The conference was organized by the BBCE Centre at Riga Technical University (RTU) in Latvia and brought together representatives of Teaming Centres, European Commission, and European Research Executive Agency.
The Teaming Club Conference, held on 23 - 25 September, offered the participants a space to discuss the future of the Widening instruments, research excellence, and innovation ecosystems in Europe. RECETOX was represented by director Jana Klánová and Jan Ostřížek.
The conference opened with Jānis Ločs, the director of BBCE. Among other keynote speeches, Ivars Ijabs, Member of the European Parliament, provided an overview of the current discussions on FP10 and the state of negotiations within the European Parliament.
Representatives of the European Research Executive Agency (REA) also contributed to the programme. Minna Wilkki discussed the growing role of artificial intelligence in proposal evaluation and the challenges associated with increasing proposal numbers, while Federica Roffi and Francesca Carvelli presented the broader European Widening landscape and sustainability of TEAMING centres.
The programme also featured examples of successful Widening initiatives, including a presentation by Prof. Dušan Galusek from the FunGlass Centre, who shared experiences from the Excellence Hub initiative.
On the second day, Jana Klánová presented RECETOX’s perspective on the synergies between the Teaming instrument and the ESFRI research infrastructure landscape. The afternoon was dedicated to bilateral meetings and networking among participating centres. RECETOX representatives discussed possible cooperation with about 10 other Teaming Centres.
The final day focused on cooperation with industry and strengthening innovation impact – the lectures were delivered both from the perspective of the institution and the private sector.
Conference participants also selected the venue for the next Teaming Club Conference, which will take place in Brno, jointly hosted by RECETOX (CETOCOEN Excellence project) and the CREATIC Centre.
The meetup, held on September 22nd, 2026, in Cork under the Irish presidency of the EU, addressed a topic of „Strategic Consolidation of the European Research Infrastructure Landscape: Advancing coordinated access and strengthening strategic autonomy over critical research data”.
Friday night at RECETOX once again belonged to the popular annual event Researchers' Night. This year's edition carried the theme of "Communication," which is why RECETOX prepared a program focused on the human body's primary communication center. The human brain.
