With the European Commission (EC) approving the final report, the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (ISSP UL) has officially completed the CAMART² project – a transformative journey that has elevated the institute to a new level of scientific and innovation excellence. It was EC Horizon 2020 Widening programme 8 years Teaming project, aimed at upgrading ISSP UL into a globally competitive Centre of Excellence jointly with project Swedish partners KTH and RISE.
European Commission concludes in the report:
“The project has delivered exceptional results with significant immediate or potential impact” and “has reached its main objectives and established the structural conditions for ISSP UL to operate effectively in the post-CAMART² era”
Over lifetime of the project annual revenues rose from €3M to €9M and the number of people employed increased from 200 to 300, with a strong influx of younger and internationally experienced researchers.
As Director Dr. Andris Anspoks highlights:
“As the CAMART² project concludes, we are proud to have modernized our science and innovation Centre of Excellence and strengthened our position in the global scientific community. Our Swedish partners KTH and RISE have been instrumental in this success. CAMART² proves that strategic, long-term investments in science, combined with capacity building and modern infrastructure, yield significant results.”
Project has fostered organization-wide transformation of processes and culture, in essence building brand new approach in the Institute for research, innovation and extended international collaborations based on the extensive experience and knowledge transfer from Consortium Swedish partners KTH and RISE.
As noted in the project review:
“Emphasis is on a ‘Culture of Excellence’, encouraging science, innovation, dialogue with industry and interdisciplinarity”.
Science – The Foundation of Growth
Scientific excellence has been the cornerstone of CAMART². Science is a place where new ideas are born and discoveries happen. During the project institute attracted new generation of researchers and strengthened the existing team.
The key highlights:
- Streamlining of the Research strategy and development program for high internationally competitive positioning,
- Scientific publications increased to close to 200 per year, with 71% in international collaboration.
- €15M invested in scientific infrastructure, enabling new research, partnerships and talent attraction.
- New, more applied Master’s and PhD programmes developed, increasing number of students employed by the Institute from 20 to 60.
- Strong competency-based learning and development system introduced, including the European Competence Framework for Researchers (ResearchComp) framework.
- The project has significantly boosted research quality and international visibility.
- Annual revenues for international projects besides CAMART² have grown from 0.5 to 2.5M EUR, including collaborative research and widening programs (ERA-Chairs, Twinning, Hop-on).
- 80% of increased annual funding of 9M EUR are results of research activity.
Innovation – A New Level of Capability
CAMART² enabled the implementation of an innovation development system at ISSP UL, enabling well moderated technology transfer of research outcomes to real-life applications. We created a single contact point for industry – Materize, increasing the quality of industry collaboration.
Key innovation, technology transfer and industry highlights:
- Creation of a photonics and smart materials ecosystem and innovation development platform.
- Ignition of a long-term state support programme “Innovation Fund” for innovation development implemented by the Ministry of Economics.
- Organisation of over 10 deep-tech Hackathons and numerous commercialisation projects.
- Establishment of 5 spin-out companies, with CellBox Labs, Spectromarine, and AP4PICS being the most prominent as well as licensing arrangements (including high-speed infrared light sensor licenced to Thorlabs).
- Industry services for domestic and international clients reaching 1.6M EUR,
- Total attracted funding for innovation and industry activity exceeding 6.5M EUR.
Support Systems – Enabling Competitiveness and Growth
A culture of excellence was introduced in our institute together with the open access laboratory concept, supported by a service-oriented organisation. These changes were designed to ensure long-term sustainability and competitiveness. A talent management system and structured HR strategy were implemented, including mentoring, career development and international recruitment.
- A strong support organisation was created - to attract international funding, ensure innovations development, technology transfer and industry collaborations, provide proiects’ implementation support.
- ISO 9001 certification, QMS and open access processes implemented.
- Digitalisation of internal processes, including document management, intranet, self-service HR, customer relationship management, management accounting.,.
- An Ethics Policy and Commission were established and updated to reflect modern organisational needs.
Outcomes – Strong base for case study and dissemination
One of the relevant efforts in the project was engagement of the Consortium partners – in helping the Institute to grow and for joint research and innovation. Thus, making the project well balanced to benefit all the partners engaged. As the review concludes - it esteems the project as success story for regional strategic alliance and ecosystem building and recommends it as a case study.
As noted by EC:
“We recommend capitalising on CAMART², by building a case to communicate and widely disseminate the key learnings (ingredients, methods, successes, achievements, etc.) from the project.”
Project team – engine for development efforts
All the project complexities and the extensive team were carefully orchestrated by dedicated leadership. To ensure efficient implementation, it was crucial to establish a strong core team early in the project and make all the key players of the Consortium take active part in the building towards success.
As Chairman of the project Steering committee Dr. Andris Sternbergs notes: “It was a special honour to work with the team which had a clear vision, was results-oriented and efficient – allowing to bring excellence into all levels of the project operations. Special thanks goes to project manager Dr. Martins Rutkis and his deputy Andris Ozolins, who were the nucleus to steering the project to the highest quality standards. It was a great pleasure to see all the work package leaders, ISSP UL management, Consortium partners and all the specialists strive for the best for the project and the Institute – significantly increasing its international prestige and making ISSP UL an ever-better place for science and innovations.”
Final remarks
The European Commission approved the final report in August 2025, releasing the remaining €2.25M. In total, CAMART² brought €30M to ISSP UL – €15M from Horizon 2020 and €15M in national co-funding. Project started in 2017 and concluded in 2025, preparation stage starting in 2014.
The project team extends heartfelt thanks to all contributors over the course of the project and its preparation stages – those in research, innovation, administration and, especially, to the esteemed consortium partners KTH and RISE, whose expertise and dedication have left a lasting impact on ISSP UL’s future.
