Following the success of the EMERGE-EU Study Visit: Building European Connections in Advanced Materials in January 2025 and the EMERGE-EU: AI in Health Networking Visit in June 2026 , UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) would like to invite UK based early career researchers to express interest to participate in EMERGE-EU 3.0: Biodiversity Networking Visit for Emerging Researchers on 18-20 January 2027 in Brussels.
The visit is organised together with the Slovak Liaison Office for Research and Development (SLORD), Polish Science Contact Agency (PolSCA), the Leibniz Association, the Bulgarian Liaison Office for Research and the Czech Liaison Office for Education and Research (CZELO) who are bringing participants from their respective countries for enhanced networking opportunities.
Research for a Nature-Positive Europe
The main aim of the visit is to enhance the ability of emerging researchers in biodiversity domains to navigate the European research and innovation landscape, widen their professional network and strengthen their engagement with key EU-level stakeholders. The target group consists of early-career scientists (R2–early R3) from Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
Over the course of a three-day study visit, participants will learn about major EU funding instruments and opportunities for researchers, as well as effective ways to build networks and collaborative projects.
The programme includes presentations from the European Commission, COST Association, ERC Executive Agency, and national contact points, offering practical insights into advancing scientific careers and developing successful research proposals. A dedicated institutional visit to one of the Brussels universities´ laboratories will be part of the programme as well as an opportunity to attend one of the flagship events of the European research support community.
Who are we looking for?
- Emerging researchers at R2 or early R3 level
- Focusing their research on biodiversity topics
- With interest in international research collaboration
Examples of calls with Biodiversity dimension
Biodiversity and ecosystem services support food security, water resilience, healthy soils and climate stability. This list below provides sample call topics on biodiversity within Horizon Europe and is not comprehensive:
- HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-BIODIV-01: Integrating Remote Sensing and in-situ
observations of Biodiversity, towards a fully interoperable observation and data framework - HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-BIODIV-02: Science-policy support to the implementation
of EU and global biodiversity policies and strategies - HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-BIODIV-03: Technical innovation to protect ecosystems and
to scale up their restoration - HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-BIODIV-05: Accelerating the transition to a nature positive
economy: Integrating biodiversity into the private sector - HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-01: Understanding the nature and the extent of the
effects of PFAS on biodiversity and ecosystem services - HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-02: Better understanding, anticipating and
addressing the biodiversity benefits and impacts of the clean and digital industries - HORIZON-NATURE-2027-01-03: Systemic approaches to accelerate transformative
change for biodiversity - HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-05: Cost-effective biodiversity monitoring for EU policies
Several Horizontal actions have also recently been launched on this topic by the European Commission.
Programme Highlights
- EU policy landscape for biodiversity
- ERC proposal insights and exchange with an evaluator
- Sessions on MSCA, COST, EIC Pathfinder and Horizon Europe 2027
- Participant pitches and three structured matchmaking rounds
- Site-visit to the Belgian research institution
To express your interest complete this form by 28 October 2026.
Final selection of participants will be made by the organising office based on the overlapping common interest between researchers from all the participating countries as well as equal distribution of participants between research domains. In case of your selection, although event attendance is free, you will be liable to cover travel and accommodation costs.