The idea of establishing the European University of the Seas – SEA-EU has brought multiple fundamental changes to the inter-university cooperation framework, especially in the fields of research, education (its quality), management and the approach to sharing resources within the consortium. Therefore, one of the most important effects of the cooperation was the creation of a Research Potential Database and Shared Infrastructure Database. Collecting the data concerning research areas linked with research groups in the six universities started in April 2020. The task was coordinated by the University of Gdańsk team led by Vice-Rector for Innovation and Liaison with Business and the Community, Professor Krzysztof Bielawski.
The initiative helped to develop a detailed directory of research groups and research areas of different consortium members to identify common and strategic topics. The gathered data laid the groundwork for the implementation of future activities and will help forge ties between researchers from nine partner universities. Eventually, the platform simplified the process of finding potential partners when applying for mutual projects’ funding.
The database also made it possible to enter information about the infrastructure owned by partners. It can be used to search for infrastructure resources by keywords or scientific discipline, and to present people or entities that have provided detailed information.
The platform is being continuously updated, there are more than 516 research groups and more than 116 infrastructure positions registered so far. The researchers from all partner universities can browse and find research groups to start a collaboration.