The general objectives of the National Network of Biostatistics are:

• Promoting biostatistical research in excelence in Spain and facilitating collaboration among the different nodes of the network.

• Proposing new forms of organisation, both modern and effectives/efficients that will allow the creation of sinergies between national biostatisticians.

• Promoting advances in knowledge by means of coordination between the different nodes and members.

• Increasing the interaction between groups that will allow for joint proposals with other countries from outside and within the EU.

• Creating new links between the members of the network and researchers of other countries mainly Portugal and Latin America.

• Promoting different groups´members professional development especially that of those who are still in a learning stage.

• Finding a common framework for the integral professional development of future biostatisticians.

• Increasing relevance of groups working in biostatistics related matters.

• Proposing models for the creation of consulting teams for the assessment and consulting of biostatistics topics.

• Identifying other national biostatistics groups especially those related to the Spanish Society of Biometry (SEB)

• Coordinating actions in the SEB framework.

• Promoting biostatistics in several areas of society i.e. secondary education, companies – mainly pharmaceuticals-, public sector organisations and universities.

The following specific objectives have been established:

• Developing forums and structures of strategical nature that will allow for biostatistics research to be improved and get optimised.

• Organising development programmes in order to avoid professional isolation and get in common both knowledge and new techniques developed within the biostatistics context.

• Defining the path required for the integral professional development of biostatisticians.

• Enabling the connection between researchers in biostatistics and other professionals from different areas of research : doctors, epidemiologists, biologists, vets, chemists…

• Fostering collaboration with companies from the biotechnological, biopharmaceutical and biomedical areas.

• Facilitating the connection between national and international biostatistics researchers.

Achieving these objectives will add value to the R&D&i system as follows:

• It will optimise the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of biostatistics research and teaching.

• It will allow for new lines of research in biostatistics that will ensure its competiveness according to society needs.

• It will focus and improve research in the European Research Area framework, developing European biostatistics projects both leading them and collaborating with other countries’ teams.
• It will promote intergroup abilities for the update and transfer of knowledge. By this means biostatistics will be promoted in the R&D&i system.

• It will shorten time distance between biostatistical research and its application, helping this way to promote translational biomedical research.

• It will show the value of biostatistical researchers´ role within the mathematical, medical and epidemiological communities.