Interdisciplinary collaboration between partners has an important role to play in maintaining a watching brief on emerging environmental threats and on new scientific opportunities arising from research. Collaboration between partners will establish and facilitate interfaces between research and policy-making, if appropriate in partnership with other groups such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, industry and nongovernmental organizations. It will also balance "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches in priority-setting in the future and promote interdisciplinary approaches.