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ABOUT THE EVENT

Meet the people who can move your idea forward.

Have you ever thought about teaching a course together with a colleague from Iceland, France or Spain? Or creating a new Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), launching a COIL course, developing a microcredential, inviting an international guest lecturer or finding partners for a joint research project?

The Academic Matchmaking Event is designed to help you find the right collaborators and turn these ideas into concrete plans. Through facilitated networking and interactive workshops, you’ll meet academics with complementary expertise, explore shared interests and leave with clear next steps for future collaboration.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Academics interested in international collaboration

Lecturers and educators

Current Aurora members willing to share good practice

THEMATIC AREAS

Health, Wellbeing & Life-Course Trajectories

  • Healthy ageing, senescence, chronic diseases, prevention, and health inequalities. 
  • Life-course trajectories and well-being (integrating biological, clinical, social, environmental, ethical, and geopolitical perspectives). 
  • Advanced in silico drug design, pharmacy, nutrition, and cardiovascular disease. 
  • One Health, climate and environmental health, and environmental health impacts. 
  • Digital health solutions, transferable skills, and interdisciplinary approaches to well-being. 
  • Others 

Sustainability, Climate Action & Green Transitions

  • Sustainable Chemistry (existing Community of Practice / Joint Degree initiative). 
  • Climate change impacts, adaptation, climate policy, and global governance. 
  • Sustainability transitions, sustainable finance, energy transition, urban sustainability, and circular economy. 
  • Electric Vehicles (EVs) and environmental innovation. 
  • Behavioural change and critical thinking in sustainability discourse. 
  • Others 

AI, Digital Transformation & Responsible Tech

  • Raising AI literacy among staff and students across Aurora institutions.(CoP) 
  • responsible AI use 
  • Models for integrating AI into education, teaching methodologies, and assessment. 
  • Human-AI collaboration, AI adoption in education and organizations, and digital transformation of work. 
  • Frontier research and business development using Generative AI.(CoP) 
  • Ethical governance of emerging technologies, Intellectual Property (IP), innovation, and digital resilience. 
  • Others 

Cultures, Identities & Global Citizenship

  • Urban cultures and healthy/sustainable cities (e.g., “Scripting Futures for Urban Sustainability”). 
  • Leisure cultures and sustainable tourism (e.g., EUROPARKS project). 
  • Regional and national self-conceptions, European identity, and Understanding Europe (Nordic, Icelandic, Slavic studies…). 
  • Gender Studies and cultural reflexivity. 
  • Global and local citizenship, community service learning, and global cooperation. 
  • Others 

Peace Education, Institutional Resilience & Conflict Transformation

  • Peace education, peacebuilding, and post-conflict recovery. 
  • Conflict transformation, academic freedom, and institutional resilience. 
  • Peace and democratic processes, democratic citizenship, inclusion, and diversity. 
  • Trauma-informed education, post-trauma recovery, mental health, and well-being in conflict contexts. 
  • AI and peace education. 
  • Others 

Social Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Educational Methodologies

  • Teaching and learning in social entrepreneurship, sustainable innovation, societal design, and social foresight. 
  • Shared research initiatives measuring social entrepreneurship and innovation competencies. 
  • Innovative pedagogies for sustainability, revealing the hidden curriculum, and experiential approaches to teaching cultural reflexivity 
  • co-developing innovative teaching approaches and collaborative educational research. 
  • Others 

Others / Emerging Topics & Cross-Cutting Initiatives

  • Open call for new, emerging interdisciplinary topics, cross-hub initiatives, or tailored educational collaborations — propose your own topic. 

EVENT FLOW

Day 1 | 3 November 2026

Connection & Discovery

Meeting people, exploring interests and discovering collaboration opportunities.

hear inspiring examples of successful Aurora collaborations

take part in Academic Connection Clusters

join facilitated speed networking

participate in World Café discussions

identify future project ideas

Day 2 | 4 November 2026

Building Collaborations

Transforming ideas into concrete action.

explore Aurora Hubs

work in facilitated design sessions

develop collaboration concepts

prepare next steps and future meetings

present newly created collaboration ideas

AURORA HUBS

Find an existing community to join.

Meet representatives of the Aurora Hubs, learn about their activities and discover how you can become involved.

Each Hub will introduce its vision, current initiatives and opportunities for new members.

VENUE & PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Welcome to Olomouc, Czech Republic

Palacký University Olomouc

The event is hosted at Palacký University Olomouc, one of the oldest universities in Central Europe. Founded in 1573, the university is located in Olomouc, a historic city in Moravia and home to the UNESCO-listed Holy Trinity Column. Its compact city centre, rich cultural heritage and welcoming atmosphere provide an ideal setting for meeting new people, exchanging ideas and building professional connections.

Venue details, travel information and accommodation recommendations will be published soon.

INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING?

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

30 / 9

2026

Contact your Aurora Institutional Coordinator

If you think this event is the right fit for you, please contact your Aurora Institutional Coordinator (IC) at your home institution. They will guide you through the registration process and answer any questions you may have about participating.