The ECNIS integration programme, designed to promote co-ordinated research planning, mobility of personnel and efficient use of resources, infrastructure and data, encompasses a range of activities. These include the development of core facilities to serve network partners, standardisation of methods and establishment of quality indicators.

The creation of core facilities enables partners to access materials and techniques that are not available in their host institution. ECNIS has created three core facilities: 1) synthesis of immunogens to be used for antibody production; 2) synthesis of chemical standards and reference material; and 3) provision of analytical techniques. The third is a ‘virtual' core facility, comprising an on-line compilation of techniques that partners are able to share in collaborative projects or provide as a service.

Standardisation of methods is necessary to allow the comparison of results from different research groups. ECNIS partners have been involved in a number of comparative trials: Genotyping, ESCULA (European Standards Committee of Urinary DNA Lesion Analysis), ECVAG (ECNIS Comet Assay Validation Group). ECNIS has also surveyed methods used by partners for ³²P-postlabelling and the comet assay and recommendations have been made concerning harmonisation of protocols and the use of standards.
Guidelines to evaluate human observational studies for quantitative risk assessment have been published. Work is also underway on guidelines for reporting molecular epidemiological studies, based on the STROBE initiative, and on an ethical framework for a more harmonised and consistent socio-ethical and legal approach to human biomonitoring.

Quality assurance of chemical standards and reference materials is crucial for the collaborative projects undertaken by ECNIS partners, hence detailed criteria to be fulfilled before use of a chemical for biological investigations and/or as a reference material for analytical purposes have been documented.