The overall administration of CONTICA is performed by the University Medicine Göttingen and the Project Management Board consists of the Department of Cardiology and Pneumology, Laboratories of Molecular and Experimental Cardiology, headed by Prof. Dr. Burkert Pieske, who serves as the project coordinator. The Department of International Relations of the University Medicine Göttingen (directed by Christiane Hennecke, M.A.) as well as additional members of staff in this institution provide technical and administrative co-support. The Department of International Relations of the University Medicine Göttingen, supervises the Project Management office and, thereby, supports the administrative and scientific members.

Project Management: The Project Management is responsible for the contract management, the general supervision, the project organisation, and the reporting and financial management of the project. The Project Management works closely with the Scientific Board on these issues.

Scientific Board: In addition to the administrative structure, a Scientific Board consisting of the heads of the research groups from the 8 partners (Göttingen: Prof. Dr. B. Pieske; Utrecht: Prof. Dr. M.A. Vos; Pavia: Prof. Dr. S.G. Priori; Montpellier: Prof. Dr. S. Richard; Cardiff: Prof. Dr. F.A. Lai; Bratislava: Prof. Dr. A. Zahradnikova; Agrobiogen GmbH: Prof. Dr. G. Brem; IMGM Laboratories GmbH: Dr. R. Oehlmann) supervises the timely progress of the projects, adherence to work plans and deliverables, and is responsible for all strategic decisions of CONTICA. The Scientific Board meets annually. Additional meetings are optional. Further responsibilities of the Scientific Board are to discuss and advise the Coordinator concerning scientific issues as well as to evaluate the progress of the project.

The Department of International Relations, University Medicine Göttingen, will supervise and provide support concerning the activities of the Coordinator and Scientific Board listed above.

External Scientific Advisory Board: The External Scientific Advisory Board consists of 3 internationally known experts: Prof. Dr. Donald M. Bers (Chicago), Prof. Dr. Metin Avkiran (London), and Prof. Dr. Ursula Ravens (Dresden). These experts act as referees and monitor quality assurance aspects, mediate in case issues arise, and provide recommendations where necessary. They will be present at the annual scientific meetings of the project.

External Ethics Advisory Board: The External Ethics Advisory Board represented by Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesemann (Göttingen) monitors ethical issues and provides advice as to any ethical questions related to the project.