It is providing good service, as it should, to the other groups, but it has to be noted that a number of analytical techniques are missing from it – notably the now standard facility of X-ray crystallography. Equipment here would have to stem from non-competitive funding.
The work of the group on virgin olive oil adulteration is worthy of note.
It has to be said that generally speaking the quotation of citations per publication may be being given too much prominence in the reports. One must look rather carefully at mere numbers quoted to check that they are meaningful, unless the numbers are very large which may be a very good indicator or a very bad indicator in the case of an erroneous publication.
The involvement of the Institute in networks has improved enormously since the last assessment.
(b) Exploitation of the Research
Cooperation
With Greek organisations
1. OMCG : in the report it is mentioned that the group participates in collaboration with Greek Universities or Research Centers through programmes funded by GSRT.
2. PCG : many collaborations with Greek institutions : National Hellenic Research
Foundation (Biology & Biotechnology) ; University of Thessaloniki ; University of
Ioannina ; University of Patras ; University of Crete ; hospitals.
3. CCG : a small group in size which collaborates with mainly two Greek universities : University of Patras and University of Ioannina.
4. LMA : This group with mainly " service tasks " does not mention any specific collaboration with Greek academic institutions, but is associated with the State
Chemical Laboratory.
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International collaborations
1. OMCG : This group collaborates with scientists in the UK, Germany, France and
Ireland.
2. PCG : This group appears to be the most active in terms of collaboration : UK,
USA, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Canada, Austria, Slovakia,
France.
3. CCG : collaborations with scientists from the UK and Sweden.
4. LMA :international collaboration with other countries involved in olive oil production and marketing.
Training
All groups function mainly with post-doctoral fellows. However, they also train PhD students.
1. OMCG : 6 post-doctoral fellows, 2 graduate students.
Over the last 5 years 15 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows were trained by the group; 3 theses have been prepared. The group also participates in educational tasks for high school teachers.
2. PCG : currently 4 post-doctoral fellows and 4 graduate students are participating in the research carried out by this group.
3. CCG : currently 2 post-doctoral fellows, 3 PhD students and 2 undergraduate students are involved in the research conducted by the group.
Industrial collaboration and contacts
1. OMCG : interactions with Viochrom SA within the framework funded by research programmes of the GSRT (YPER).
2. PCG : This group is the most active in terms of industrial contacts (Elpen SA, patent in collaboration with Unipharma SA). The group has also been participating in programmes funded by GSRT (Rapharm, collaboration with Elpen SA in YPER).
In addition collaborations exist with Vioryl SA, Medochemie SA, Pharmaten SA, Laviphfarm SA and Maich.
3. CCG : no particular collaboration with the industrial world is mentioned.
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Conclusions
The IOPC has been engaged in national and international collaborations either through bilateral cooperation programmes or through European networks. The training activity of the Institute is reasonable. However, more interactions with universities would be beneficial. The exploitation of the results obtained through the research conducted in the Institute in the context of industrial activity appears to be poor. This might be related to the absence of interest from national industry.
(c) Evaluation of Resources
The IOPC comprises 12 research staff funded from the regular budget, together with 7 other staff from the same source. The number of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows is variable, but these are funded from external sources.The utilization of the personnel available is near optimal, with resources distributed across the three research areas and the central analytical facility. It is clear to the evaluation panel that the personnel resources available at present are not compatible with maintaining the current degree of commitment in existing areas as well as supporting the research interests of the new Director, Professor Hadjichristides. Ultimately, decisions need to be made in terms of prioritising current or future research activity, or of making significant additional research personnel available to Professor Hadjichristides.
The graduate students and post-doctoral fellows are employed to good effect, although the available (December 1999) figures for the number of post-doctorals suggest that a significant increase in research publications should be anticipated in the near future.
The age structure of the Institute is of some concern to the evaluation team, as is the constitution of the research group leaders. We feel that the number of Special
Functional Scientists is unacceptable, and reiterate the report of the previous evaluation and request that these 7 people be raised to the appropriate level of
Researcher with immediate effect. Even if this is achieved, there is no long-term continuity as five of the 19 full time appointments are over 50 years old and all the rest are in the 30-50 age bracket.
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The committee is unconvinced by the use of raw citation data for the assessment of scientific excellence. The number of self-citations does appear, in some instances, to be excessively high.The usage of computers by the computational and analytical groups is to be applauded.
The utilisation of the large equipment within the analytical group is good, but external
(paid) usage of this facility still needs to be increased. External usage approaching
40% of the available time would not appear to be inappropriate. This would necessitate additional investment in autochanger facilities for the NMR spectrometers.
Investment in additional instrumentation, such as x-ray diffractometers or additional mass spectrometric techniques, would increase the potential for commercial exploitation of the analytical services.
(d) Comparison to Similar R & D Activities Elsewhere
The synthetic work of the Pharmaceutical group would stand in good comparison with that in many European and international centers. The Organometallic group is rather specialised in its nature and its goals cannot really be compared with those of other laboratories in Greece, but it is not at the fore-front of European and International
Organometallic Chemistry. It is too early for the Computational Chemistry laboratory to be compared with the European and International laboratories.
The LMA laboratory as a service laboratory cannot be assessed upon its R&D activities.
The involvement of the Institute in networks has improved enormously since the last assessment.
We rate the Institute α for excellence nationally, β + for rating in Europe but probably
β -
in the global sense.
(e) Assessment of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Management
Assessment of management can only be made on the actual performance of the previous Director and the potential of the newly–appointed Director.
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The management team throughout the evaluation period has made efficient and constructive use of the limited personnel and financial resources available. This efficiency of operation is unlikely to continue in the future if the incoming director is expected to continue the present level of personnel support for existing groups, as well as establishing his own research presence. Therefore, we recommend a reevaluation of the research activities within the Institute and make a special proposal in
Section 2.1.3.
We note at this point that the Pharmaceutical Group is highly effective but somewhat scientifically isolated and would benefit from closer contact with other synthetic groups.
In terms of the efficiency and economic functioning of the Institute, it is surprising to the evaluation committee that an appointment of a new director in a research area totally unrelated to existing research activities in the Institute has been made with no regard for associated personnel and infrastructure costs. We strongly urge the IOPC and the GSRT to collaborate upon the urgent preparation of a business plan for the
Institute.
2.1.3 Conclusions and Recommendations for:
(a) RTC and Innovation activities of the Institute
Existing operations : The research programmes are of acceptable standard on the national stage but of variable international impact. The technological developments associated with the Pharmaceutical and Polymer groups are of considerable commercial potential, but are not yet efficiently exploited.
Recommendation: The Director and research group leaders should be strongly encouraged to explore all possible avenues for the exploitation of their innovation and novel results. We note that at present, the legal and commercial support structure for the filing of patents and for the protection of IPR in negotiations with industry is not available and urge the GSRT to provide a centralised expert advice centre.
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(b) The structure and the management pattern of the Institute
We are concerned that the appointment of the new Director with a large research group and international reputation in polymer science cannot be incorporated into the present infrastructure of the Institute. Taken in conjunction with our concerns regarding the scientific isolation of the high quality pharmaceutical chemistry group, we propose that this latter group be relocated to allow maximal interaction with the
Bio-organic group from IPC and the Radiopharmaceutical group from IRRP. This will allow the new director of IOPC to maximise his talents within the IOPC and to make use of the interfacial possibility of the Institute to initiate and optimise technology transfer and industrial exploitation of his scientific work. It will also allow the
Pharmaceutical group to expand within a more supportive environment.
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2.2.1 General outlook
The Institute of Physical Chemistry (IPC) is one of the eight Institutes of the National
Center of Scientific Research "DEMOKRITOS" and was established in 1987. This
Institute is involved in basic and applied research, covering a broad spectrum of areas of research including

Advanced Technology Materials

Environmental Chemistry and Technology - Photochemical Processes

Bio-organic, Bio-inorganic Chemistry
The objectives of the Institute may be summarized as follows :

High standard of research in the selected areas

Collaboration with Greek and foreign organizations

Training of post-graduate students
The Institute is located in an area of 2100 m
2
in a building constructed in 1960. After a severe fire in 1990, the main facilities were renovated in 1997.
2.2.2 Criteria for Evaluation
(a) Quality of research
The research of the IPC falls into three main areas each with a number of sub-areas.
We define these areas as :
(i) Advanced Technology Materials
(ii) Environmental Chemistry and Technology - Photochemical Processes
(iii) Bio-areas – divisable into Bio-inorganic and Bio-organic.
Despite having been provided with almost no information on the research activities of the groups and their scientific personnel before coming to Athens, as a result of presentations made, albeit in a rather condensed and hurried format because of the ground to be covered, we can comment with confidence on each of areas (i) - (iii)
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From the standpoint of quality of the scientific work, we have no hesitation in describing the work under (i) on Advanced Technology Materials as excellent, and we apply the same descriptor of excellent to the Environmental and Photochemical work (ii).
Considering the work in the Bio-inorganic area, we find this sound but mundane and conventional in nature. The work in the Bio-organic area is still young, but it has made a good start and its potential is promising.
Publications and Patents
We can generalise for all three areas (i) – (iii) by describing the overall publication record as good and noting that the work has been published mainly in excellent journals, although some groups have underperformed. The patent situation is, however, poor and as is the case of the IOPC, it can only be said that we understand the reasons for this. Although it is clear that the Institute of Physical Chemistry has achieved a nice balance between scientific research of a basic, fundamental investigative kind and that oriented more to the service area, the financial resources gained from this work of a service nature are very disappointing. For example, with reference to the work on protective clothing for the military services, the work has been apparently done without external funding and with the aim of going out with a successful product to "sell". Instead, believing that the group could be helpful in this area, funding should have been obtained from the appropriate Ministry to do the investigative work, with an overhead to the Institute of 100% and on the understanding that if a successful product were developed it could be patented, paid for by the Ministry, with a 5-6% royalty to the Institute.
Networks
The position with regard to scientific networks, both national and international, appears to be very good.
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(b) Exploitation of the Research
Cooperation i) With Greek organisations
The Institute is engaged in many collaborations with Greek Universities and Research
Centers. ii) International collaborations
All three groups comprising the Institute are engaged in international collaborations.
More specifically, the Institute has been fairly successful in participating in many
European projects.
Training
The Institute has acted as a postgraduate school since 1966. Per year, 4-6 fellowships are obtained through the Ministry for all three groups. Over the last 4 years, 21 PhD theses have been prepared and defended. Taking into account the number of staff members, a ratio of approximately 0.8 (PhD / permanent staff) is obtained. The
Institute also operates with post-doctoral fellows.
Industrial collaboration and contacts
The Institute is in contact with the Industrial world, in particular with Asta Medica
(Germany), Lavipharm SA, Chemo Hellas Ltd, Minerva SA, AirLiquide (France),
Viana SA, ICI (UK) etc.
Conclusions
In terms of science, the Institute is doing very well both in research and training. In terms of industrial contacts and activity, the income from sales of products and occasional services is lower than might be expected. No income has been obtained from royalties or the start up of companies.
(c) Evaluation of Resources
The IPC consists of 41 permanent staff, of whom 27 are scientists, in addition to 70 visiting scientists, post-doctoral and doctoral co-workers and others. The group leaders of the IPC made forceful representation that they were experiencing difficulties in their relationships with the Universities and in obtaining access to doctoral students. Analysis of the Institute-funded studentships suggests that this is, to
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some extent, only a perceived injustice. We encourage the IPC group leaders to discuss with the IRRP strategies for collaborating with Universities.
Of more concern, is the age structure with more than 50% of the permanent staff being aged 50 years or over and many approaching retirement. There are very few
“young” permanent researchers. In contrast to the IRRP, the policy of the GSRT appears to be directed towards closing this Institute. If the present policy of replacing
~ 20% of retirements by new staff is continued in the future, the age structure will continue to worsen and the IPC will no longer be a viable scientific unit. We consider that the appointment of new personnel within the existing research groups to replace those who have been lost by attrition to be critical. We note with satisfaction that about 18 positions for doctoral students are funded, but would encourage the GSRT to increase this number.
The number of citations is generally satisfactory as is the percentage of self-citations.
The utilisation of the large instrumentation is generally satisfactory, although automation would improve though-put on the NMR spectrometers. However, we felt very strongly that generally house-keeping standards in some of the instrument rooms and many of the preparative laboratories were of an extremely low standard and would certainly have impact on the operation of instruments and the efficiency and reproducibility of research activities.
The use of computing resources by the computational group is good.
(d) Comparison to Similar R & D Activities Elsewhere
From the three areas of research, the Advanced Technology Materials group is outstanding and unique in Greece and stands among the best in Europe and the world.
It belongs to the α rated institutions worldwide.
For the Environmental Chemistry and Technology group, work on the analysis of metal and organic pollutants is on the same level as that of related Greek academic research groups. The photochemical work is highly competitive and comparable with similar work in Europe. For the Bio-organic and Bio-inorganic group activities, it
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must be said that for the organic part it is too early to assess its competitiveness, whereas the inorganic part is considered to be non-competitive on an European and world level.
These assessments also apply to their alliances : the first two groups are connected to an excellent international network, which cannot be said for the Bio-inorganic and
Bio-organic groups. The continued association of the Bio-organic Chemistry group with Professor Nikolaou (Scripps) is to be encouraged.
(e) Assessment of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Management
We have been impressed by the general management procedures which have been in place throughout the majority of the appraisal period, but deplore the situation which has led to the present appointment of an Acting Director for an undefined period.
The general use of personnel and financial resources has been good and new infrastructure has been acquired and incorporated into the IPC. In view of the disquiet expressed regarding interactions with Universities, we feel that the 18 available studentships may not have been used to promote the Institute to Universities with optimal efficiency.
Whilst much of the diverse research effort is naturally interrelated, the Bio-organic group stands out as being somewhat scientifically isolated.
We hope that the research area of any new Director will sustain, complement or reinforce the existing directions within IPC. The IPC cannnot incorporate any major new scientific directions without significant expansion of laboratory space and facility, in addition to supplementary personnel and financial support.
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2.2.3 Conclusions and Recommendations for:
(a) RTC and Innovation activities of the Institute
Existing operations : The IPC is functioning at present as an efficient basic research institute in wide-ranging areas of chemistry. We note that the general portfolio of research is no longer correctly described as "Physical Chemistry" and that, perhaps, consideration should be given to renaming the Institute more in accord with its actual operations. Although much of the research is fundamental in nature, some projects have been conceived from the start as having commercial application, and others are approaching commercialisation. To date, the IPC has only achieved modest success in protecting its IPR and intellectual investment through patenting or bilateral agreements.
Recommendations: As in the case of the IOPC, we strongly encourage the permanent staff of the IPC to consider commercial aspects of their work at an early stage. In particular, we note that some essentially commercial projects have been prosecuted in isolation, whereas one might have expected involvement by industry or other government agencies from their inception. We stress once again that efficient exploitation of results would be facilitated by a national centre of legal and commercial expertise.
(b) The structure and the management pattern of the Institute
The relative weakness of the Bio-inorganic research area suggests that this area should not be revitalised after the retirement of the present group leader. In contrast, the potential of the Bio-organic group is high and we feel that a strengthening of the effort in synthetic organic chemistry is merited. This would naturally be achieved by establishment of an organisational infrastructure involving the bio-organic group
(IPC), the pharmaceutical chemistry group (IOPC) and the radiopharmaceutical group
(IRRP).
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2.3.1 General outlook
The Institute of Radioisotopes and Radiodiagnostic Products (IRRP) is one of the eight institutes of the National Center of Scientific Research "Demokritos".The
Institute began its operation by producing radionuclides of technetium and iodine. Its current research activity is concentrated in the following areas:

Radiopharmaceuticals

Radiochemistry

Immunochemistry

Immunoanalysis and immunosensors

Biomolecular Physics

Molecular Biology
Furthermore, the Institute is engaged in the following activities :

Development, production and quality control of radiopharmaceuticals and radioimmunoassays

Distribution and control of imported radiochemicals and radiopharmaceuticals in
Greece

Training at all levels (graduate, post-graduate and technical) in handling of radioactive materials and in the synthesis of radiolabelled compounds
2.3.2 Criteria for Evaluation
(a) Quality of research
The IRRP comprises a number of somewhat disparate research groupings. Although a total of six projects was presented, the committee considered that it was appropriate to group these under three more global topics i) radiopharmaceutical chemistry, radiochemistry and radiobiology of labelled compounds ii) immunopeptides and immunoassay iii) biomolecular systems and applied technology. There is also a significant "service" function associated with the control, quality control and distribution of radioproducts in Greece. We view this aspect of the operation as clearly distinct from the other spheres of activity and recommend that it should be an organisationally and administratively separate entity in the future.
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The first group (group i) is concerned with applications of labelled chemicals and biomolecules in the broad areas of pharmaceutical, medical and clinical science. The projects associated with technetium-based radiopharmaceuticals are internationally competitive, as is the effort in the area of bombesin, somatostatin and neuropeptides.
The evaluation committee was particularly impressed by the latter projects. Although the brain perfusion work is a logical extension of the previous efforts in the area of technetium chemistry, its value is not yet clear and remains to be established in the future. The committee was of the impression that the labelled antibody work was not really justified in terms of the resources available and the necessary investment in new methodology. Overall, the publication record is somewhat low, although we note that a number of patents has been filed. The evaluation committee note the difficulties experienced in finding the necessary finances to lodge patent applications and urge the GSRT to make enabling funds available if they continue to stress the commercial application of the work that they are funding.
The group concerned with immunodiagnostics and immunotherapy is a new direction within the IRRP. The group has established good direct contacts with national and international health institutes for the clinical exploitation of their studies. However, we are strongly of the opinion that this research is not correctly placed within the
IRRP. The research teams are isolated from contact with groups working in related areas and as a result the work is somewhat non-innovative. The antibody work in its present form is generally competent, but not of international impact and is of no obvious long-term benefit to the Institute. We feel strongly that this research effort would be better placed in a clinical environment. We are concerned that the establishment of this research effort within the IRRP presents to the outside world an image of unstructured growth and lack of long-term planning. If such long-term planning exists it was not presented to the evaluation committee in the selfpresentation documents of the IRRP. We urge the IRRP to develop a business plan in discussion with the GSRT as soon as is possible. We also feel that the publication record from this group is very low, with a total of 17 publications from 12 workers over a five year period. Although some of this work would appear to be of commercial interest, no patents have been filed and many of the results are being disseminated through non-established (i.e. financially non-beneficial) technology transfer programmes.
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The biomolecular systems group has only been active since 1998 and comprises 5 people. The group has proved to be very effective at fund-raising to provide the required instrumental infrastructure. In view of the short period of time in which the group has been active, we can only assess this group on the basis of its potential. We consider that the potential of this group is high and that the research will lead to commercially exploitable results in the short- to mid-term. The work in the area of genetic diagnosis is extremely competent, but would be more appropriately located in a clinical environment. However, with this provision, the work itself is first class and internationally competitive.
The evaluation committee was impressed with the optical capillary sensors and consider that the commercial application is high. We note that technology transfer arrangements have already been entered into under the umbrella of the IAEA and
GAEC, but urge the workers to patent the methodologies as soon as possible. This work is highly innovative and is placed within a very competitive area. The committee was rather surprised to learn the nature of the service requirements which have been placed upon the IRRP. Whilst these cannot be assessed directly in terms of the scientific evaluation, these activities have a considerable impact upon the research operations. The trend towards developing new areas of research at the expense of the core radiochemical and radiopharmaceuticals operations is severely compromising the ability to fulfill the statutory requirements involving the distribution and control of radionuclide products within Greece. We note that these operations are close to selffinancing and recommend that they be removed from the IRRP into an organisationally and administratively separate unit. We were rather disappointed to note that some potentially very interesting new methodology for peptide synthesis had not been patented.
All of the groups have been successful in raising funds from national competitive and non-competitive streams together with obtaining impressive levels of support from the
EU and other international bodies.
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(b) Exploitation of the Research
Cooperation
With Greek institutions
Extensive collaborations with Greek universities, research institutions and hospitals have been carried out over the last five years.
International collaborations
The Institute has been involved in diverse international collaborations mainly with the
International Atomic Energy Agency and through European programmes.
Collaborations with USA (Boston Medical School and NIH) have been also pursued.
It is noted that the Institute is involved in technology transfer to Cuba and China.
Training
Currently 25 graduate students are involved in research performed at the IRRP of which 13 are supported by internal fellowships given through " Demokritos ". The
PhD students are engaged in research in the areas of pharmacy, chemistry, biology and biophysics. Over the last five years, 8 PhD theses have been defended. The
Institute also trains post-doctoral fellows. Among the 12 post-doctorals, 6 have been financially supported by " Demokritos ". The Institute participates in teaching undergraduate programmes at the M.Sc. level. The overall relations with universities appear to be diverse and of mutual interest.
Industrial collaboration and contacts
The Institute has been engaged in collaborations with the National Drug Organisation and health organisations as well as in partnerships with Greek pharmaceutical companies.
Although the Institute is involved in patenting (national and international), there has not yet been any return. Income has been received from bilateral agreements related to technology developed in-house.
The Institute is engaged in the distribution of radioproducts which generates substantial income. However this activity should be administratively separate.
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Conclusion
The Institute has been engaged in national and international collaborations in the areas of pharmaceutical chemistry and health. Contacts with European teams have been established through European networks.
The Institute appears to be on good terms with local universities and the overall number of students is perfectly acceptable.
The Institute is engaged in collaborations and effective contacts with industrial companies.
Although patents have been deposited, so far no significant income has been obtained through their exploitation. The distribution sector seems to function properly, although its administrative status should be clarified.
The Quality Control activity is unique and needed. However, if in the future no permanent scientists and technicians are appointed for this activity, it will disappear.
(c) Evaluation of Resources
The IRRP is presently composed of 13 scientists of various levels, 12 technical staff,
14 administrative and auxiliary personnel and 34 post-doctoral, doctoral and other coworkers. The majority of the post-doctoral and doctoral workers are funded from external sources and the relationships that have been established with the universities seem sound and to be functioning well.
Of the 39 permanent staff, some 12-15 full time equivalents are employed on the mandatory aspects of radionuclide inspection and distribution. This does not seem to the evaluators to be part of the core activity of the IRRP and consideration should be given to making the distribution and control operation administratively separate entities. In such a structure, the IRRP could sell the quality control resources to this new body on a " real-costs + markup " basis.
With the provisos made above, the utilisation of staff is reasonable, considering the rather disparate nature of the research activities which are being undertaken. The
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committee is of the opinion that the IRRP is somewhat lacking in a long-term strategic plan. Thus, although the majority of retirements have been followed by new appointments, these have been concentrated in new areas of molecular biology, advanced technology or immunopeptides at the expense of the core expertise in radiopharmaceuticals. Of the permanent staff, 8 are over fifty, and retirements in the short term will result in key quality control operations becoming impossible if replacement staff are not made in this area. We applaud the policy adopted by the
GSRT in making reappointments at the IRRP, but strongly suggest that these be made within the framework of a business plan for the Institute.
Overall, the publication record for the IRRP is on the low side, although this is somewhat balanced by the commercial nature of some areas of operation and the fact that some groups have been active for only a short period within the evaluation period. Inasmuch as citations may be used to evaluate research, these are generally satisfactory, although these vary significantly between the various research groups.
There do not appear to be excessive self-citations.
The usage of the large facilities is good, although automation of the NMR instrumentation would improve though-put. It was not clear what the percentage of diffractometer usage against available time was, although this is difficult to assess as the instrumentation is inter-institute funded. Other large scale instrumentation is stateof-the-art and is utilised to maximal extent, although the committee was unimpressed by general standards of house-keeping and cleanliness in many areas.
The facilities on the " hot " side of the radiopharmaceutical operation are adequate, although we do not believe that safety standards would pass muster in other European countries. This is not a comment on the basic nuclear installation, which is based, like most others, upon 1950’s instrumentation and methods, but upon the containment and safety procedures and protocols.
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(d) Comparison to Similar R & D Activities Elsewhere
The IRRP is unique in Greece and is essential for the nuclear medicine community to continue radiopharmaceutical research in the country.
The research in the field of Tc/Re - radiopharmaceuticals (e.g. biotin, peptides and brain ligands) compares well with that of similar European and other institutions engaged in the same field of applied research (Amersham-UK, Rossendorf-D,
Padova-I, PSI-CH). These activities could continue in a competitive way, if the
Institute gets appropriate support in human resources. Also, the results of this research are commercially viable given access to the required legal and administrative infrastructure.
The immunopeptide chemistry group’s work is of good standard and its immunochemical assay systems are comparable to other European institutions.
However, questions arise as to whether such activities belong to the core research of this institute or if they should be transferred to an analytical clinical institution.The same is true for some activities of the “ Biomolecular Systems Material and
Technology ” group e.g. the work in immunoanalysis and optical immunosensors.
These activities are of very good quality but should be performed in a different environment.The other activities of both latter groups (immunotherapy in the
“
Immunopeptide
”
group and the structure-based analysis of molecular recognition and binding sites in the
“
Biomolecular Systems
”
group) are to be rated high for their potential scientific level as compared to Europe and also as a source of innovation for the radiopharmaceutical research if properly focused.
We also propose that activities in the Positron Emission Tomography (PET)- radiopharmaceutical field should be initiated. This would require setting up appropriate structures between the IRRP and a suitable Nuclear Medicine department in a nearby hospital. Furthermore, significant investment in an 18 MeV cyclotron unit would be an essential prerequisite to the establishment of such an activity.
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(e) Assessment of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Management
As with the IPC the committee note that the IRRP is functioning under an Acting
Director. The lack of continuity in strategic planning and day-to-day activity can only damage the long-term interests of the Institute.
The day-to-day running of the Institute has been effective and has made good use of the human and financial resources provided, although this appears to have been within significant limitations created by non-strategic appointment of staff. We feel very strongly that the lack of mid-to-long-term vision or strategic planning could lead to an unacceptable dilution of the core radiopharmaceutical research activity with consequences for the mandatory control and distribution activities of the IRRP. We urge the IRRP and the GSRT to develop a business plan as a matter of the highest priority.
The Synthetic Organic Chemistry which is being developed in the PCG (IOPC) and the Bio-organic group of the IPC seems to provide key enabling science for the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals and a closer alliance of these groups in the future would be of mutual benefit.
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(a) RTC and Innovation activities of the Institute
Existing operations: The existing research profile is in general of a high standard but the disparate nature and unstructured development of the IRRP over the past five years has resulted in a lack of cohesion and the provision of only minimal resources for some areas of activity. In addition, this has resulted in an attrition of the core radiopharmaceutical activity which must be immediately addressed if future commitments to the nuclear medicine community are to be fulfilled. The mandatory requirements of quality control and distribution of radioproducts in Greece cannot be fulfilled unless staff replacements are made in the pharmaceutical group.
Recommendations: A key strategic decision must be made regarding the future direction and priorities of the Institute. If radiopharmaceutical research is to feature within the future profile in any form, the staff losses within this area which have occurred in the past years must be urgently addressed. To assist this process, we strongly recommend the strategic alliance of the radiopharmaceutical chemistry group with the bio-organic (IPC) and pharmaceutical chemistry (IOPC) groups. It may well be necessary to develop these alliances within a new “virtual” institute and consideration must be given to any relocation necessary such that symbiotic research will be optimised.
(b) The structure and the management pattern of the Institute
The evaluation committee has identified a number of structural and management issues which need to be urgently addressed.
The mandatory regulatory function of the IRRP in controlling and distributing radioproducts in Greece is not fully compatible with its function as a research institution. In particular, the reduction in personnel in the area of radiopharmaceutical chemistry makes the establishment of an independent unit to fulfill these regulatory functions essential. Although the operation is close to self-financing, the core operational expenses and personnel must be guaranteed from a source other than
IRRP. The radioanalytical laboratory of the IRRP would be able to sell services to the new unit.
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The IRRP/Demokritos and the GSRT must urgently make strategic decisions regarding the future scientific directions of the IRRP. A business plan with clear mission statements must be prepared.
The allocation of space to the various research groups will require auditing as research directions are redefined.
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ANNEX: INDICATORS (1996 – 1999)
H.N.R.F. DEMOKRITOS
IOPC
Total Expenditures
Personnel
Expenditure / person/year
34
Publications
Expenditure/publication
Scientific personnel
Public/person/4 years
Regular budget funding
84
16
5,25
Competitive funding
GDR
8.930.544
14.458.976
Euro
1.214.554.000 3.572.218
26.266
42.526
709.900.000 2.087.941
332.000.000 976.471
IPC
111
259
37
7,00
GDR Euro
IRRP
4.330.000.000 12.735.294
74
9.752.252 28.683
60
16.718.147 49.171
2.569.820.000 7.558.294
903.290.000 2.656.735
23
2,61
GDR Euro
3.446.000.000 10.135.294
11.641.892
57.433.333
34.241
168.922
1.664.000.000 4.894.118
340.470.000 1.001.382
Compet. Funds/Scient.
Personnel
20.750.000 61.029 24.413.243 71.804 14.803.043 43.538
Income from sales of products, services,tests etc for third parties
3.575.000 10.515 17.400.000 51.176 360.000.000 1.058.824