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Building Networks of Excellence in Controlled Environment Agriculture for Transformative and Inclusive Research and Innovation in Widening Countries

Objective

HydraLink aims to modernise Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Greece by strengthening institutional excellence, research capacity, and innovation in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). Bringing together widening partners with advanced institutions, the project will build a sustainable network of excellence aligned with ERA and CoARA principles.
HydraLink integrates institutional reform, human-capacity development, applied research, digital transformation, and knowledge valorisation into one coherent framework. It will co-design reform and excellence strategies to enhance research governance, open science, and gender equality. Targeted training, mentoring, and mobility schemes will upgrade research management, innovation, and leadership skills across widening HEIs.
A network of Joint Capacity Building and Demonstration (CBD) Hubs will advance hydroponic and aquaponic research, enabling shared experiments, best-practice transfer, and coordinated data generation. Knowledge Valorisation Hubs (KVHs) will connect academia, industry, and policymakers to stimulate innovation uptake, while Communities of Practice (CoPs) will sustain peer learning. Digital readiness will be improved through AI and data-skills training, digital audits, and a shared roadmap for FAIR and open-science adoption.
By combining top-down governance reform with bottom-up scientific collaboration, HydraLink will create lasting institutional and human capacity, enhance knowledge circulation between widening and advanced HEIs, and strengthen Europe’s position in sustainable, data-driven food production systems.

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2025-01

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Coordinator

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES OF UKRAINE
Net EU contribution
€ 861 625,00
Total cost
€ 861 625,00

Participants (12)