Project Title

European World Talent Camp for Uzbekistan Scientists in Food Science and Technology

Acronym

ECAMPUZ

Project number

101083216

Program

Erasmus+ Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education

Duration

1.01.2023-31.12.2025

EU grant

717,355.00 Euro

Partners

Tashkent Institute of Chemical Technology (TICT), coordinator

University of Copenhagen (UCPH)

University of Extremadura (UEx)

National University of Uzbekistan (NUUz)

Bukhara engineering-technological institute (BETI)

Andijan State University (ASU)

Urgench State University (UrSU)

Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT)

CAMPS and TRAININGS

Project aims

The main objective of ECAMPUZ project is to train professionals and implement standardised international practices in the area of food science and sustainable food production in Uzbekistan prior to overarch the priorities “Sustainable growth and jobs” concerning food security and healthy food production.

The ECAMPUZ project aims at developing skills of young professionals and implementing innovative approaches to increase synergy between education, research and the food industry through a modernization and strengthening of food science education and research according to EU standards.

The major goal of the ECAMPUZ project lays within the Developing the Higher Education sector within society at large and it focuses on knowledge triangle, innovation within the food sector in UZB reinforcing sustainable and mutually beneficial collaborations between food companies and HEIs as well as food research institutes.

THE SPECIFIC TASKS OF ECAMPUZ PROJECT:

  • One CAMP in each year of project (1st and 3rd CAMP in Uzbekistan; 2nd CAMP in Spain). Total number of participants – 75 Duration – 2 weeks;
  • training of 7 researchers, 6 teachers, 10 PhD students in EU universities: University of Copenhagen in Denmark and University of Extremadura in Spain. Total number of participants – 23. Duration – up to 3 months (1st – 3rd year);
  • conducting open-door seminars and workshops to initiate useful networks between researchers and industrial experts;
  • establishment of the “Cluster of Advanced Topics in Food Science and Technology” for academic networking;
  • establishment of the “Uzbek Food Science and Technology Society”, which will secure post-project sustainability of the project outcomes.

WORK PACKAGES

  • Communication within the partners and between the project partners, and with EACEA
  • Assurance of daily project management
  • Preparation of the project management and communication plan
  • Preparation of progress reports and the final reports of the project
  • Organisation of the kick-off meeting, meetings within the steering group members, the intra-project “ECAMPUZ conference” and the final “Le Grand Finale” conference

  • Elaboration on initial need analysis to list comprising details of target groups’ needs
  • Comprehensive analysis of needs
  • Evaluation of EU practice to better tackle defined needs of target groups in UZB

  • Selection of suitable candidates to participate in CAMPs
  • Decision upon detailed scheme of each CAMP
  • Implementation of three CAMPs in three consecutive years
  • Organization of a follow-up meeting of trainees with trainers to evaluate CAMPs impact

  • Selection of eligible candidates to take part in the trainings
  • Decision upon the design and location of trainings
  • Development of individual roadmaps for the trainees based on predefined needs of UZB
  • Comprehensive training of UZB researchers, teachers, and PhD students to up-to-date techniques and methodologies used in contemporary food industry

  • Group of academics and industrial experts will be formed to ensure achieving of four goals of this WP
  • Internship programmes at food industry will be launched for UZB HEIs students
  • Training courses for food industry workers will be organised at food science and technology
  • “Food Science Society of UZB” wil be established
  • Science Accelerator for food industry start-ups will be launched

  • Quality Team (QT) will be established and a quality plan will be developed
  • Regular meetings between QT members will be organized
  • Assessment of training materials by industry partners and external evaluator

  • Updates and progress will be covered in the project website
  • Dissemination materials and project results will be systematically distributed via social media and other outreach platforms
  • Intra-project conference
  • Food science and technology conference “Le Grand Finale”
  • Final report and outcomes will be announced

Overall objective:

The project ECAMPUZ aims to build capacity, develop and implement sustainable tools to address the national priorities in Uzbekistan (UZB) related to the “Sustainable growth and jobs” (the subcategory of “Knowledge triangle, innovation”) within the Food sector.

The specific objectives and activities of the project ECAMPUZ are designed to educate academic and industrial experts and establish a direct link between research and food production for boosting the transition of outdated food production technologies in the country towards sustainable food production for the future with minimized environmental impact.

The project ECAMPUZ will engage world-leading food scientists from the EU partner HEIs to address the two most urgent problems in the food sector related:

1) capacity building among food science teachers and researchers and

2) establishment of new and innovative collaborations between HEIs, research institutes and the food industry.

These will be achieved through a modernization and strengthening academic and research skills of food science teachers and researchers at HEIs in UZB according to high EU standards and by developing new and mutually beneficial collaboration strategies between HEIs and food industries, which will create new jobs and increase employability of students.

Research and teaching personnel from UZB will be trained in EU HEIs laboratories to address sustainable food production issues such as the re-use of drinking water, development of alternative dietary protein sources to replace animal proteins, increased digestibility and palatability of plant protein and other plant foods. In order to enable these, the specific tasks will be executed in a pre-defined order within the project.

Specific objectives:

SO1. Training of talented professionals every year (> 75 professionals over the three project years) from UZB in highly intensive CAMPs (one per year of two weeks duration) covering some of the most important areas within food science and technology (WP3).

SO2. Training of teaching staff, research staff and PhD students from UZB partners using a train-the-trainer strategy conducted at the EU HEIs. The goal is to host UZB young professionals in the EU HEIs, where they will be familiarized with innovative and modern food science education, good laboratory practice and innovative approaches to strengthen the link between research, education and the food industry (WP4).

SO3. Establish an innovative approach for sustainable development of collaborations between HEIs, research institutes and food companies. This will be achieved through the following four activities:

SO3.1. Development of a new and innovative approach for MSc and PhD student’s internship, where the synergy between education, research and business will be prioritized (WP5).

SO3.2. Establishment of a “Cluster of Advanced Topics in Food Science and Technology” for academic networking where teachers trained in EU will teach industrial experts.

SO3.3. Establishment of an “Uzbek Food Science and Technology Society” by the end of the project, which will be the main platform to gather industry, academia, and researchers for solving contemporary and future challenging problems of the food sector in UZB and to sustain tight collaboration with the EU HEIs.

SO3.4. Establishment of a Startup Accelerator Program aimed at developing innovative solutions for the food industry. This will be formed as a 6-months acceleration program that is designed to empower young innovators through on-the-ground training and mentoring to build and grow their innovative food science startup.

Long time perspective and future actions:

  • One CAMP in each year of project (1st and 3rd CAMP in Uzbekistan; 2nd CAMP in Spain). Total number of participants – 75 Duration – 2 weeks.
  • Training of 7 researchers, 6 teachers, 10 PhD students in EU universities: University of Copenhagen, Denmark and University of Extremadura, Spain. Total number of participants – 23. Duration – up to 3 month (1st – 3nd year).
  • Plan for student internship program at local industries (3rd year).
  • Course materials for highly specialized food science and technology courses for research and technical staff in food companies “Cluster of Advanced Topics in Food Science and Technology” (2nd year).
  • A preliminary Charter of a new Uzbek Society of Food Science and Technology (2nd year).
  • Science acceleration program for start-ups (2nd year).
  • Intra-project conference in Urgench (2nd year).
The final “Le Grand Finale” conference in Food Science and Technology in Bukhara (3rd year).

Modernisation

in the food sector through capacity building by training of young professionals as well as training-the-trainer according to the EU standards, strengthening the innovative approaches to link the triangle between education, research and the food industry through modernization of food science education are among the top priorities supported by local and regional governments in UZB.

The ECAMPUZ

Activities focus on the strengthening the food science and technology education in HEIs and aim to develop innovative approaches to link education, research and the industry with a special focus on establishing sustainable collaboration at international level and increasing capacity in food science and technology at national level.

Аs a long term impact on a systemic level the project aims to establish lasting collaborations, based on mutual interests, between HEIs and the food industry in UZB, and between the HEIs from EU and UZB.

Outputs of project ECAMPUZ will have a direct impact on the operation of modern laboratories, technologies installed in the food industries in UZB, and is expected to increase a number of new investments to generate food enterprises.