How we work
Aurora Alliance has 6 work packages of which three are substantive (WP 3, 4, and 5) and 3 technical. (WP 1, 2, and 6) Together these work packages contain 26 activities. In the diagram, all activities are listed, and the activities led or co-led by UP are highlighted.
WP1: Management & Leadership
One of three technical work packages, the first work package deals with the program management and coordination of the Aurora Alliance. WP1 is lead by VU Amsterdam in its role of coordinating institute for the Aurora Alliance. The WP features participants from all member universities and is divided into five tasks.
Local WP1 Leader: Michal.malacka@upol.cz
Task 1.1 ensures that all government and management bodies are operational and supported. It also ensures that decision making and conflict resolution mechanism are implemented and functioning.
UP Contacts:
Selma Porobic
Concerned with communications, this task ensures the reciprocal flow of information relevant for the implementation of the Aurora Alliance and its goals.
UP Contact:
Niels Hexspoor
Task 1.3 deals with keeping track of and ensuring adequate feedback on the execution of task and achievement of deliverables
UP Contact:
Selma Porobic
Financial Management
Task 1.4 ensures the effective, efficient and legitimate allocation and accounting of resources, throughout the Aurora Alliance
Contact: Ondrej Nemcak
Risk Management
Concerned with mitigating risk and avoiding risk jeopardizing the overall of the Aurora Alliance Proposal
UP Contact:
Selma Porobic
WP2: Quality Assurance
One of the three technical work packages, Work Package 2 is concerned with the monitoring and ensuring the quality of the Aurora Alliance. WP2 is led by the University of Iceland, featuring participants from all member universities, and is divided into five tasks.
Local WP2 Leader:
Michal Malacka
Quality Systems
Creating an integrated quality management system, in which all work package teams, and all activity teams share responsibility.
UP Participants:
Michal Malacka
Hana Maresová
Quality Culture
Implementing a culture that enhances of relevance-coherence-effectiveness-efficiency-impact-sustainability of task execution.
UP Participants:
Michal Malacka
Hana Maresová
Internal Quality Monitoring
This task aims to guarantee the regular assessment deliverables, task and processes to ensure they are relevant, that they reach the intended impact, are coherent with other activities, are sustainable and embraced by students, staff and external stakeholders.
UP Participants:
Michal Malacka
Hana Maresová
External Quality Monitoring
Concerned with setting up a mechanism for external quality monitoring, this task aims to ensure a process of critical external review.
UP Participants:
Michal Malacka
Hana Maresová
Quality Enhancement
In order to enhance the overall quality of the program, this task team aims to make sure that recommendations of the quality team and the external quality board are implemented
UP Participants:
Michal Malacka
Hana Maresová
WP3: Aurora Learning for Societal Impact
This substantive Work Package will change educational practice so that students will be learning for demonstrable and tangible societal impact. WP3 is lead by the University of East Anglia.
Local WP Leader:
Vít Zouhar
Competences Framework
Task Team 3.1.1 looks to develop and implement the Aurora Competences Framework of general academic and personal competences with progressive performance descriptors, needed to ensure students become social entrepreneurs & innovators.
UP Participants:
Veronika Tomoszková,
Maxim Tomoszek
Aurora Internship Program
Led by Palacky University’s Marie Rakova, this task teams work on improving and extending the use of Service Learning and International Internships as specific Aurora pedagogical methods contributing to skills/values development.
UP Activity Leader and Participant:
Marie Raková,
Zuzana Hanelová
Aurora Service Learning Program
This task team will train academics and support staff in the use of Service Learning and Internship to enhance the development of students’ skills, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. We will analyze the impact on actual development of these skills, attitudes, and behavioral intentions.
UP Participants:
Tatiana Matulayova
Aurora Social Transformation
Make the Aurora Alliance student population reflect the talent in the communities we serve, without underrepresentation of any groups in our population.
UP Participants:
Lucia Madlenaková
Aurora Borderless Learning
Task 3.3 and its sub-activities aim to create an Aurora Education Area with recognized mobility for all.
UP Participant:
Yvona Vyhnanková
Recognition & Mobility
This Task Team strives to understand and overcome recognition & mobility obstacles students and staff might face when opting for an exchange withing the Aurora Alliance
UP Participant:
Yvona Vyhnanková
Plurilingualism
Ensuring plurilingualism through opening existing language-learning opportunities (courses, labs, platforms, games) across the Aurora Alliance is the goal of this task team.
UP Participant:
Markus Obrink
IT-supported International Student Services
This task team will set up the Aurora Open Educational Resources platform.
UP Participant:
David Skoupil
Aurora Pilot Domains
This Task Team will test and implement our innovations in competencies and mobility opportunities as well the SDG perspective across all programs in Aurora’s four pilot domains: Sustainability & Climate Change; Digital Society & Global Citizenship; Health & Well-being; and Culture: Diversity & Identity
UP Participants:
Mirsolav Syrovatka,
Klara Seitlová,
Petra Mandisova,
Helena Kisvetrova,
Pavlina Flajsarova
Aurora Teaching for Societal Impact
This task is concerned with systematically equipping and supporting academic teachers in Teaching for Societal Impact in terms of skills & mindset, international experience, diverse classroom and SDG-perspective.
UP Participants:
Jana Poláchová
Aurora Learning Analytics
This Task Teams objective is to strengthen the evidence base of Aurora education through big data analysis.
UP Participant:
Vít Dočekal
WP4: Engaging Communities
Work Package 4 is a substantive work package that will change educational practice so that students will be learning for demonstrable and tangible societal impact. This Work Package, containing five task teams, is led by Rovira I Virgili University.
Local WP Leader:
Michal Malacka
Aurora Co-creation
This task aims to make co-creation a generally accepted embedded practice with academics skilled in co-creation as a technique.
UP Participant:
Maxim Tomoszek
Aurora Research Platforms
Co-led by UP’s Marie Jadrnickova, Task 4.2 is concerned with developing academic collaboration within Aurora towards the intra-Alliance optimum, enhancing cross-fertilization between education and research.
UP Co-leader:
Marie Jadrníčková
Social Entrepreneursh. & Innovation
Focused on Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation, this task team strived to turn this concept into a common field of expertise at the Alliance level.
UP Participant:
Ondřej Kročil
Aurora Capacity Development Support program
The CDS Program, led by UP’s Selma Porobic and Tereza Kalouskova, aims to narrow the gap in quality in higher education & research in different parts of Europe by supporting universities in CE Europe and Neighboring Countries in strengthening their capacity for academic excellence and societal relevance.
UP Leader:
Tereza Kalousková
Aurora Institute
This Task Team aims to form an Aurora Institute, to express and enhance the identity of the Aurora European University Alliance as an European institution in its own right, beyond the identity of the individual member universities of the Alliance.
UP Participant:
David Kosina
WP5: Aurora Sustainability Pioneers
A substantive work package, WP5 is led by the University of Innsbruck and contains four task teams. Its aim is to change educational practice so that students will be learning for demonstrable and tangible societal impact.
Local WP Leader:
Tomas Opatrny
This task concerns turning the SDGs into a leading narrative for research in the Aurora Alliance.
UP Participant:
Robert Jaworek
This task aims to turn the SDGs into a leading narrative for Education in the Aurora Alliance by building an SDG Education Dashboard, showing the SDG-nature of relevant courses across Aurora
UP Participants:
Miroslav Syrovátka,
Jiří Tesařík
The Task Team for 5.2.2 will open an Alliance-wide common SDG course, available to all Aurora Students, and add an SDG perspective to regular existing topical courses.
UP Participants:
Miroslav Syrovátka
To make the Aurora Alliance campuses sustainable in the SDG-sense, by sharing best practices and prioritizing the reduction of carbon footprints across the Alliance.
UP Co-Leader:
Zuzana Hunkova
WP6: Sustainability & Dissemination
One of three technical Work Packages, WP6 aspires to contribute to active sharing of good practices, experiences and outcomes with other institutions and networks. It aims to create the Aurora European University as a lasting institution as part of the European Education Area. It is led by the University of Napoli Federico II, in cooperation with Palacký University Olomouc.
Local WP Leader:
Niels Hexspoor
The task team for the Aurora sustainability of change plan is led by Niels Hexspoor from UP, with participants from several Alliance Universities. The task team will work with together with other WPs to enhance the sustainability of the Aurora European University Alliance.
UP Lead: Niels Hexspoor
The task team looks to create interaction between European University Alliances, as well as relevant non-HEI stakeholders by sharing a growing uptake of Aurora deliverables within and outside Aurora.
UP Participant:
Niels Hexspoor
