Launched in December 2025, DOC- BEST (Doctorate Challenge-Based Education for Sustainable Transformation) is the first Erasmus+ project in ELLS Universities entirely dedicated to doctoral education. Eight partner universities are joining forces over three years with a €400,000 budget to build a shared European framework for training a new generation of scientists committed to the sustainable transformation of agri-food and environmental systems.
The project is structured around three concrete ambitions:
- producing a comprehensive white book reviewing doctoral education systems across the eight partners;
- developing a Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) didactical framework — built around real, complex societal challenges — and implementing three international joint CBL sessions bringing together 25 doctoral candidates each;
- and co-designing future transdisciplinary thesis topics with academic and socio-economic partners.
While DOC - BEST formally involves eight universities, the tools, frameworks and knowledge developed are intended to benefit the entire alliance. The first milestones are already underway: a survey on current research priorities and doctoral topics was sent to Subject Area leaders in February 2026, with results to be shared and discussed at the ELLS Conference in Montpellier this November.