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In recent major international intercomparison exercises on intake and internal dose assessments from monitoring data, the results calculated by different participants varied significantly. This was mainly due to the broad variety of methods and assumptions applied in the assessment procedure. Based on these experiences the need for harmonisation of the procedures has been formulated within an EU research project under the 5th Framework Programme. The aim of the project, IDEAS, is to develop general guidelines for standardising assessments of intakes and internal doses. The IDEAS project started in October 2001 and will end in March 2005. Eight institutions from seven European countries are participating. Inputs from internal dosimetry professionals from across Europe are also being used to ensure a broad consensus in the outcome of the project. The IDEAS project is closely related to some goals of the work of committee 2 of the ICRP and since 2003 there has been close cooperation between the two groups. To ensure that the guidelines are applicable to a wide range of practical situations, the first step has been to compile a database of well-documented cases of internal contamination. In parallel, an improved version of an existing software package has been developed and distributed to the partners for further use. A large number of cases from the database have been evaluated independently by partners in the project using the same software and the results have been reviewed. Based on these evaluations, guidelines are being drafted and will be discussed with dosimetry professionals from around the world by means of a virtual workshop on the Internet early in 2004. The guidelines will be revised and refined on the basis of the experiences and discussions of this virtual workshop and the outcome of an intercomparison exercise organised as part of the project. This will be open to all internal dosimetry professionals. © 2005 EDP Sciences.