VIDZEMES AUGSTSKOLA

Their core work

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences is a regional higher education institution in Valmiera, Latvia, focused on applied research, teaching, and regional development. Their H2020 participation covers two distinct areas: organizing public science engagement events under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Researchers' Night programme, and contributing to a major EU research project on resilient farming through adaptive microclimate management. As a Latvian applied sciences university with SME status, they serve as a bridge between academic research and practical regional application, particularly in Baltic agricultural contexts. Their strongest recent commitment is to the STARGATE project, a 2019–2024 RIA initiative connecting food system resilience with precision microclimate control.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 engagement (2018–2019), the university's focus was squarely on science-society relations — specifically organizing public Researchers' Night events across Latvia as part of an MSCA outreach mandate. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted substantially toward substantive agricultural research, with participation in STARGATE representing a move into food system resilience and microclimate technology. This trajectory suggests the university is growing its applied research profile beyond science communication, anchoring itself in the food and agriculture sector for the longer term.

The shift from event-based science outreach to a multi-year RIA project in agricultural resilience indicates this university is building substantive research capacity in food systems and climate adaptation — a direction likely to continue into Horizon Europe.

How they like to work

Vidzeme University has participated exclusively as a consortium partner — never as a project coordinator — across both H2020 projects. Despite a small portfolio, they have accumulated 39 unique partners across 13 countries, suggesting that their projects (especially STARGATE) operate in large, diverse consortia. This positions them as a regional specialist contributor that brings Baltic and Latvian context to broader European research efforts rather than driving agenda-setting.

With 39 unique consortium partners spanning 13 countries, the university's network is notably broad relative to just two projects — largely a result of STARGATE's large multi-partner consortium. Their connections span most of Europe, though no geographic specialization beyond Baltic/Eastern European context is evident.

What sets them apart

As one of few Latvian higher education institutions participating in H2020 food and agriculture research, Vidzeme University offers a Baltic regional perspective that is underrepresented in most European consortia. Their combination of public engagement experience and applied agricultural research makes them a practical partner for projects requiring both stakeholder outreach capacity and regional field testing. For consortium builders targeting Eastern European agricultural contexts or seeking Latvian institutional representation, this university fills a specific and often hard-to-source gap.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STARGATE
  Their largest project by far (€214,125, running through 2024), tackling food system resilience through precision microclimate management — a technically ambitious RIA that defines their current research identity.
• NIGHTLV-2018-2019
  A nationally coordinated Researchers' Night event across Latvia, demonstrating public engagement and science communication capacity at the MSCA programme level, albeit with minimal EU funding (€6,084).