Partners

Eleven institutions,
one mission

CUSP is delivered by a consortium of 11 expert partners from across Europe and beyond, coordinated by the Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI).

The Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) coordinates CUSP, overseeing its scientific, administrative, and financial management, as well as quality assurance, and aligns the project with the European Framework for Science Diplomacy. Based in Vienna, Austria, ZSI ensures all eleven partners move in the right direction, coordinating both the Science Diplomacy Hub and the project’s Working Groups. As founding chair of the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance and coordinator of its secretariate, ZSI brings years of leadership to the community CUSP now builds on.

Based in Bonn and Berlin, Germany, the German Aerospace Center (DLR Projektträger – Project Management Agency) leads CUSP activities on capacity-building, drawing on its prior involvement in the EU-funded S4D4C project and its current role as Chair of the Task Force on capacity-building of the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance. Given its expertise and interdisciplinary work at the science-policy interface, DLR Projektträger also accompanies the CUSP Working Groups on “Innovation and Tech Diplomacy” and “One Health”. Finally, it contributes to the management of the CUSP Science Diplomacy Hub, including by leveraging its connections to the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance, whose secretariat it coordinates jointly with ZSI.

Based in Prague, Czechia, Charles University (CU) was founded in 1348 and is one of Europe’s oldest universities. Through the Institute of International Studies (IMS) in its Faculty of Social Sciences, it contributes academic expertise in international relations, comparative policy analysis, and science diplomacy research, supporting taxonomy development, mapping, and evidence-based assessment to CUSP. CU also contributes to training and Working Group activities, ensuring conceptual rigour and integration of SSH perspectives into project outputs. The university leverages insights from past EU Horizon science diplomacy projects – such as S4D4C (Using science for/in diplomacy for addressing global challenges) – to lead CUSP’s mapping and taxonomy work.

Located in Brussels, Belgium, the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) leads CUSP’s dissemination, exploitation, and communication work. It mobilises its global Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellow and alumni network for outreach, training, and participation in the Science Diplomacy Hub. In addition to contributing to the co-creation of CUSP’s Competence Framework, MCAA actively drives the uptake of project results among key stakeholders.

Headquartered in Paris, France, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) leads CUSP’s work on global perspectives and partnerships. It provides global-level analysis to CUSP’s mapping and training efforts and convenes regional policy dialogues in Africa, Asia and Latin America, placing a strong focus on underrepresented perspectives, multilateral settings, and the global commons. To drive this international engagement, UNESCO draws directly on its global field office network, Permanent Delegations, and TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences).

Based in Brussels, Belgium, the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is one of the longest-serving think tanks working on European Union affairs. It brings policy analysis expertise across health, AI, tech, science, research and innovation, and foreign and security policy. CEPS builds the taxonomy and data foundations behind CUSP’s mapping and knowledge base, while contributing to its AI-supported tools. It also serves as a lead partner for CUSP’s bibliometric study report and the policy brief on consolidating science diplomacy.

Based in Aarhus, Aarhus University (AU) is Denmark’s second-oldest university and consistently ranks among the world’s top 150. It contributes conceptual development, thematic analysis, and social sciences and humanities perspectives to CUSP’s mapping and taxonomy work, supported by an AI-assisted knowledge base. AU also coordinates CUSP’s network of country correspondents and supports the project’s Working Groups and training design.

Based in Madrid, the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) was founded in 2001 to strengthen connections between science, society, and public policy. It brings strong links to national and international science diplomacy and diaspora communities, supporting stakeholder mobilisation and outreach for CUSP. FECYT leads the project’s capacity-building actions, implementing pilot schemes and train-the-trainer models.

CIHEAM Bari is the Italian headquarter of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM). Its mission rests on three pillars: post-graduate education and training, applied research, and international development cooperation. It supports the day-to-day management of the Science Diplomacy Hub and brings sectoral expertise in Mediterranean science diplomacy, particularly across ocean governance, the environment, and regional cooperation. CIHEAM Bari also supports stakeholder engagement, connecting CUSP’s outputs directly to institutional users and international networks.

ENRICH GLOBAL is an international non-profit association registered in France, bringing together 50+ members from 40+ countries. The association bridges innovation between Europe and the world through joint projects and collaborative activities, strengthening visibility, international opportunities, and cross-border cooperation across a global network. ENRICH GLOBAL provides the technical backbone of the Science Diplomacy Hub, developing and hosting the platform infrastructure that brings CUSP’s Working Groups together, and managing community operations. ENRICH Global also leverages its reach to connect CUSP with international networks in innovation diplomacy.

The National Research Council (CNR) is Italy’s largest public research institution. CNR leads the organisation of the main CUSP project conference, a key milestone for presenting and discussing preliminary results with the European and international science diplomacy community. It also contributes to the project’s dissemination and outreach, providing channels for knowledge exchange, stakeholder connection, and capacity-building discussions across the global community.