STICHTING ARQ

Their core work

ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre is a Dutch specialist institute focused on the consequences of psychological trauma — including treatment, research, and policy. In the H2020 programme, they contributed clinical and implementation expertise to projects addressing mental health in conflict-affected populations (Syrian refugees) and psychological dimensions of law enforcement operations. Their real-world work involves designing, evaluating, and scaling psychosocial interventions in high-stress or crisis contexts. They bring a rare combination of clinical practice and implementation science, bridging the gap between academic mental health research and on-the-ground delivery.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both H2020 projects began in 2017, so there is no meaningful temporal evolution visible within this dataset — the early and recent keyword sets are identical by construction. Based on project titles and themes, their H2020 participation spans two related but distinct domains: trauma-informed mental health in humanitarian settings, and psychological or communication support in security contexts. Without additional projects or post-2022 data, it is not possible to determine whether ARQ has shifted priorities or deepened focus in either direction.

With only two projects — both launched in 2017 and covering mental health and security — there is insufficient data to identify a directional trend; future collaborators should assess ARQ's current research agenda directly.

How they like to work

ARQ has participated exclusively as a consortium partner, never as a coordinator, across both H2020 projects. Despite only two projects, they engaged with 29 unique partners across 12 countries, indicating involvement in large, multi-stakeholder research consortia rather than small bilateral collaborations. This profile suggests ARQ functions as a specialist contributor — brought in for its clinical and implementation expertise — rather than a project management hub.

ARQ has built a surprisingly broad network for an organisation with just two H2020 projects: 29 unique partners spanning 12 countries. This points to participation in large, pan-European consortia with wide geographic representation, consistent with the international scope of both refugee mental health and EU security research.

What sets them apart

ARQ is one of very few EU research participants that combines clinical psychotrauma expertise with implementation science in both humanitarian and security contexts — a niche that sits at the intersection of health and security research pillars. As the Dutch national centre for psychotrauma, they carry institutional authority and access to clinical data that academic groups typically lack. For consortia building projects on crisis mental health, refugee integration, or psychological resilience in security services, ARQ provides practitioner credibility that universities alone cannot offer.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STRENGTHS
  A 5-year RIA (2017-2022) on scaling mental health systems for Syrian refugees — ARQ's core domain and the project most representative of their clinical and implementation expertise.
• Pericles
  Unusual cross-sector project pairing a mental health specialist with law enforcement communication policy, demonstrating ARQ's reach into security contexts beyond humanitarian work.