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

  • Think Tank “Science Pub” at CZU: Academics and Mayors in a Unique Dialogue

    Think Tank “Science Pub” at CZU: Academics and Mayors in a Unique Dialogue

    On 23 November 2023, a meeting was held in the representative premises of the Rector’s Office of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), which broke the traditional barriers between academics and mayors of municipalities. This initiative, which took place within the framework of the BETTER Life project funded by the European Union, became […]

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  • BETTER Life in E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators Project Newsletter

    BETTER Life in E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators Project Newsletter

    In an exciting partnership aimed at fostering innovation and transforming the landscape of research and development, the BETTER Life and E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators projects have joined forces. The E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators project is working to create a European Research and Innovation Center for Smart and Sustainable Regions, promoting open science and innovation. In tandem, the BETTER Life […]

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  • Science Pub: Bridging Municipalities and Academia #vedeckahospudka

    Join us for an engaging Science Pub at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague on November 23, 2023. Expect collaborative discussions between academia and community leaders, a showcase of university initiatives, an experience exchange, and a taste of local cuisine and brewery. Your participation will help forge a community where science meets everyday life. […]

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  • BETTER Life Digital Centre of Excellence under the Construction

    BETTER Life Digital Centre of Excellence under the Construction

    The creation of the EU Digital Centre of Excellence is one of the biggest goals of the BETTER Life project, and the consortium is finalizing the development of such a centre these days. But what the so-called Digital Centre of Excellence (shortly DCoE) is? What should it look like? Simply speaking, the DCoE should serve […]

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  • PULS Hosted Workshop for ECRs

    PULS Hosted Workshop for ECRs

    Before the summer period, the BETTER life project was introduced to participants of PULS PhD School on 18th May, 2023. The attendees included 29 students, professors (including the PhD School’s director, Prof. Janusz Olejnik, and visiting professor Prof. Christopher Randler), as well as university staff responsible for PhD School organization. The introduction took place during […]

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  • The Second Issue of the BETTER Life Newsletter is here

    The Second Issue of the BETTER Life Newsletter is here

    We are pleased to announce the release of the second issue of our BETTER Life project NEWSLETTER. The BETTER Life project celebrates its first anniversary of advancing socially engaged research (SER) in life sciences. Within the framework of the project, we have hosted workshops, developed ten toolkits and co-organized a summer school to support researchers, […]

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  • Project BETTER Life on Radio Television of Vojvodina

    Project BETTER Life on Radio Television of Vojvodina

    On September 4, 2023. Dr. Gordana Racić from Educons University, Serbia, appeared as a guest on Radio Television of Vojvodina, where she discussed the impact of Project BETTERLife on the importance of engaging citizens, stakeholders and governance with the academy in the field of life sciences. Open this article to see the video.

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  • ENGAGE Summer School in Tartu has started!

    ENGAGE Summer School in Tartu has started!

    The highly anticipated ENGAGE Summer School in Tartu has officially begun, setting the stage for a transformative learning experience focused on enhancing science for resilient and liveable cities and socially engaged research. Diving deep into the heart of the BETTER Life project, Patrik Toula from the Czech University of Life Sciences (CZU) and Arjan de […]

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  • BETTER Life co-organizes ENGAGE Summer School in Tartu

    BETTER Life co-organizes ENGAGE Summer School in Tartu

    The Estonian University of Life Sciences, in collaboration with the BETTER Life project and other initiatives, is organizing the ENGAGE! summer school in Tartu from August 7th to August 18th, 2023. This dynamic program will feature interactive sessions, field trips, and group work, focusing on urban green and blue infrastructure management and planning. The summer […]

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