Widening Synergies for Novel Enzymes Development

Project Information

WIDEnzymes

Grant agreement ID: 101159534

DOI

10.3030/101159534

EC signature date 20 February 2024

Start date 1 April 2024

End date 31 March 2027

Funded under

• Widening participation and spreading excellence

Total cost

€ 1 199 475,00

EU contribution

€ 1 199 475,00

Coordinated by

LATVIJAS ORGANISKAS SINTEZES INSTITUTS
Latvia

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WIDEnzymes (Widening Synergies for Novel Enzymes Development)

Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Enzyme technology represents a frontier of innovation with the capacity to reshape industries and address global challenges in health, energy, food, and sustainability. Recognising this potential, the WIDEnzymes project brings together a consortium of leading European institutions to accelerate progress in enzyme discovery and development. By combining expertise, resources, and advanced methodologies, the project aims to strengthen research excellence and foster innovation across Europe.
WIDEnzymes seeks to bridge the gap between widening and non-widening EU countries, ensuring balanced access to knowledge, infrastructure, and opportunities. The project’s overall objectives are to develop innovative computational tools for enzyme design, enhance experimental validation and biocatalysis capabilities, strengthen research networks, support early-career researchers, and foster knowledge transfer to industry. Through joint research, training, and capacity-building activities, WIDEnzymes will create a strong foundation for sustainable scientific collaboration and technological advancement. Ultimately, the project aspires to position Europe at the forefront of enzyme technology, supporting the growth of biotechnology and the bioeconomy on a global scale.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first half of the WIDEnzymes project, the consortium has focused on advancing enzyme discovery, design, and application through a combination of computational and experimental activities. One of the three planned reviews in high-impact journals is ready for submission, and the SWOT analysis has been completed, identifying key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats relevant to the project objectives. An Ecosystem Roadmap was developed to strengthen collaboration and innovation capacity, alongside a Diversity and Inclusiveness Plan to foster an inclusive project environment. A Mapping Matrix was also created to support a comprehensive internationalisation strategy in research and innovation.
Eight deliverables and four milestones have been successfully achieved in support of these activities. Four of the five consortium partners submitted the BIOCROSSYN project proposal under the MSCA Staff Exchange 2024 call, while two EU-Horizon Europe applications and nine national grant applications were submitted involving WIDEnzymes partners. Two Hard Skills Workshops and four Soft Skills Webinars have been conducted, alongside two roundtable discussions with policymakers. The mentoring program has been launched, exchanged lectures and student visits have taken place, and all assets for the Digital Resource Hub have been mapped.
To date, two patents have been filed, four documented contacts with industry partners have been established, and multiple presentations and talks have been delivered at international conferences. These midterm achievements demonstrate significant progress in research capacity, scientific knowledge, and collaborative networks, laying a strong foundation for the remaining project activities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In line with the project objectives, WIDEnzymes results beyond the State of the Art can be summarized as:
- Novel enzyme technologies: Two patents were filed by project beneficiaries representing new intellectual property that goes beyond current enzymatic tools and opens novel industrial and biotech applications. One publication acknowledging WIDEnzymes project has been published in May and more are at the peer-review stage, submitted or in the process to be submitted.
- Integrated ecosystem roadmap: The creation of the Ecosystem Development Roadmap with clear KPIs provides a strategic, structured framework for enzyme technology growth.
- Cross-sectoral knowledge transfer model: The mentoring programme, mobility schemes, and soft/hard skills workshop establish a systematic pipeline for talent retention and capacity building, surpassing ad-hoc training models and ensuring long-term integration of Widening countries into the EU biotech R&I landscape.
- Policy innovation: Deliverables on Policy Recommendation and Technology Transfer directly propose a mechanism to remove systemic barriers to promote the scientific and technological development.
- Industry-academia partnership: Documented contacts, collaborations and project drafting with academic institutes and industries outside WIDEnzymes network ensure a high level of cross-sector engagement for the WIDEnzymes participants.
- Internationalization strategy: The mapping matrix of high-potential enzyme projects and international partners provides a tool to strategically align with R&I priorities. The launch of structured mentoring, mobility schemes, and training programmes has established a new model for cross-border talent retention and knowledge transfer, strengthening the long-term competitiveness of the Widening countries partners involved.

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