Bringing Excellence to Transformative Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences through Integrated Digital Centres

18.01.2023

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Project number	101071314
Project name	Bringing Excellence to Transformative Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences through Integrated Digital Centers Praksē bāzētu dzīvības zinātņu pētījumu attīstība: sabiedrības līdzdalība un sadarbības platformas veidošana
Project acronym	BETTER Life
Call	HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-05
Topic	HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-05-01
Type of action	HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions
Granting authority	European Research Executive Agency
Project starting date	1 September 2022
Project end date	31 August 2025
Project duration	36 months
Project participants	Czech University of Life Sciences (Chechia), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany), University of Camerino (Italy), Accreditation Council for Engaged and Entrepreneurial Universities (Germany), Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonia), Daugavpils University (Latvia), Poznan University of Life Sciences (Poland), Helixconnect (Romania), Educons University (Serbia)
Coordinator	Czech University of Life Sciences (CZU)
Project manager at Daugavpils University	Prof. Artūrs Škute – Daugavpils University (DU), Institute of Life Sciences and Technologies

The general objective of the project BETTER Life – to establish the EU Digital Centre of Excellence for Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences (hereinafter EU BETTER Life Centre). The Centre will be an inter-institutional support structure for developing capacities of early career researchers (PhD students and researchers not yet fully independent) (hereinafter ECR) aiming to foster socially engaged research (SER) to tackle societal challenges in their surrounding ecosystems while consolidating the EU BETTER Life Centre as a world reference in planning, supporting, and implementing SER in life sciences.

EU BETTER Life Centre will boost Socially Engaged Research (SER) as a tool for life sciences to generate impacts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 (clean and water and sanitation), 13 (climate action), and 15 (life on earth). It will also contribute to the European Green Deal agenda by developing capacities to address challenges at the crossroads between life sciences and society.

SER in life sciences is a basis for connecting research, government, industry, and civil society, and environment – the model of the quadruple helix of innovation. Building capacities to support engaged science will advance the impact of research in life sciences, connect researchers with the needs of the surrounding ecosystems, and tackle major societal challenges for local communities, governments, and organizations.

EU BETTER Life Centre will contain seven Regional BETTER Life Centres, based in every university of the consortium. These regional centres will form an integral part of the EU BETTER Life Centre while also serving the function of local and ecosystem-oriented support for ECRs. One Regional Centre will be based around Latgale (Latvia) ecosystem.