The management structure of the 3DLife Network of Excellence consists of three interconnected entities:

• The Management Centre,
• the Network Steering Board (NSB), and
• the VCE Task Force.

An overview of the 3DLife management structure is shown in the figure below which depicts the position of the different management committees with respect to each other and the European Commission officers. The depicted structure is operationally centralised, since the NSB guides the strategic decision-making and the overall coordination of the project on a day-to-day basis, as well as democratically deployed, since the mission of the NSB (see NSB setting details below) is to represent everybody’s interests including members of the VCE.

Management Structure

The Management Centre embraces the coordination and the administration of the project. It is headed by the project coordinator, who is in charge of the overall network coordination and the communication with the European Commission officers.

The Network Steering Board (NSB) consists of seven senior members of the network from the seven core partners. The project coordinator is also the chair of the NSB and will be designed by the coordinator institution. Important issues like financial planning, integration planning and updated JPA will be decided upon the NSB on a regular basis.

The VCE Task Force consists of the seven work package leaders. Its mission is to coordinate the production of the plan for the VCE and steer its execution. The VCE task force will be also the first executive committee of the VCE.

In addition to these three hierarchical management bodies, two other important external boards will provide advice and ensure that high quality standards are addressed in all aspects and activities of 3DLife:

• the Industrial Advisory Board, and
• the Scientific Advisory Board.