Author: Anna Klas

Student blog written by: Alma Ágústsdóttir, Aurora Student Council President

When the Aurora Student Council, comprised of student representatives from all Aurora universities, was originally formed in the early days of the Aurora Network, Aurora immediately identified student engagement as one of its key priorities. Through the years, cross-institutional student cooperation has grown, deepened and morphed through several small and large-scale changes, such as the creation of the Aurora Alliance. Still, student engagement remains at the very core of Aurora’s identity.

Throughout the years, the Student Council has increased the number and variety of opportunities that students are offered regarding engagement within Aurora. We have hosted open workshops and participated in projects such as Design Thinking jams and seminars (which are promoted on social media and mass emails), courses at other Aurora universities where the credits gained count towards your degree at your home university, and cooperative projects spanning an entire academic year, such as the Student Schemes. In addition to all that, the Aurora Student Council is deeply ingrained into Aurora’s governance structure and works continuously on cooperative projects near and dear to students’ hearts. This last semester was no exception and was, indeed, eventful, to say the least. It is, therefore, appropriate and worthwhile to round up the memorable moments of student engagement that have occurred over this past academic year.

At the start of the Autumn semester of 2022, the Aurora Student Schemes project began, and a call was opened for students who wanted to get involved in Aurora’s work as either Ambassadors or Champions. In total, we’ve received over 100 applications from students across Aurora universities and, therefore, have the highest number of engaged students to date. These students have varied levels of engagement but can, for example, organise local Aurora events, participate in Work Packages and Task Teams, and work collaboratively with students from other Aurora universities.

When discussing the work that has taken place during this academic year, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the bid writing that has been one of Aurora’s largest projects in the past months. This was a bid for continued funding from Erasmus+ under the European Universities initiative that was the impetus for the creation of the Aurora Alliance, and students took part in that work from its beginning.

The work began last summer, and as the President of the Aurora Student Council, I had a seat on the so-called Editorial Committee that met regularly and laid the groundwork for the new application.

In September, Institutional Coordinators from all 10 Aurora universities gathered at Copenhagen Business School and spent two days discussing and forming Aurora’s project priorities for the next four years. Two student representatives took part in that work, the President and Vice President of the Aurora Student Council, Alma Ágústsdóttir from the University of Iceland and Hanus Patera from Palacký University in Olomouc.

We worked continuously on the bid proposal after that, but the next large-scale student project wasn’t until November when the Student Council met at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. This was the first opportunity that the Aurora Student Council had to meet in person in the 2022-23 academic year, and we spent two days discussing and collecting areas of priority and importance to students, which were then presented to the Vice Rectors of Education from all the Aurora universities.

One of the main priorities the students agreed upon was that each university would work towards guaranteeing a paid student position at the local level. This is due to the workload of those students who take on the most responsibility for Aurora exceeding what can be expected of an unpaid volunteer. Such a position would also increase equality, diversity, and inclusion within Aurora since some students’ economic situation makes them unable to take on volunteer work alongside their studies, regardless of their interest in the work. The new position of Student Coordinator would ensure that each university has a fully engaged student responsible for lending support to other students who do work on behalf of Aurora, who would also work on reaching the general student population at an institutional level, as well as sit on the Student Council.

This endeavour was successful, and the position of Student Coordinator was included in the new application for continued funding.

In November, Aurora also held a Biannual virtual conference hosted by Universität Duisburg-Essen. There, the Student Council organised a World Café event on mental health (which is the Council’s emphasis for this academic year) titled Mental Health: Sharing Best Practices. Students, professors and staff of Aurora universities gathered to identify which mental health support efforts were successful, where support is lacking and how we can improve. In addition, this event enabled people to learn from each other cross-institutionally. At the World Café’s conclusion, the Student Council gathered and compiled the results and will use this input to continue our work in the area of increased mental health support within Aurora universities.

In December, Palacký University Olomouc in the Czech Republic hosted a conference titled European Universities – Future of Higher Education Forum, where several alliances gathered to discuss the future of European universities. As the Aurora Student Council president, I spoke on student participation within governance and discussed how we might fully employ students’ power.

The rectors of all 10 Aurora universities also gathered in Amsterdam in December to discuss and provide their approval, on behalf of their institutions, of all aspects included in Aurora’s new bid. As the Student Council President, I sat at that meeting, representing all students within Aurora member universities.

Since then, the planning of Aurora’s work for the next four years has continued and culminated in the submission of the application on January 30th. Having been a part of that work since its beginning, I feel confident in saying that the future of Aurora is bright!

The Aurora Alliance research and innovation team, on learning and sharing with other European universities, led by URV, confirmed a high level of collaboration amongst Aurora researchers. The level of collaboration is even higher than the international average. According to the field-weighted citation impact indicator (the ratio of citations received to citations expected as a function of the average for the scientific field), the citations observed are 78% higher than expected.

In addition to the high level of collaboration amongst researchers within the Aurora Alliance, it was found that researchers within Aurora also collaborate often with researchers from other European Universities Alliances. In total, Aurora Alliance universities collaborate(d) in 25 Horizon 2020 projects in different constellations. Aurora researchers collaborated most with Epicur, 4EU+, CIVIS and UNA Europa alliances. Regarding publications (also beyond Horizon 2020 project results), Aurora universities performed above the global average. Most co-publications were done with universities in the Charm-EU, 4EU+, Neurotech-EU and Circle U alliances.

The Aurora Research and Innovation goal within the Aurora Alliance Horizon 2020 programme is to share research and innovation resources and infrastructures, identify and implement good practices and scientific policies, cooperate in open science and entrepreneurial activity, enhance human capital, and allow the general public to take part.

The working group analysed outcomes generated by other  European university alliances to determine areas where universities can establish complementary practices, both within Aurora and other European Universities Alliances, using the SciVal tool. SciVal is an online tool that offers quick, easy access to the research performance of research institutions and nations worldwide using bibliometrics. It enables you to visualise research performance, benchmark relative to peers, develop collaborative partnerships and analyse research trends.

This report will lead to the creation of an action plan supporting continued research and innovation collaboration across the Aurora University Alliance and creating a digital platform for ongoing collaboration and sharing so that researchers and students can share tools and best practices for high-quality research and innovation.

The study, led by Vanesa Ruana and with the collaboration of Dr Rorger Guimerà and Ignasi Salvadó, can be found here.

Aurora submitted its new EU funding proposal under the European Universities Initiative. After successfully managing the first three years of the Alliance, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is staying on as co-lead, and the University of Iceland will take the lead role in the Aurora Alliance.

The bid will extend Aurora’s commitment to positively impact society through its main priorities: teaching and learning for societal impact, engaging and collaborating through inclusive communities, being pioneers in sustainable endeavours, and providing excellent challenge-based research and innovation support. Together, the partners will continue to deliver on the joint mission and vision of equipping students with social entrepreneurial skills and mindsets, building on the results achieved in the first phase.

Leading up to the submission were many months of intense preparation and consultation with the entire Aurora community under the lead and coordination of the Aurora Central Office. At the start of these activities, a deliberate decision was made to ask the experts in their fields to develop plans for what they hoped to achieve in the next four years of funding for Aurora. The ambitions of the experts, in close collaboration with the Institutional Coordinators of the Aurora partners, resulted in an ambitious work programme. This programme of work is based on three main objectives:

1. Equip students and staff with the skills and mindset to become social innovators, changemakers and entrepreneurs;
2. Foster academic collaboration and community building to build a long-term Aurora identity; and
3. Collaborate with external stakeholders and deepen student’s engagement in education, research and outreach.

Mirjam van Praag, President of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said:

“So far, it has been a pleasure to lead the alliance through the start-up phase of the first bid with various initiatives for Aurora staff and students that we really can be proud of. I am very confident in continuing our collaboration with the University of Iceland as the lead.”

Jón Atli Benediktsson, President of the University of Iceland and newly re-elected President of the Aurora Network, expressed how pleased he was:

“After seeing the hard work and dedication of the staff and students at our universities, I am confident that the Aurora collaboration will grow and create more opportunities for our students, faculty, and the greater community”.

From 2020-2023, Aurora has been part of the 44 European University Alliances co-funded under the Erasmus+ programme led by VU Amsterdam. The Alliance provides multiple opportunities for students, staff, and academics to engage in each other’s inclusive university communities. The project has already reached 80% of its deliverables—with only a few more to be completed before November 2023. In July 2022, the project received a glowing review from the European Commission as having made remarkable progress that can serve as a model of what is possible to achieve as a European University Alliance.

If you want to participate in Aurora, head on over to the virtual campus and, sign up for courses, events, training and read the many resources available.

The winner of the 2022 Aurora #impactWise Awards is Goofy Meals. Goofy Meals impressed the judges with their affordable, healthy, convenient home-cooked meals made from imperfect and surplus vegetables and fruits. Their winning pitch resulted in first place and a 20.000 DKK (almost € 2.700) financial contribution. Impact Artists and BeeHome took second place.

#impactWISE Awards

The #impactWISE Awards ceremony was held online on October 4th, connecting people from all over the world who shared a passion for social entrepreneurship. Many of the participating teams had students from Aurora partner universities.

The #impaktWISE Awards, founded by Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in the autumn of 2020, is a competition aiming to shed light on creative and innovative social business model ideas and is aimed at students and early-stage social entrepreneurs.

The awards are split into two categories: the ideation award and the pitch award. Winning projects of the ideation award receive a certificate and further support from the #impaktWISE team, whereas first-place pitch project awardees take home €2500 (with runners-up receiving €600).

Second place

Impact Artists and BeeHome came in second. Impact Artists aim to create awareness and open discussion regarding menstruation through art in India. BeeHome helps parents find care for their children and promotes bonds between daycare providers and families. All three winning projects were created by students enrolled in Aurora member universities.

The next #impaktWISE awards will take place in Autumn 2023. For more information, please follow: https://www.impaktwise.org/

Cooperation between Aurora universities offers students a variety of exciting ways to gain international experiences as part of their studies and the skills, knowledge, and drive to become social entrepreneurs and leaders. Aurora universities place great emphasis on students’ voices influencing Aurora’s policies, projects, and innovation endeavours. Furthermore, by participating, students have an opportunity to influence higher education in the Future, enhance their professional skills and participate in international collaboration.

Alma Ágústsdóttir, international officer at the University of Iceland’s Student Council, and president of the Aurora Student Council, says that Aurora is a unique opportunity for students. “Through their participation, students are directly involved in international cooperation and policy-making, develop skills that are in high demand by employers and have the opportunity to work with students from other universities and participate in Aurora events here in Iceland and abroad.”

Alma says that Aurora has made great strides in the past three years and a lot has been achieved. “To name a couple of standouts, creating the student handbook is a particular highlight for me. It was a collaborative effort of the entire Aurora student council, and I am very proud of both the process of creation and the final result,” says Alma who believes this work will help get students acquainted with the work of Aurora for years to come.

Collaboration is key

“The design thinking Jam in Tarragona that took place in November of last year also warrants a mention. Seeing students gather around a common goal, work on identifying problem areas, and co-creating solutions over the course of three days was an incredible experience that was not only massively beneficial for those who took part in it but ultimately helped us work towards better and more accessible mobility opportunities for all students,” says Alma on the importance of collaboration within the Aurora universities.

She adds, “I can’t wait to see where the work will lead us next, and I have complete faith that Aurora will continue to bring about positive change in the field of higher education,”, dedicated to presenting students’ vision for the Future and improving their experience of higher education and enable more students to take part of their studies abroad.

A video with Alma made for the Autumn Virtual Aurora Biannual held 9 – 10 November on Sustainable Resources and Mobility in Europe:

On Wednesday, October 12th 2022, Palacký University Olomouc hosted an Aurora LOUIS Workshop to help its academics further develop the quality of their courses by focusing on the societal impact of the learning outcomes.

The workshop, hosted by Kees Kouwenaar, aimed to equip the participants with the knowledge and skills necessary for implementing LOUIS into their classes, allowing them to project, design and innovate their own courses.

Following the “Train the Trainers” principle, the participants are currently preparing to train others in their faculty using the LOUIS tool. Three of such faculty pieces of training are already scheduled to take place, with several others currently being planned.

Aurora is proud to announce that it received a glowing review from the European Commission on its midterm report for the Aurora European University Alliance.
The commission praised the Alliance for making significant progress across all work packages, reaching nearly every milestone resulting in significant immediate or potential impact. The report reads:

“This alliance has made remarkable progress and can serve as a model of what is possible to achieve as an alliance. This alliance is clearly driving innovation across all partner institutions and collectively as an alliance.”

The Aurora European University Alliance was established with the aim of advancing education and research within Europe. It is made up of 10 universities based in 10 European countries, and it strives to support our teachers in equipping their students with the skills and mindset needed for our graduates to thrive in a rapidly changing society and labour market and to turn them into social entrepreneurs and innovators, willing and able to contribute to solving the major challenges of our societies.

Since its inception in 2020, the Alliance has achieved several milestones, including joint courses across all four of our pilot domains, a pool of Aurora mentors for doctoral candidates, an Aurora certification for courses, the SDG Research Dashboard, which demonstrates how research at our universities done in the field of SDGs is picked up by policymakers; the Aurora Sustainable Campus plan, several experts and support centres, and much more.

Professor Mirjam van Praag, President of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, lead university of the Alliance, said:

“I could not be prouder of the progress that the Aurora Alliance has made and all the staff members who have worked hard to make it happen. We look forward to continuing our work together and providing more opportunities for students, academics, and university staff. I am confident that the Alliance will continue to grow and deliver on our promises.”

Professor Jón Atli Benediktsson, President of the University of Iceland and President of Aurora

“All Alliance partners have worked hard and put their best foot forward. Many thanks to the entire Aurora community for their dedication. This evaluation validates the path we’ve taken and will inspire everyone involved in Aurora to keep going in the coming years.”