Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewedOrganic

Lessons learned from the twinning TwinSubDyn collaboration

Snežana Maletić, Jelena Beljin, Bruno Glaser, Arthur Groß, Thilo Hofmann, Thorsten Hüffer, Heike Knicker, Marijana Kragulj Isakovski, Srđan Rončević, Lutz Weihermüller, Viktoriia Lovynska, Roland Bol

Open Research Europe · 2026

Read source ↗ All evidence

Summary

This report documents the outcomes of the Horizon Europe Twinning project TwinSubDyn, which addressed scientific infrastructure and training gaps in widening European countries through a three-year collaborative effort between the University of Novi Sad and four leading EU research institutions. The project combined conceptual training, scientist mobility, expert exchanges, and integrated field research on organic soil amendments to strengthen analytical and interpretive capacity whilst generating multi-scale insights into OSA aging, soil organic matter transformations, nutrient mobility, and contaminant sorption. The authors conclude that twinning initiatives achieve greatest impact when conceptual training and mobility are strategically combined to build both research capacity and institutional preparedness.

Regional applicability

This paper documents lessons from a Balkans-focused capacity-building initiative and is primarily relevant to United Kingdom policy and practice as a case study of international research collaboration models and effectiveness of twinning mechanisms under Horizon Europe. The insights on organic soil amendments and contaminant dynamics in subsurface systems have methodological and conceptual relevance to UK soil science and environmental research infrastructure, though the specific regional environmental conditions studied (Western Balkan) differ from United Kingdom contexts.

Key measures

Capacity strengthening indicators including analytical confidence, interdisciplinary reasoning, collaborative research outputs, scientist mobility outcomes, institutional preparedness metrics, engagement with policymakers and practitioners.

Outcomes reported

The study reports on institutional capacity strengthening and scientific integration outcomes from a Horizon Europe Twinning project focused on organic soil amendments (OSA) and their effects on soil organic matter, nutrient dynamics, hydrology, and contaminant fate. It documents how collaborative research, scientist mobility, expert exchanges, and training activities enhanced analytical capacity and interdisciplinary reasoning at the University of Novi Sad.

Theme
Policy, governance & rights
Subject
Soil fertility & nutrient management
Study type
Policy
Study design
Policy report
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
International
System type
Organic systems
DOI
10.12688/openreseurope.23059.1
Catalogue ID
SNmrzumc5n-xgz7o6

Funding & declared interests

Funding: EU Horizon Europe

Conflicts of interest: No conflict of interest statement mentioned in the abstract.

Extracted verbatim from the paper’s funding, acknowledgements and conflict-of-interest sections — shown as neutral provenance, not a judgement on the research.

Topic tags

Pulse AI · ask about this record

Dig deeper with Pulse AI.

Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.