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 Digital Centre of Excellence Recognised as a Key Exploitable Result by the WiderAdvance Facility

    BETTER Life Digital Centre of Excellence Recognised as a Key Exploitable Result by the WiderAdvance Facility

    The BETTER Life Digital Centre of Excellence has been officially acknowledged as a Key Exploitable Result (KER) by the WiderAdvance Facility, marking a significant milestone in its mission to enhance digital transformation, collaboration, and innovation across European research institutions. This recognition highlights the Centre’s pivotal role in fostering excellence in digital solutions and capacity building within the framework of European […]

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  • BETTER Life Project Continues Its Societal and Industry Engagement Beyond Its Official End

    BETTER Life Project Continues Its Societal and Industry Engagement Beyond Its Official End

    The BETTER Life project may have officially concluded, but its impact on society, industry, and the broader innovation ecosystem remains strong. Demonstrating its commitment to lasting engagement with the quadruple helix of academia, industry, government, and civil society, as two of the project’s core partners – Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), the project coordinator, and ACEEU (Accreditation Council […]

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  • The Sixth and Final Issue of the BETTER Life Newsletter is here!

    The Sixth and Final Issue of the BETTER Life Newsletter is here!

    In this August 2025 edition (Volume 6), we reflect on the culmination of our mission of “Bringing Excellence to Transformative Socially Engaged Research in Life Sciences through Integrated Digital Centers” (2022–2025). This final issue is filled with key achievements, partnerships, and plans for a lasting impact: Click here to explore the full final newsletter.

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  • BETTER Life at ESRS: Championing Socially Engaged Research in Riga

    BETTER Life at ESRS: Championing Socially Engaged Research in Riga

    At the 30th European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) Congress held in Riga (Latvia), Prof. Michal Lošťák represented the BETTER Life project. His presentation, titled “Opening Window for Socially Engaged (Transdisciplinary) Research in Life Sciences,” focused on the need to rethink the role of science in society. The contribution highlighted how the BETTER Life project supports socially engaged research by developing tools […]

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  • BETTER Life Showcased at 4th SURE World Conference in Istanbul

    BETTER Life Showcased at 4th SURE World Conference in Istanbul

    Ruthi Veibiakkim, PhD researcher at the Chair of Estonian University of Life Sciences, Environmental Protection And Landscape Management, took part in the 4th SURE World Conference held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16-19 July 2025. This year’s theme – Cities Under Global Social Transformations: Embracing Change for a Greener Future – set the stage for discussions […]

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  • BETTER Life at the Summer School on Sustainable Development in a Regional Context

    BETTER Life at the Summer School on Sustainable Development in a Regional Context

    The BETTER Life project was proudly represented at the international summer school Sustainable Development in a Regional Context, held at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU). Dr. Diana Surová delivered two engaging lectures focused on Socially Engaged Research (SER), drawing on valuable insights and practices from the BETTER Life project. Her sessions—Socially Engaged Research: Lessons […]

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  • BETTER Life Extends Its Reach Beyond Europe – and Beyond Project’s End

    BETTER Life Extends Its Reach Beyond Europe – and Beyond Project’s End

    The BETTER Life team from the Estonian University of Life Sciences has been awarded, as a part of a larger partnership, the Erasmus+ CBHE project ENTER – Environmental open data for engaging curricula and research training. This project has been developed as a part of the BETTER Life exploitation strategy with its central idea to […]

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  • BETTER Life E-Zine June 2025: New Issue Available

    BETTER Life E-Zine June 2025: New Issue Available

    The third edition of the BETTER Life E-Zine is now available, covering recent project activities and developments in socially engaged research. This issue includes updates from partner institutions across Europe and collaborative work in India. 📖 In This Issue Sustainability Planning: ACEEU outlines exploitation strategies to maintain project outcomes after funding ends, including digital tools, […]

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  • BETTER Life Team at the Ethics in Public Administration Conference

    BETTER Life Team at the Ethics in Public Administration Conference

    Members of the BETTER Life research team, Milan Školník and Michael Haman, participated in the interdisciplinary conference Ethics in Public Administration, held on June 19, 2025, at the Czech Academy of Sciences. They presented Academic Bridge, an online platform connecting researchers with public administration stakeholders. The presentation focused on the potential of artificial intelligence to support the effective transfer of academic knowledge […]

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