BIOAQUA at a glance
BIOAQUA is COST Action CA22160, a European network working towards healthier fish, cleaner water and aquaculture that can hold up to a changing climate. Here is who takes part, how the science is organised, and what the network delivers.
Who we are
A multidisciplinary network that brings academia, industry and policy around the same table, with early-career researchers taking part in every funding stream.
- 43participating countries
- 5Working Groups
- 3 of 5Working Groups led by women
- 15grants reported for young researchers
Geographic diversity
Forty-three countries had accepted the Memorandum of Understanding by the end of the second grant period, across Northern, Western, Central, Southern and Eastern Europe as well as near-neighbour and partner countries.
All 43 countries: AL Albania, AM Armenia, AT Austria, BE Belgium, BA Bosnia and Herzegovina, BG Bulgaria, HR Croatia, CY Cyprus, CZ Czechia, DK Denmark, EE Estonia, FI Finland, FR France, GE Georgia, DE Germany, EL Greece, HU Hungary, IS Iceland, IE Ireland, IL Israel, IT Italy, LV Latvia, LT Lithuania, LU Luxembourg, MT Malta, MD Moldova, ME Montenegro, NL Netherlands, MK North Macedonia, NO Norway, PL Poland, PT Portugal, RO Romania, RS Serbia, SK Slovakia, SI Slovenia, ZA South Africa, ES Spain, SE Sweden, CH Switzerland, TR Türkiye, UA Ukraine, UK United Kingdom.
Gender balance
Women hold the Chair, the Vice-Chair and three of the five Working Group leadership roles.
Share held by women
- Chair and Vice-Chair100%
- Working Group leaders60%
- Short-term scientific missions50%
- Mobility and dissemination60%
- Virtual networking support grants100%
Early-career support
Counts explicitly reported for young researchers and early-career opportunities.
Awards reported
- Young-researcher STSMs5
- Virtual mobility grants4
- Dissemination grants3
- Inclusiveness target country grants2
- Under-30 VNS1
Science ecosystem
Working Groups connect core science, fish welfare, sustainability and outreach, and feed shared outputs: a data lake, workshops, webinars, papers and joint proposals.
- WG1 Water prophylaxis and biosafety, machine learning and genomics
- WG2 Biomarkers, functional feeds and biosensors
- WG3 Fish welfare
- WG4 Sustainability insights
- WG5 Informed creativity, communication and uptake
Knowledge without borders
- Workshops and field visits
- Webinars and training schools
- Mobility and exchanges
- A shared data lake
Real-world solutions
- Molecular diagnostics
- Functional feeds and bioactives
- Monitoring with AI and biosensing
- Fish welfare tools
- Sustainability guidance
Why it matters
- Healthier fish and better welfare
- Protected ecosystems
- Reduced antibiotic use
- Climate-resilient aquaculture
- Sustainable food production
Join the network
Researchers, companies and policy actors from participating countries are welcome. Start on the COST page for CA22160, or get in touch through the Action website.