UNIVERSIDAD ANTONIO NARINO

Their core work

Universidad Antonio Nariño is a Colombian university whose H2020 footprint is defined by a single substantive research contribution: the development of low-cost ceramic membrane bioreactors (MBRs) that use recycled agro-industrial waste materials as raw inputs for the ceramic membranes themselves. Their applied research sits at the intersection of materials engineering and environmental engineering — turning agricultural and industrial waste streams into functional filtration media that can then be used to treat wastewater and enable water reuse. This work targets water-scarce regions where conventional membrane technology is too expensive. Their second H2020 involvement (InvisiblesPlus) was peripheral and outside this domain, so their real institutional expertise is in affordable, waste-derived water treatment infrastructure.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their entire documented H2020 expertise (2015–2018) is concentrated on ceramic MBR technology for wastewater treatment — a technically specific and application-driven research theme. The second project (InvisiblesPlus, 2016–2020) left no keyword trace and they participated only as a third party with no EC funding, so it does not represent a genuine research pivot. There is no evidence of a shift in focus: the organization entered and exited the H2020 programme with the same environmental engineering profile it started with.

With only one substantive project completed by 2018 and a peripheral third-party role in a second, there is insufficient data to identify a trajectory — any future collaboration should be scoped around the ceramic MBR and agro-industrial waste expertise that is clearly documented.

How they like to work

They have never coordinated an H2020 project, entering both engagements as a follower role (participant and third party). Their involvement in REMEB via MSCA-RISE — a staff exchange scheme — suggests their typical contribution is researcher mobility and knowledge transfer rather than leading work packages or managing budgets. They appear to join established consortia as a specialist node, likely contributing laboratory capacity, local waste-stream knowledge, or pilot infrastructure rather than driving the project agenda.

Despite only two projects, UAN has touched 38 unique partners across 18 countries — a footprint consistent with MSCA-RISE's built-in multi-partner exchange structure. Their network is likely broad but shallow: many institutions encountered briefly through staff exchange rather than deep repeated co-investment.

What sets them apart

UAN is one of very few Latin American universities in the H2020 corpus with documented hands-on work in ceramic membrane fabrication from recycled waste — a niche that is both technically specific and highly relevant to water-stressed developing regions. For a consortium seeking a partner with access to Colombian or Latin American agro-industrial waste streams, local pilot infrastructure, or regional market replication capacity for water treatment technology, UAN fills a geography-plus-expertise gap that European institutions simply cannot. Their MSCA-RISE participation also signals institutional willingness and infrastructure for researcher exchanges.

Highlights from their portfolio

• REMEB
  Their only funded H2020 project and the sole basis for their technical profile — a market-oriented MSCA-RISE initiative combining ceramic materials science with wastewater engineering and explicit scale-up goals.
• InvisiblesPlus
  A thematically unrelated Research Excellence project where UAN appeared only as a third party with no recorded EC contribution, suggesting an institutional connection rather than a research role.