VERDEDRIVE celebrates 30 years of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Since 1996, MSCA has been the European Union’s reference programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training. It has supported more than 150,000 researchers, including 23 Nobel Prize winners. The anniversary campaign, Curiosity that changes the world, shows how MSCA attracts, develops and retains research talent in Europe. It connects researchers across borders, disciplines and sectors, and equips them to drive innovation together with industry.

MSCA in action: the VERDEDRIVE project

VERDEDRIVE (Harnessing by-products for the creation of eco-friendly and sustainable diesel fuel) is funded under the MSCA Staff Exchanges action of Horizon Europe. The University of West Attica coordinates the project, which brings together nine universities, research centres and SMEs from Greece, Serbia, Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Belgium.

The consortium compares oils from alternative crops and agricultural by-products to find the most suitable raw material for green diesel. The materials are rose petals, sour cherries (Oblačinska variety), maize, local soybean varieties and cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). The work covers the whole chain, from extraction and catalyst development to process optimisation and life-cycle assessment.

Secondments are at the heart of the project. Researchers and staff move between academic and industrial partners to carry out joint experiments, learn new methods and build lasting collaborations. Recent secondments, for example, evaluated and optimised catalytic systems for converting oils into sustainable diesel. MSCA has made this kind of international, intersectoral mobility possible for three decades.

Join the celebration

Explore the MSCA 30th anniversary, including 88 stories from three decades of MSCA research:https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/30th-anniversary

Follow VERDEDRIVE on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/verdedrive/

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101179991. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.