Excellence hubs foster collaboration between academia, business, government, and society in Widening countries. After receiving 205 project proposals in March 2024, 12 were selected to receive EU funding. Funded for four years under the Widening participation and spreading excellence actions of the Horizon Europe, Ukrainian organisations will cooperate with other European partners within the following excellence hubs:
- EXCELLENCE HUB FOR A SMART AGRICULTURE AND CIRCULAR BIOECONOMY TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE AGRIFOOD SECTOR IN WIDENING COUNTRIES (AND BEYOND)
- Total funding: € 5 995 825,00
- Coordinator: Lviv Polytechnic National Uuniversity
- Participants: Institute of Agriculture of Carpathian Region of National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine and 4 other Ukrainian governmental and non-governmental organisations, and 15 other partners from Poland, Latvia, Spain and Belgium
- AGRI-BIOCIRCULAR-HUB is a first-of-its-kind excellence hub in sustainable agriculture and circular bio-economy aimed at strengthening R&I capabilities and innovation ecosystems of 3 Widening countries, including one emerging ecosystem (PL, LV and UA)
- Strengthening the Capacity of Excellence Hubs of Türkiye, Greece, and Ukraine to Support Innovation Ecosystem of Novel Foods Based on Plant Proteins
- Total funding: € 5 946 368,75
- Coordinator: Turkiye Bilimsel Ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (Turkey)
- Participants: Scientific Park of Lviv Polytechnic National Uuniversity and 2 other Ukrainian companies and an NGO, and 12 other organisations from Turkey, Greece and Belgium
- Addressing current challenges and shortcomings, Excel4Pro aims to support, with underpinning research and knowledge exchange, the capacity of the national Excellence Hubs of Türkiye, Greece, and Ukraine as a regional launch pad for plant-protein-based novel food economies. Excel4Pro will be used as a critical tool to connect and scale up the strategically selected plant-based protein ecosystems in a single, interconnected and cross-border Excellence Hub dedicated to growing and changing the agri-food sector in Türkiye, Greece and Ukraine by developing novel food products based on plant-based proteins.
- Total funding: € 5 946 368,75
- THE WATERWISE HUB: AN EXCELLENCE HUB ON WATER IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
- Total funding: € 5 464 843,75
- Coordinator: Ethnicon Metsovion Polytechnion (Greece)
- Participants and Partners: The National University of Water and Environmental Enegineering (Ukraine) and 17 other partners from Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, and the Netherlands and 2 partner organisations from the UK
- The WaterWise Excellence Hub is a vibrant, action-oriented initiative that aspires to serve as a catalyst for R&I (creation and uptake), business development, and knowledge dissemination for water in the circular economy (CE). It leverages CE principles to rethink and transform water management in Romania, Greece and selected Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries (MD, SB, AL, NM and UA)
- Total funding: € 5 464 843,75
If you are inspired by the Widening actions, submit your application for the latest Teaming for Excellence call that opened on 3 December 2024. The deadline for the first stage submission is 10 April 2025!