Promoting public health: benefits and challenges of a Europeanwide research consortium on student health.

AIMS The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the benefits and challenges when undertaking research across several countries comprising diverse ethnic, lingual and historically different communities. METHODS Literature review and experiences of the researchers who participated in the Students' Health Inquiry, as regards the benefits and the challenges that can emerge when conducting collaborative research. The Delphi technique was employed to reach consensus on and prioritise the emerging challenges and suggested solutions. RESULTS Challenges of research consortia include the preparatory work before the study, the ownership of the data and dissemination of results, as well as methodological, financial, operational, and structural challenges. These are described, each challenge is further broken down in its subcomponents, examples are given, and potential solutions are suggested. CONCLUSIONS If challenges can be prevented or solved, the benefits of research consortia include greater generalisability of findings, and more comprehensive understanding of the issues than would be possible with a single-site study. There is also an increased probability to bring about policy changes and programmatic adjustments. Cross-national research consortia can contribute to reduction in the inequality of resources and research opportunities in the collaborating countries. Research consortia deserve the attention of funding agencies. They are capable of bringing about synergies that result from working collaboratively together of large multi-disciplinary team of investigators who share their strengths, disciplines and expertise in order to bear on the same research issue in multiple countries and diverse populations.