The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) serves as a source of independent advice, as well as scientific and technical expertise and support to the Public Health Community and Public Health Authorities at EU and Member State level. Providing timely and relevant scientific advice is one of its core functions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ECDC identified gaps on methods, tools and processes to address wider questions of relevance to public health, using other approach than the traditional systematic review (e.g., rapid reviews). To close this gap the ECDC published a call for tenders on “Methodological guidance for public health evidence synthesis/systematic reviews and evidence-based advice, with a focus on infectious diseases epidemiology, prevention and control”. Together with partners from Germany (Munich, Freiburg) and Norway the Department for Evidence-based Medicine and Evaluation submitted a proposal (first stage of the two-stages tender-process).