"The ECRAN (European Communication on Research Awareness Needs) project is designed to develop a portfolio of open educational resources, including a film, for the general population about the challenges raised by independent clinical research.The European Commission (FP7 Health Priority) decided to allocate substantial funding to independent (investigator-driven) clinical trials. Together with member states, the FP7 infrastructure unit supports the preparation and operation of a pan-European infrastructure for clinical trials (ECRIN). Through these instruments, Europe has the capacity to design and conduct independent, multinational clinical trials.The objective of the ECRAN project is to develop tools to communicate key messages to citizens, patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers and society about independent, multinational clinical research. These messages will focus on:i) the importance of public understanding of the need for and basic principles of clinical trials, fostering active involvement of patients in trials and of their representatives in trial design;ii) the need for independent clinical trials driven by healthcare issues, to optimise treatment strategies through comparison of benefits and harms of multiple therapeutic options, supporting evidence-based clinical practice and reduction in healthcare inequalities;iii) the need for transparency and optimal use of data, to promote the cost-effectiveness of treatments and to reduce the economic burden of diseases;iv) the need for multinational cooperation, taking advantage of Europe’s population size and diversity, and of its medical expertise.These objectives will be addressed using communication tools, including: a website, with an online database of open educational resources in different European languages; a film on clinical trials, dubbed in many languages, which is envisaged as a keystone of this initiative; an international event on multinational clinical trials."