The "Twinning to Boost Rare Disease Research Through Zebrafish Models (ZEBRARE-TWIN)" project, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Pervin Rukiye Dinçer, a faculty member of the Department of Medical Biology at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, has been awarded funding by the European Commission. Carrying a budget of approximately 1.5 million euros, it holds the distinction of being the first Horizon Europe WIDERA Twinning project to be coordinated by Hacettepe University.
This year, 1,905 project proposals from various European countries were submitted to the European Commission's Horizon Europe WIDERA Twinning call. Each proposal was evaluated by four independent international experts based on scientific excellence, impact, and implementation capacity. At the end of the evaluation process, only 179 projects were selected for funding. ZEBRARE-TWIN, ranked among the 10 projects approved for funding from Turkey, achieved significant international success as the first Horizon Europe WIDERA Twinning project under the coordination of Hacettepe University.
The WIDERA Twinning call, conducted under the European Union's Horizon Europe Program, is a strategic capacity-building program aimed at enhancing research capacity, fostering international scientific collaborations, and increasing knowledge sharing within the European Research Area. WIDERA Twinning projects aim to elevate the scientific excellence of research institutions, ensure their integration into international research networks, and establish sustainable research management capacity.
Under the ZEBRARE-TWIN project, Hacettepe University plans to engage in extensive collaborations on the development and use of zebrafish models in the field of rare diseases with the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Germany, the INSERM Myology Research Center (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Centre de Recherche en Myologie) in France, and the Andalusian Center for Developmental Biology (Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo - CABD), affiliated with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Throughout the project, various activities will be carried out to strengthen research management capacity and facilitate international researcher exchanges, advanced training programs, summer schools, joint research initiatives, and knowledge and technology transfer.
The project aims to strengthen Hacettepe University's research infrastructure in rare diseases, enable young researchers to gain international experience, enhance research management capabilities, and establish sustainable scientific collaborations with leading European research centers.
Highlighting the significance of the project to be coordinated by Hacettepe University, Prof. Dr. Pervin Rukiye Dinçer, faculty member of the Department of Medical Biology, shared her thoughts as follows:
"This project will not only contribute to the research capacity in the field of rare diseases, but will also significantly boost the university's visibility in European Union research programs, its international project coordination experience, and its effectiveness within the European Research Area.
The ZEBRARE-TWIN project is expected to increase Hacettepe University's capacity to serve as a coordinating institution in larger European Union research consortia in the future. The project is also anticipated to make major contributions toward strengthening Turkey's scientific visibility within the European Research Area and its position in the international research ecosystem."