2024 Laureates
Launched in February 2024, Aurora’s first Call for Incentive Research Collaboration Projects yielded 26 high-quality applications from all Aurora universities. The Aurora Research Council (ARC) selected these seven projects for a total available funding of €104,000.
Coordinator:
Pietro De Lellis
University Federico II of Naples
Partners:
Lucie Macková | Palacký University Olomouc
Silke Meyer | Universität Innsbruck
The main goal of ETHICAL project is to develop a comprehensive, multi-scale model that captures the arrival and distribution of mixed migration flows within the European Union (EU). This study will encompass the broader dynamics of migration within and towards the EU, considering the complex factors that contribute to migratory trends and patterns.
Coordinator:
Bing Wu
University of Iceland
Partners:
Stefan Panglisch | University of Duisburg-Essen
Sandra Contreras Iglesias | Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Marja Lamoree and Sicco Brandsma | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Membrane technology has emerged as an alternative solution for advanced wastewater treatment because the excellent physical separation roles of membranes allow achieving superior treated water quality. In this collaboration, we aim to perform a joint project on investigating the mitigation of micropollutants/additives, and transport behaviour of microplastic fibres in a decentralized membrane-based wastewater treatment process.
Coordinators:
PD Dr. Bianka Siewert and Prof. Simone Moser
Universität Innsbruck
Partners:
Jun. Prof Anzhela Galstyan | University of Duisburg-Essen
Dr. Lukáš Spíchal | Palacký University Olomouc
Prof. Sheridan Lois Woo | University of Naples Federico II
RNDr. Veronika Huntošová, PhD. | Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice
The use of fertilizers and pesticides in the cultivation of medicinal plants can have unintended adverse effects on herbal products and extracts. Eco-friendly formulations that safeguard consumer health are urgently needed, as underscored by existing standards for Good Agricultural Practices and increasing number of antimicrobial resistant pathogens, which are in the focus of the One-Health initiative. Moreover, the cultivation of medicinal plants produces a large amount of plant biomass waste. VALOR-LIGHT wants to tackle these problems by offering organic, self-sustaining agricultural methods that enhance product quality.
Coordinator:
Emilie Frenkiel
Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC)
Partners:
Ivar Maas | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Jón Ólafsson | University of Iceland
Anna Shpakovskaya | University of Duisburg-Essen
The objective of this research is to produce disciplinary and interdisciplinary research on deliberative experiments for the ecological transformation of universities belonging to the Aurora alliance. Our project’s aim is to facilitate both the practice and understanding of democratic deliberation for sustainability by producing scientific works that contribute to the understanding of the processes involved, their spreading to more universities of the alliance and making our alliance a model for other European universities to become more ecological through inclusive and democratic mechanisms.
Coordinator:
Romana Klášterecká
Palacký University Olomouc
Partners:
Maria Isabel Gracia | Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Ólöf Guðný Geirsdóttir | University of Iceland
NUTRIAGE aims to initiate an exploratory study on healthy aging across geographically, socio-economically and environmentally different countries such as the Czech Republic, Iceland, and Spain. By forming an inter-university consortium, NUTRIAGE will analyse how the relationship between nutrition, health and environment/context is articulated in older adults, considering their general living situations and the social determinants that condition access to adequate food.
Coordinator:
Dr. Tasniem Anwar
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Partners:
Dr. Natalie Welfens | University of Duisburg-Essen
Prof. Dr. Andreas Oberprantacher | Universität Innsbruck
FUTURESEC focuses on data-driven prognostic models as a new form of knowledge at the centre of European security governance. Within this project we conduct exploratory research into three security domains, namely: (a) terrorism (b) migration and (c) armed conflict. Despite the novel EU AI Act, such practices remain largely opaque and uninterrogated. Using a triangulated qualitative research approach, the goal of this project is to scrutinise how these technologies impact the design of future security scenarios, to better understand how our policies are shaped by data-driven prognostic models and how to formulate critique against the lack of transparency.
Coordinator:
Prof. Dr. Fortunato Musella
University Federico II of Naples
Partners:
Prof. Dr. Kristina Weissenbach | University of Duisburg-Essen
Prof. Dr. Ludger Helms | Universität Innsbruck
This project enquires why personal parties emerge, proliferate and grow, and how they affect the current state and future of representative democracy. More specifically, it looks into the conditions and consequences of personal parties’ success at a time when party government as we knew it is in decline in many parts of the democratic world. It raises, and seeks to answer, two main research questions: what explains the success of personal parties?, and what are their effects on democratic representation?
