Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BETTER Life (Bringing Excellence to Transformative Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences through Integrated Digital Centers)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2023-12-01 do 2025-08-31
The project "Bringing Excellence to Transformative Engaged Research in Life Sciences through Integrated Digital Centres" (BETTER Life) emerged within the context of addressing critical challenges in life sciences research, particularly the lack of widespread socially engaged research (SER) and collaboration between academia and non-academic sectors. The overarching objective was to establish the EU BETTER Life Digital Centre of Excellence (DCoE), serving as a hub for fostering capacities among early career researchers (ECRs) in life sciences to conduct socially engaged research and contribute meaningfully to societal challenges. Scientifically, BETTER Life aimed to improve the quality, openness, and societal relevance of research in life sciences through the development of shared frameworks, standards, and open-access resources. Economically, it sought to strengthen ties between universities and external stakeholders, including local governments, SMEs, and civil society, to co-create innovative and cost-effective solutions. Societally, the project intended to position higher education institutions as active contributors to sustainable development and community well-being through socially engaged research practices. Through this integrated approach, BETTER Life aimed to redefine how research in life sciences is conceptualised and conducted, shifting from isolated scientific outputs to collaborative, inclusive, and impact-oriented research practices that respond to real societal needs.
The BETTER Life project has made significant strides in promoting Socially Engaged Research within the life sciences, creating a rich ecosystem of frameworks, tools, digital resources, and training initiatives aimed at empowering early-career researchers (ECRs) and academic institutions. At the foundation of the project lies the developed Framework for Socially Engaged Researchers in Life Sciences, which offers a multi-stakeholder approach for fostering SER at the institutional, functional, stakeholder, and impact levels. It enables institutions to reflect on their internal capacities and processes while helping researchers understand the support structures and potential scientific, social, and economic impacts of their engagement. Building on this foundation, the project introduced Standards for Socially Engaged Research, conceived as a flexible yet structured guide that evolves alongside the changing needs of life sciences and society. To operationalise the standards, the project developed Toolkits for Socially Engaged Research, each aligned with one or more of the twelve identified standards. These toolkits were designed as practical, adaptable resources shaped through collaborative workshops and stakeholder input. These toolkits offer guidance on stakeholder engagement, evaluation, communication, and methodological design—empowering ECRs to embed social engagement deeply into their research practice. The outputs of the project are made accessible through the Digital Centre of Excellence (DCoE) — an online platform serving as a hub for sharing the project’s results and methodologies with the broader public, academic community, and quadruple helix stakeholders. The DCoE showcases toolkits, training materials, and other resources, ensuring their usability and accessibility while promoting the visibility of the project’s achievements across disciplines and institutions. The BETTER Life Virtual Spring School, held on April 9–10, 2024, introduced ECRs to the concept of socially engaged research and presented the tools and outcomes of the project. This online event focused on helping participants understand how to align scientific inquiry with real-world needs, using interactive lectures and group sessions. For its success, the second edition was launched in March 2025. The project also organised a series of Think Tank sessions at each partner institution, bringing together experts to explore institutional needs and co-create tailored mentorship programs for ECRs. Among the most intensive capacity-building actions were the Virtual Boot Camps, held in three progressive stages. The project culminated with the BETTER Life Summer School, a week-long in-person event that combined theoretical learning with practical fieldwork. Participants, including master’s students, PhD candidates and postdocs, conducted field studies in two national parks in Czechia. Divided into small groups, they addressed local social, economic, and environmental challenges by engaging with stakeholders and applying the SER approach to real-world situations. Preparatory materials helped participants understand the context beforehand, and the fieldwork was complemented by discussions, presentations, and interactive workshops.
BETTER Life introduced new models for embedding societal engagement within the research process, going beyond existing approaches to responsible research and innovation. The project’s Framework for SER, Digital Centre of Excellence, and Self-Assessment Tool provide scalable and replicable tools for universities aiming to institutionalise engagement practices. The Academic Bridge platform connects municipalities in the Czech Republic with academic experts, providing a novel, large-scale mechanism for knowledge transfer and co-creation of solutions. Its design and reach go beyond current practices, offering a replicable model that extends the impact of socially engaged research and demonstrates the project’s potential to transform academia–society collaboration across Europe. The main future needs identified include maintaining and expanding the DCoE, encouraging cross-sectoral research funding that rewards engagement, and ensuring open access to all SER-related outputs. The established tools, policy briefs, and publications will remain freely available, allowing other HEIs to adopt and adapt them.