LETSGROW – Project Launch

‘LETSGROW represents an ambitious step towards building more diverse, valued careers that are aligned with the real challenges of society and industry. We believe that the transition to a sustainable agri-food system requires talent capable of bridging the gap between science and practice,’ emphasises João Cortez, the Director of the Research and Innovation Office at Universidade Católica Portuguesa.

Over the course of four years, LETSGROW aims to promote career paths that transcend sectoral and geographical boundaries by implementing structured mobility mechanisms between academic and non-academic sectors. The project seeks to prepare R&I professionals with the necessary skills to address major global challenges in the agri-food sector—such as food security, climate change, and sustainability—by combining excellence in research, practical experience, and applied innovation.

LETSGROW stems from the need to make R&I careers more interoperable, enabling them to cross sectoral and geographical boundaries and promoting the recognition of researchers’ careers and trajectories across various sectors, thereby contributing to the development of concrete solutions to real-world problems. To this end, the project focuses on three strategic pillars:

1. Excellence in training – with 37 activities covering topics such as R&I management, entrepreneurship, open science, and emerging technologies;
2. Structured mobility – through the implementation of Personal Career Development Plans, including research and institutional capacity-building mobilities, supported by mentoring systems and reintegration plans;
3. Career policy and ecosystem development – involving ecosystem needs mapping, the creation of a Community of Practice, co-creation workshops, and the drafting of a policy brief with recommendations to promote more attractive and sustainable R&I careers.