Author: Niels Hexspoor

Aurora Student Schemes

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Featured, Students.

We are pleased to announce that you can now apply for the Aurora Student Schemes for the upcoming Academic year 2022/2023. Become part of an international community of students by taking on one of the following two roles:  

Student Ambassador

If you want to be a part of an international community of students, the role of Aurora Student Ambassador will be perfect for you. 

In this role, you will be given the opportunity to take part in a variety of online and in-person events, together with students from across all Aurora Universities.

You will be offered several international workshops that will boost you personal and professional development. At the end of the year, you will be invited to participate in the Aurora Student Conference, where you will meet your fellow ambassadors.

Student Champion

This role is created specifically for students that want to go the extra mile.  You will directly work on the key Aurora topics, in addition to the joint activities provided to Aurora Student Ambassadors.

Students that amass at least 15 hours of combined participation in the joint program and the working groups will be given the certificate of Aurora Student Champion.

Program

The program for the student ambassadors and champions will take place between October 2022 to July 2023. In October, a first joint online session will serve as an introduction to the scheme and Aurora in general and you will be given information on the various working groups and activities you could join. 

More detailed information on the program for the academic year 2022/2023 will be announced soon! 

Application

The application is open from July 1st to September 18th, 2022.

Applying is simple, just sign up through the application form below.

Aurora Student Schemes – Application Form

If you have any questions, you can contact your local Aurora Office, or aurora.up@upol.cz.

 

Aurora Student Schemes 22-23 – Flyer

Aurora Student Schemes 22-23 – Poster

 

Aurora Doctoral Pool online at the Aurora Virtual Campus

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, Students.

Bringing together international academics and PhD. Candidates, Aurora is pleased to present the opportunities of the Aurora Doctoral Pool.

For Ph.D. students, the doctoral pool can put you in touch with international experts who are willing to help you with your research, for example, in the role of a secondary supervisor, mentor or dissertation opponent. You search for and contact these experts easily through the Aurora Doctoral Pool Database. 

For academics, the doctoral pool will allow you to work with the brightest Ph.D. candidates from across the Aurora universities and it will give you opportunities, to for example serve on doctoral committees at these universities.  This will of course be a great door-opener to potential research collaboration projects.

Launched as part of the Aurora Virtual Campus, the Aurora Doctoral Pool currently has a database of almost 300 experts in various research field from across our partner universities. Interested academics are welcome to register here.

International Summer School in Refugee Law and Rights

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, Events, Students.

We are proud to announce the Call for 9th International Summer School in Refugee Law and Rights, this year co-organized between Palacky University Olomouc and V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University with the title: “War-displaced Persons Protection Rights – Case study Ukraine“.

ISS 2022 UP_Karazin Aurora

The school is a continuation of Aurora CDS fundraising and support programme, and a donation to V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.  It is hosted by Law Faculty at Palacky University in Olomouc as a 10-day hybrid training event, possible to attend in-person and online.  

More information can be found via the flyers below and on the official website www.refugees.upol.cz  

Please note the deadline to apply is June 15th!

ISS Call 2022 UP_Karazin_

ISS 2022 UPKarazin Call Aurora

How to innovate your research – Free Online Ph.D. Course on 13, 16 and 21 June 2022

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, Students.

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili from Tarragona presents this FREE online course, imparted in English and designed by doctoral students, as a first approach to co-creation methodologies that Ph.D. students can apply to their research, professional and personal life. Learn how to think about the future in the ideation process and go from idea to action in a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment!

Full in formation and the course and its objectives can be found here. 

The course will take place 13, 16 and 21 June 2022 on from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm.

The course has 21 places, 13 for URV and 8 for Aurora PhD students. The places will be given according to the order of registration, which guarantees the teams’ multidisciplinary.


1. You can apply through this online form. Registration deadline is 31/05/22.

2. If you are selected to join the course, you will receive a confirmation email before 02/06/2022.

3. In the following days, you will find the email with the link to the virtual campus with all the needed material and links.

For any additional information, please contact our local Aurora Office: aurora@urv.cat

Aurora Spring Biannual a great success for Palacký University

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, CDS-Network, Events, Featured, Students.

The Aurora Spring Biannual which took place in Innsbruck between the 10th and the 12th of May was a great success for Palacký University, looking back on our achievements so far and paving the way for the road ahead.  

Palacký University Olomouc has been elected to become a full member of the Aurora Network, now giving us full access to decision-making within Aurora.  

Palacký University Olomouc was awarded this improved position due to our excellent contribution to the Aurora European University Alliance programme, leading by example in its implementation.

The Aurora Network is focused on fulfilling the global mission of Aurora, stretching beyond the borders of Europe and the European Universities Initiative. Its various tasks include lobbying, international outreach, and collaboration with non-European partners in the field of education and research.    

JUDr. Mag. iur. Michal Malacka, Ph.D., MBA, Vice-Rector for Strategy and Regional Affairs and UP’s Aurora Strategic Manager: “We are really pleased with the great success of our entire UP team in paving the way towards becoming a full member of the Aurora Network after one and half year of intense Aurora Alliance collaborations. Network membership guarantees the full potential of our university to accelerate towards becoming global leaders in innovative education, research, and sustainable growth.”

During the biannual special consideration was given to the horrendous aggressions faced by our Ukrainian colleagues at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Tetyana Kaganovska, the president of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University made the perilous journey from Kharkiv to Innsbruck to show appreciation for our support raising a substantial amount of money  and support to Karazin University’s continuing academic mission.

Other important takeaways of the Biannual are UP signing a Letter of Intent with our Aurora Partners to create an innovative European Master’s degree in Digital Society & Global Citizenship. “Palacký University’s contribution to the development of this European Degree is a great opportunity for us to be at the forefront of these cutting-edge developments” according to Vit Zouhar, Vice-rector for Education. This interdisciplinary joint-degree will be developed in the months to come.

Student participation is at the heart of Aurora’s mission and goals through Aurora Student Schemes. Starting this summer, they are being led by Palacký University. A call for application will be published at the end of June.

Sustainable growth and development, one of the main topics of the biannual, remains an important priority for all Aurora Universities.  Zuzana Hunkova, Palacký University’s Coordinator for Sustainable Development: “We have proposed to the Board of Presidents that each university will count their baseline CO2e emissions, implement Aurora travel codex, and set and publish at least three targets from eight areas defined in the Sustainable Campus Action Plan.”

For more information on the excellent work of the Aurora Universities, and our continued collaboration offering opportunities to our students make sure to visit our renewed website aurora-universities.eu or aurora.upol.cz

Press statement – President of V.N Karazin Kharkiv University, Ukraine on the Aurora Biannual in Innsbruck

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, CDS-Network, Events, Students.

During the Aurora Spring Biannual special consideration was given to the horrendous aggressions faced by our Ukrainian colleagues at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Tetyana Kaganovska, the rector of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University made the perilous journey from Kharkiv to Innsbruck to appeal for our support, below you will find her statement . 

Original PDF Available here.  

“I travelled here to be with you, despite of the dangerous journey through my home country to share my feelings and gratitude. Right now we are going through its hardest survival moments since Ukrainian independence. I come bearing a witness of war, killing and displacement of my staff and students. In these moments, I am especially honored to be able to in-person represent our community of Kharkiv Karazin University from the East of Ukraine.

Our University is a consolidated team of 28,000 employees and students, proud of their educational institution’s 217-year history. According to the QS rating, we are the best Ukrainian university, the country’s powerhhouse of educational and scientific resources. The University is the heart of Kharkiv, and it remains in Kharkiv, despite the city’s being shelled and numerous attempts of siege lasting for 77 days.

We were able to shelter the University’s staff and students as best we could and launched the educational process remotely on the 33rd day of the war. Our teachers give lectures from basements and shelters, and those who have left the country – from different parts of the world. Many students volunteer by day and study by night. Many of our students, teachers, graduates are now among the defenders of Ukraine. The University’s humanitarian headquarters is working to help those who were hit the hardest. We are working on the restoration of the destroyed buildings, the sports complex and dormitories.

Unfortunately, there are irreparable losses in the University family. At least 17 people are known to have perished, among them 2 students, 5 professors and 10 alumni’s.

And yet, we are fighting and actively planning the future University activities. We continue to cooperate with partners in Ukraine and abroad as we believe that the values of freedom and justice will prevail. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Aurora Alliance partners who from the very first days of invasion were active in supporting and helping. Partners who encouraged us, gave hope that all the European Academic Community is backing up Ukraine.

The dedicated team of Aurora CDS (Community Development Support program) immediately reacted to our newly faced war-conditions. We worked together to assess the urgent needs. The Action plan was created. The plan where the supporting mission for “right now”, “short-term” and “long term” help was highlighted. First, it was a financial aid to support our on-line education. But, what is more important that Action plan projects the needs into long-term collaborations with all the partner universities. It will help Karazin to overcome the war destruction, and to rebuild our future.

Moreover, half of the staff and student are now displaced, internally or abroad, being hosted by the Aurora universities as well. We are deeply moved and grateful for all European universities providing them opportunity to work and study in these extreme conditions for us. We have a strong wish to be able to join you as academic community and as reliable partner as soon as the war ends. I took a personal risk to both thank you for your support and to tell you that we will resist and prevail in our fight for independence and democracy.”

Tetyana Kaganovska, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv University President

 

 

Sharing Experiences: Let’s talk about internationalization

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, Events.

Join us for our monthly lunch talk! This is a series where members of Aurora universities working or interested in the field of internationalisation are invited to share experiences, debate and ask questions. The aim is to create an interactive get-together where we can learn from each other, share ideas and good practices.

The coming months, we will dive into the following topics: 

5 April 2022, 13:00–14:00 h CET
Student wellbeing point: Peer-to-peer student support at the Vrije Universiteit
Amsterdam – Kimberly van den Ouden (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

3 May 2022, 13:00–14:00 h CET
How to reach and engage students: Using social media in study abroad
Nanna Teitsdóttir (University of Iceland), Verena Heuking (University of DuisburgEssen)

Flyer Lunch Talk Internationalisation

The lunch talk will take place on Zoom every first Tuesday of the month from 13:00-14:00 h CET. Registration is not necessary, just stop by!

Join now via Zoom!

Meeting ID: 623 8843 3921

Passcode: 420193

Join us at the International Co-creation Learning Lab in Amsterdam!

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, Students.

The International Co-creation Learning Lab (April 28th to 30th , 2022) will be held at VU Amsterdam and will provide a platform for Co-creation experts, practitioners, interested researchers and educators, students and community partners to discuss and share knowledge and experiences on co-creation practices aimed towards connecting science and society. This learning lab is for teachers, academic staff and researchers, as well as PhD students (who can obtain 3 ECTS by participating in this training). Come join us to discuss and practice co-creation with international experts from Aurora Universities through interactive, engaging and innovative co-creative sessions.  

Also, a highlight and added motivation to travel might be the Netherlands King’s day celebration that will commence from April 27th – all the way to the weekend! If you have time – we would definitely encourage you to come to Amsterdam by the evening of April 26th – so you can join in some additional celebrations that take place the night before the King’s day!

Register Here

 

The International Co-creation Learning Labis FREE for all Aurora partners/members to participate.

Click here for the full program

The main aim of the event are as follows:

  • Facilitate sharing of ideas and experiences on co-creation (best practices, pitfalls, innovations)
  • Connect co-creation experts, practitioners, students, and community partners from around the world
  • Build an engaged community of co-creation practitioners
  • Foster co-creation practices in research and education within and beyond Aurora

Some of the co-creation experts at the event include:

  • Dr. Marjolein Zweekhorst, VUA, The Netherlands
  • Dr. Jaqueline Broerse, VUA, The Netherlands
  • Dr. Wolfgang Stark, UDE, Germany
  • Dr. Marco Biondi, UNINA, Italy
  • Dr. Barbara Majello, UNINA, Italy
  • Dr. Johan Fuller, UINN, Austria
  • Karsten Altenschmidt, UDE, Germany
  • Maxim Tomoszek, UPOL, The Czech Republic
  • Veronika Tomoszkova, UPOL, The Czech Republic
  • Pavel Veselsky, UPOL, The Czech Republic
  • Anna Maria Segarra, URV, Spain
  • Eleni Papaoikonoumou, URV, Spain
  • … and many more!

Check out the VU Events page here

Social Entrepreneurship & Diversity and Inclusion Workshop – University of Tetova

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Academics, CDS-Network.

We’d like to share with you the upcoming Social Entrepreneurship & Diversity and Inclusion Workshop organised by the University of Tetova, North Macedonia, in collaboration with the Aurora CDS Task Team at Palacký University Olomouc and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The two-day training event will take place in hybrid format on 30th and 31st of March 2022. The workshop focuses on:

  • Social entrepreneurship concerns organizations that pursue explicit social missions through business-inspired, earned-income strategies, with the express goal of creating market disequilibria.
  • Diversity and inclusion aim to create equal opportunities for various staff and students, create a working and learning environment at universities in which different perspectives are explicitly valued and to capitalise on the ability to generate creativity from different perspectives both in teaching and in education.

Social entrepreneurship diversity and inclusion – flyer

The event is free for all Aurora universities to participate in and is open to academic and non-academic staff of the Associate partner universities, in addition to members of the broader CDS Network involved in teaching, internationalization of study programmes and university social engagement.

You can register before the 21st of March for online participation: Register Here
If you have any questions about the workshop, don’t hesitate to reach out to Tereza Kalousková. 

Soft skills development through video gaming – 5 Day Ph.D. course in Iceland

Written by Niels Hexspoor on . Posted in Students.

The University of Iceland is offering an great innovative course for Ph.D. students, to develop their soft skill through video games!

Apply here before March 20th! 

You will learn about and enhance three types of own soft skills. These are, first, Cognitive Flexibility, defined as the ability to see patterns and generate different options to analyse and solve problems in new situations. Second, is the Team Management skill, i.e., the ability to motivate, develop and direct people as they work, identifying the best people for the job. Third, the Judgement and Decision-Making skill, i.e., considering relative strengths and weaknesses of the possible actions and to choose the most appropriate one.

At the end of the course you will be able to:

  • possess clear abilities to adapt to new situations and improve their thinking “outside the box”
  • show leadership skills and values
  • analyse how individual and collective actions can be guided
  • argue and issue valid judgments based on the collectionof reliable information
  • take the initiative in actions proactively

Detailed information on the course, its contents and methods can be found here. 

Students need to organize and pay for own travel, food, and accommodation. If you apply, you are elligible to receive funding through Aurora. Contact aurora.up@upol.cz for more information.