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Launch of the HeatDDR Doctoral Network

HeatDDR: a new European Doctoral Network focusing on emerging challenges in agriculture

The HeatDDR Doctoral Network was officially launched on March 1, 2025, merging 17 European partners to train 9 PhD students in Plant Sciences. Funded by Horizon Europe through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (€2.2 million), this four-year project is coordinated by the Paris-Saclay University, with Dr. Cécile Raynaud (Research Director at the Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, IPS2) as scientific coordinator.

The initiative addresses one of the biggest challenges in modern agriculture: sustaining crop productivity and food security to face climate change. Northern Europe is expected to see longer, warmer, and more humid summers, while southern Europe faces increasing heat and drought stress. HeatDDR focuses on understanding how heat stress affects plant development, particularly through the DNA Damage Response (DDR), a mechanism that plays a dual role, contributing to thermotolerance while limiting plant growth. By studying DDR, the project aims to maintain crop yields without compromising stress resilience.

The network provides an interdisciplinary training program, combining academic research together with practical training in both universities and industry. Each PhD student will benefit from supervision by multiple partners, advanced technical training, and the development of soft skills essential for a scientific career.

The HeatDDR project kick-off meeting will take place on December 2–3, 2025, in Giessen, Germany, bringing together the newly recruited PhDs and other members of the consortium to officially launch the collaborative research and training initiatives. Over the next four years, the network will hold additional workshops and a final three-day symposium hosted by the Paris-Saclay University in 2029, where students will present their research alongside invited experts.

Contacts :


Cécile Raynaud, Coordinator – Université Paris-Saclay / IPS2
Alberto Ballin, Project Manager – Université Paris-Saclay / IPS2

HeatDDR is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
HeatDDR is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

14/11/2025