From 3 to 7 November 2025, Grenoble INP – UGA & UGA hosted the very first Unite!Widening Training Action, titled “Building Research Communities,” in parallel with the Unite! Research School in Autrans.
This first event marks the start of a new capacity-building programme designed to strengthen research ecosystems across the Unite! alliance, with a particular focus on supporting Widening countries.
A Practical and Collaborative Training Environment
The training brought together 12 researchers from Wrocław Tech and ULisboa for a hands-on programme exploring how research communities emerge, grow, and sustain themselves across institutions and disciplines.
Participants represented the four Unite!Widening focus areas:
- Health & Biotech
- Urban & Resources Sustainability
- Circular Economy & Materials
- Digital & Autonomous Technologies
Taking place within the environment of the Unite! Research School, the programme enabled participants to work directly alongside researchers from across the nine Unite! universities. This proximity helped initiate concrete collaborations, identify shared research interests and outline concrete next steps, and foster early-stage research communities.
Tools, Methods, and Collaboration
Rather than traditional lectures, the programme focused on practical methods and shared tools for building long-term research partnerships. Highlights included:
- A matchmaking session bringing together URS participants and the Widening group to develop new collaborative research ideas.
- “Seed Fund Success Stories,” showcasing projects that have grown into larger European initiatives.
- A Unite! Toolbox session, presenting useful tools and instruments for researchers, such as the IRIS network.
- Workshops on Multicultural Everyday Thinking in Academia and Doctoral Supervision Best Practices, key elements of effective international research collaboration.
Launching the Unite!Widening Training Series
This first training marks the beginning of the Unite!Widening Training Series, a programme of 21 training actions, multiple workshops, and four staff weeks designed to strengthen research capacity in Widening institutions and deepen collaboration across the Unite! alliance.
The Training Series will continue throughout 2026 and 2027, forming a cornerstone of Unite!Widening’s strategy to develop long-term, interconnected, and collaborative research communities across Europe.
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