FUNDACION AGENCIA ARAGONESA PARA LA INVESTIGACION Y EL DESARROLLO

Their core work

ARAID is the Aragón regional foundation for research and development, acting as a talent-hosting agency that recruits and supports researchers across disciplines in Zaragoza, Spain. Rather than running its own labs, it provides institutional backing and career frameworks that allow researchers to participate in EU-funded projects through partner universities and institutes. Its H2020 footprint spans livestock sustainability, tuberculosis drug research, and bio-based materials for composite recycling — reflecting the breadth of researchers it hosts rather than a single technical focus.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014-2016), ARAID's involvement centered on science outreach and agricultural sustainability — promoting research careers while contributing to livestock system studies. By the later period (2018-2024), the focus shifted markedly toward molecular biology and materials science, with tuberculosis drug research and enzyme-based degradation of thermoset composites. This evolution reflects ARAID's nature as a researcher-hosting foundation: its portfolio follows the individual scientists it recruits rather than a single institutional research agenda.

ARAID is moving toward applied biotechnology — enzyme engineering and drug development — suggesting future collaborations will likely involve molecular-level innovation with industrial or health applications.

How they like to work

ARAID operates predominantly as a third-party contributor (2 of 4 projects), providing hosted researchers to existing consortia rather than leading them. They coordinated one MSCA fellowship (BLMs 4 TB), which is an individual researcher grant rather than a large consortium effort. With 47 unique partners across 9 countries from just 4 projects, they plug into large, well-connected consortia — making them a flexible specialist contributor rather than a consortium-building hub.

Despite only 4 projects, ARAID has touched 47 unique partners across 9 countries, entirely through joining large consortia. Their network is broad but indirect — built through the projects of the researchers they host rather than through institutional partnerships.

What sets them apart

ARAID's distinctiveness lies in its role as a regional talent agency for research — it does not operate labs but provides the institutional framework for individual researchers to join EU projects. This makes it unusually flexible: its expertise is as broad as the scientists it hosts, spanning from livestock breeding to enzyme engineering to TB pharmacology. For consortium builders, ARAID offers a gateway to Aragón's research talent pool with minimal institutional overhead.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BLMs 4 TB
  ARAID's only coordinated project and sole direct EC funding (EUR 170,122) — an MSCA fellowship on beta-lactam antibiotics for tuberculosis, signaling strong individual researcher capacity in infectious disease.
• BIZENTE
  Their most recent and forward-looking project (2020-2024), applying enzyme-based approaches to recycle thermoset composite plastics — connecting biotechnology to circular economy challenges.