BETTER Life

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

Name of the project: Bringing Excellence to Transformative Engaged Research in Life Sciences through Integrated Digital Centres

Acronym: BETTER Life

Grant provider: European Commission

Programme: Horizon Europe

Duration: 2022 – 2025

The general objective of the project “Bringing Excellence to Transformative Engaged Research in Life Sciences through Integrated Digital Centres” — short BETTER Life — is 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 addresses the issue of research engagement and collaboration as a key element to generate wide impact in the surrounding ecosystems and diverse stakeholders. Recent studies agree that there is a growing need for collaborative and interdisciplinary research in addressing global challenges and that ECRs play a key role in challenging the existing academic barriers and consolidating the field. In Europe, this claim is supported by the MORE4 Report that shows that only 32% of researchers collaborate with non-academic sectors or receive any transferable skills training and only 24% of researchers have moved to other sectors during the research career (a decreasing number compared with previous reports). This phenomenon is similar in the universities that are a part of this consortium – there is a need to establish support structures for early carrier researcher to upgrade soft skills, developing tools, and find the connections with the surrounding ecosystem to socially engage their research. Our consortium is committed to address this challenge in life sciences, which is the key field of strength across the institutions, by engaging the partners in creating the support structures to build individual, intra-institutional, and inter-institutional capacities, engaging with the surrounding ecosystem, and constructing in international framing guidelines.

Latest updates

  • BETTER Life Project at the Science Policy Conference in Portugal

    BETTER Life Project at the Science Policy Conference in Portugal

    On May 13, 2025, the BETTER Life project proudly took part in the Science Policy Conference hosted by the Polytechnic University of Portalegre. The event brought together researchers, policymakers, and innovators to discuss the vital intersections between science, policy, and society, with a strong focus on international collaboration and interdisciplinary research. Representing the BETTER Life team, Patrik Toula delivered an online presentation highlighting the project’s major […]

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  • International Collaboration: BETTER Life Project Brings Ecosystem Planning Tools to Srinagar, India

    International Collaboration: BETTER Life Project Brings Ecosystem Planning Tools to Srinagar, India

    What do we all want from life? A BETTER Life – for everyone, everywhere. In that spirit, Dr. Anton Shkaruba, senior researcher at the Chair of Environmental Protection And Landscape Management, is currently in India as part of the EU-funded BETTER Life project. The project’s mission is to train socially engaged researchers in the life […]

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  • BETTER Life Project Participates in the Science Policy Conference Organised by the E3UDRES2 Ent-r-e-novators Project

    BETTER Life Project Participates in the Science Policy Conference Organised by the E3UDRES2 Ent-r-e-novators Project

    We are pleased to announce that the BETTER Life project will be taking part in the upcoming Science Policy Conference, organised within the framework of the European project E3UDRES2 Ent-r-e-novators. The event is coordinated by the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (IPS) and developed by partners of the European University Alliance E3UDRES2, of which IPS is a member. The main objective of the […]

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  • Reflecting on the International Spring School for Early Career Researchers in Life Sciences

    Reflecting on the International Spring School for Early Career Researchers in Life Sciences

    Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences: From Stakeholder Collaboration to Real-World Impact On March 13–14, 2025, early-career researchers from across Europe and beyond came together for the International Spring School for Early Career Researchers in Life Sciences, exploring the theme “Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences: From Stakeholder Collaboration to Real-World Impact.” This free, fully […]

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  • Cyber Diplomacy and Scientific Data Protection Discussed at CZU

    Cyber Diplomacy and Scientific Data Protection Discussed at CZU

    Experts gathered at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) to debate key digital-age challenges, focusing on online security and the impact of the internet on society. The discussion emphasized international cooperation in cybersecurity and the protection of academic research. A major topic was the importance of collaboration, including transdisciplinary efforts such as the […]

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  • New Study Highlights the Role of Ecosystem Disservices in Urban Planning

    New Study Highlights the Role of Ecosystem Disservices in Urban Planning

    We are excited to announce a new paper! For the first time in literature, this study systematically and comprehensively examines a critical yet underexplored aspect of urban ecosystems: ecosystem disservices (EDS). For the first time in literature, this paper sheds light on a critical yet underexplored aspect of urban ecosystems in a systematic and comprehensive manner: ecosystem […]

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  • The Fifth Issue of the BETTER Life Newsletter is here!

    The Fifth Issue of the BETTER Life Newsletter is here!

    The Fifth Issue of the BETTER Life Newsletter is here! 🎉 In this January 2025 edition—Volume 05—we continue our mission of Bringing Excellence to Transformative Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences Through Integrated Digital Centres (2022–2025). This issue is packed with exciting updates and initiatives: 👉 Click here to explore the full newsletter.

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  • International Spring School for Early Career Researchers in Life Sciences

    International Spring School for Early Career Researchers in Life Sciences

    Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences: From Stakeholder Collaboration to Real-World Impact 📅 Date: March 13-14, 2025⏰ Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM (CET) each day📍 Location: Online via Zoom💰 Cost: Free of charge📢 Language: English Unlock the Power of Socially Engaged Research! As societies face increasingly complex global challenges, the demand for interdisciplinary and […]

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  • The International Circulation of the BETTER Life Deliverables Is Underway!

    The International Circulation of the BETTER Life Deliverables Is Underway!

    Dr Anton Shkaruba has presented to students and academic staff of the Faculty of Science and Marine Environment at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT FSSM) two project-related sessions. On November 18, 2024, he talked about the tool “Integrating Citizens’ Perceptions of Urban Environmental Quality into Inclusive City Planning Processes” from the BETTER Life toolkit, where he […]

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