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Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process by which cytoplasmic materials are delivered to and degraded in the lysosome. Autophagy is essential for survival, differentiation, development, and homeostasis and serves a protective function by removing intracellular pathogens, damaged proteins and organelles that could be potentially dangerous for the cell. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms involved in its activation and regulation, but also identify the proteins required for recognition and targeting of the various autophagic cargo for degradation.

The Nordic Autophagy Network aims to promote excellent, innovative and groundbreaking research in the field of autophagy in the Nordic countries. The network is supported by a grant from Nordforsk and was started in October 2011. The network is presently comprised of several research groups located in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The total number of participants, including students and post-docs, is currently around 90. The network is coordinated by Anne Simonsen, University of Oslo, Norway.