The persisting disparity in the R&I performance between Western and Eastern Europe is a major challenge to the EU. The underlying issues include under-developed R&I ecosystems, lower ability to attract and retain talents, single-track research careers with lack of modern HR, and fragmented industry-academia collaboration. In 2018–2019, Alliance for Life Sciences (Alliance4Life) formed as a consortium, later permanent structure, of ultimately 12 health research institutions in 11 CEE countries. It quickly became a role model of modern institutional governance and excellent health research in the CEE region. The Alliance4Life piloted strategic institutional reforms in CEE and established itself as a lively community influencing also the R&I policies of the EU.
To build on those experiences and tackle the R&I performance gap, we propose the project A4L_BRIDGE. This project will implement the necessary institutional reforms towards enhanced attractiveness, competitiveness and innovation strength. The cross-border cooperation will be boosted by the creation of a Virtual Research Centre, connecting research groups with synergic research topics. Joint research activity will be stimulated by a seed fund call. We will develop a complex educational matrix, including mentoring, e-learning, and international internships, targeting both academic and support staff in all career stages. Business stakeholders will be participating in Industry Relationship Platform, stimulating knowledge transfer and partaking in applied research projects. Societal actors will be invited to shape the research agendas, and will be addressed at events for end users of health research results. Our efforts towards institutional reforms will be disseminated to the national policy makers, promoting ERA values and supporting the empowering of low performing regions in their R&I upscale. The A4L_BRIDGE project will thus significantly contribute to bridging the gap in R&I performance in the EU.

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Masaryk University is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to improve the conditions and quality of life on our planet by 2030.

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