Cultivating Industry 5.0 Talents: Academia-industry collaboration and empowerment through accessible DEep technoLogieS (CITADELS)

The European Commission’s ERA Industrial Technologies Roadmap on Human-Centric Research and Innovation for the Manufacturing Sector aims to support sustainable DeepTech careers and tackle brain drain in Widening Countries. In this framework, the CITADELS (Cultivating Industry 5.0 Talents: Academia-industry collaboration and empowerment through accessible DEep technoLogieS) project aims to support Widening Countries in retaining their top talents and becoming leaders in the global DeepTech revolution through enhanced collaboration between academia and industry.

The project’s vision is to establish a robust, interdisciplinary framework that enables the continuous evolution of human-centric DeepTech. This involves the creation of Industry 5.0 “CITADELS” in seven Widening Countries to foster a structural shift towards sustainable DeepTech R&I, promote a culture of cross-sectoral collaboration and knowledge sharing between talents and institutions, and turn brain drain into talent circulation. In this regard, with the support of the partners, career plans will be developed and tested by 40 talents (20 Research Talents and 20 R&I Support Talents).

The CITADELS project brings together a consortium, led by the University of Belgrade School of Electrical Engineering, composed of 10 partners from 9 countries, including four large academic institutions that are highly influential within their innovation ecosystems, three exemplary DeepTech companies, and one science and technology park. Furthermore, CITADELS is supported by two prominent partners at the European level to ensure stakeholder engagement and pan-European impact (EIT Manufacturing) and to introduce a sustainable and responsible research and innovation approach (K&I).