News

Romanian partners FreshBlood HealthTech and Babeș-Bolyai University join forces under BRITE-EU collaboration. Europe’s future in digital health depends on its people, their skills, opportunities, and ability to thrive where they are most needed.   With this vision at its core, the BRITE-EU (Boosting R&I Talent Interoperability and Employability in Europe) project has entered a new phase of local collaboration in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Today, representatives from FreshBlood HealthTech (part of Asociația INIT) visited Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) to synchronise their specific project tasks and strengthen research and innovation (R&I) capacity across the Romanian ecosystem.  Funded by the Horizon Europe programme, BRITE-EU is a four-year project (2026–2029) focusing on the Digital Health sector to address persistent challenges such as skills disparities, limited cross-sector mobility, and the ongoing loss of talent from Widening countries.  Our mission  Despite strong academic foundations and growing innovation potential, Romania continues to face structural barriers that limit career opportunities for researchers and innovators. Talented professionals often leave in search of better prospects.   The collaboration between FreshBlood and UBB responds to these challenges with a holistic approach: strengthening individual skills and employability while supporting institutional capacity and cross-sector collaboration.  By connecting academic excellence with industry innovation directly in Cluj-Napoca, the partners aim to create a more inclusive, dynamic, and attractive R&I ecosystem built on a collaborative quadruple-helix model.  Digital health as a catalyst for innovation  Digital Health stands at the intersection of technology, healthcare, and society, offering significant potential for innovation and impact. Driving this educational transformation, UBB is taking the lead on the project’s Training Programmes. Leveraging robust academic frameworks—such as the university’s ongoing courses in digital health and innovation in public health—UBB is designing and delivering targeted curricula to enhance research skills, knowledge transfer, and career development tailored to specific stakeholder needs.  Ensuring quality and engaging the community  FreshBlood HealthTech complements this academic rigour by bridging medicine, technology, and business. Within the consortium, FreshBlood is heading Stakeholder Engagement actively connecting with researchers, industry partners, and policymakers through public events, workshops, seminars, and strategic communication.  Furthermore, to ensure the project maintains the highest standards of execution, FreshBlood is overseeing Risk Management and Quality Assurance. This involves the deployment of specific peer-review quality control procedures and the ongoing management of the project’s Quality and Risk Management Plans.  Visit at UBB marked the start of joint local action alignment  Today’s working visit at UBB—taking place in the fifth month of the 48-month project—served to translate these tasks into concrete local action. The meeting provided an opportunity to:  Over the coming months, this partnership will continue to engage with stakeholders across sectors to build a competitive HealthTech environment in Romania. Updates, opportunities, and results will be shared regularly through the project website and communication channels.  Stay connected and follow BRITE-EU as it works to empower researchers, strengthen institutions, and shape the future of digital health R&I in Europe.

Europe’s future in digital health depends on its people, their skills, opportunities, and ability to thrive where they are most needed. With this vision at its core, BRITE-EU (Boosting R&I Talent Interoperability and Employability in Europe) has officially launched, bringing together leading universities, innovation centres, SMEs, and public organisations to strengthen research and innovation (R&I) capacity in Europe’s Widening countries.  Funded by the Horizon Europe programme, BRITE-EU is a four-year project (2026–2029) coordinated by the University of Porto and supported by a consortium of 11 partners from six European countries. The project focuses on the Digital Health sector, addressing persistent challenges such as skills disparities, limited cross-sector mobility, gender imbalance, and the ongoing loss of talent from less-performing innovation ecosystems.  Our mission  Despite strong academic foundations and growing innovation potential, many Widening countries continue to face structural barriers that limit career opportunities for researchers and innovators. Talented professionals often leave in search of better prospects, while women remain underrepresented in research careers across Europe.  BRITE-EU responds to these challenges with a holistic approach: strengthening individual skills and employability while supporting institutional reform and cross-sector collaboration. By connecting research organisations, industry, and policymakers, the project aims to create more inclusive, dynamic, and attractive R&I ecosystems, particularly in Portugal, Czechia, and Romania.  Digital health as a catalyst for innovation  Digital Health stands at the intersection of technology, healthcare, and society, offering immense potential for innovation and impact. BRITE-EU leverages this dynamic sector to pilot new approaches to skills development, leadership, and talent mobility that can be replicated across other R&I domains.  Through targeted training, mentoring, and cross-sector secondments, the project will support researchers and innovators in developing both technical and transversal skills. At the same time, institutions will be supported in modernising research management practices, promoting inclusive leadership, and strengthening collaboration with industry and public authorities.  Our consortium  BRITE-EU brings together partners from Portugal, Romania, Czechia, Serbia, Spain, and Sweden, combining the expertise of Widening countries with the experience of more advanced innovation ecosystems. This consortium ensures knowledge exchange, mutual learning, and long-term impact beyond the project’s lifetime.  The partners include universities, innovation centres and specialised organisations with strong backgrounds in research management, digital health, innovation policy, and capacity building.   Kick-off meeting at University of Porto marked the start of joint action  The project was officially launched during a two-day kick-off meeting held in Porto, Portugal, on 27-28 January 2026. Representatives from all partner organisations met in person to align on BRITE-EU’s strategic objectives, implementation roadmap, and expected impact.  The meeting provided an opportunity to:  Over the coming months, BRITE-EU will roll out its first activities, engage with stakeholders across sectors, and begin translating its vision into concrete action. Updates, opportunities, and results will be shared regularly through the project website and communication channels.  Stay connected and follow BRITE-EU as it works to empower researchers, strengthen institutions, and shape the future of digital health R&I in Europe.