"EBM CONNECT aims to harness the combined research expertise of several centres in evidence-based medicine or EBM. We will focus on development of state-of-the-art methodology for systematic reviews and practice guidelines in maternal health. These will be employed for improving research skills throughout the European Union and the developing world and for promoting effective healthcare through research based practice and policy. Not only will the centres benefit from staff exchange to develop their own research skills, this project will advance the frontiers in research synthesis. It will create the ability to conduct multinational projects and establish an electronic platform for research communication and collaboration. By establishing a worldwide agenda and a critical mass through the exchange, it will generate momentum that will allow development to continue thereafter. This is vital with reference to improving maternal health, as this is an area where disparity exists not only worldwide but also between EU member states. The exchange scheme will be based around three main objectives. First, to increase research skills through the sharing of each participant’s expertise. Second, to develop new methods for searching, quality assessment and meta-analysis to improve the standard of reviews and guidelines produced. This will include appraisal and adaptation of these reviews and guidelines to ensure they can be utilised widely within and outside the EU, including translation into Chinese and Spanish. Third, to establish a cutting edge research seminar series for widespread dissemination of the work. There are a number of elements that are integral to the strength of our proposal. We have well-established and internationally recognised generic expertise in evidence synthesis in maternal health, with highly qualified specialists in individual centres. We also have previous experience of multinational cooperation in researching and advancing evidence-based"