During the Aurora Autumn Biannual in Tarragona between November 16-18, the Aurora Research and Innovation project activities kicked off.

The Aurora RI project builds excellent research support structures to complement excellent research and innovation for Aurora universities. It will further deepen and expand the cooperation among the universities and strengthen their identity as research-intensive universities dedicated to societal impact and engagement. Aurora RI aims to develop a research and innovation support agenda framed by the SDGs and based on the four priority domains:

1. Sustainability and Climate Change
2. Digital Society and Global Citizenship
3. Health and Well-being
4. Culture: Diversity and Identity

The overall objective of this project is to strengthen and streamline research and innovation support to enhance academic excellence and the innovation environment in Aurora universities. This will complement the Aurora Learning for Societal Impact strategy with a long-term Aurora strategy towards research and innovation (R&I) for Societal Impact, aiming to support the achievement of the SDGs.

The project focuses on strengthening and empowering research support by sharing research infrastructure, strengthening and harmonizing Open Science policies in line with EU frameworks, cooperating with other actors, and empowering cooperating staff and students.

The actions implemented during the project period aim at creating a platform for cooperation that will sustain beyond the lifetime of the project and equip researchers and students at Aurora Universities with a broad toolkit to conduct excellent research and disruptive innovation.

Aurora network universities agree that most students should take part in an internationalization experience. Aurora’s biannual meeting, which was attended by more than 120 representatives from eleven European universities, debated which skills and competences university students should have and how universities should foster internationalization.

At present, about 15% of university students take part in a four-month stay at a foreign university as part of the Erasmus program. Now, however, the challenge for the universities that are members of the Aurora consortium is to ensure that, in one way or another, most university students have some sort of major internationalization experience. Prior to the biannual meeting of the Aurora network, the students themselves defined what these international mobility visits should be like and the problems they needed to cope with. For example, one of the agreements was to provide psychological services for displaced students. Connecting with the local community was also regarded as fundamental to greater and better integration, and efforts will be made to guarantee that whoever wishes to do so can travel with their families.

The meeting also defined what future students should be like and what skills and competences they should have. For example, 21st-century students should be creative, be able to innovate, have communication and leadership skills and be able to work as part of a team. These values ​​are already being promoted “but not with the necessary level of awareness”, explains the URV’s Vice-Rector for Internationalization, John Style. Work will now begin, then, so that these competences can be assessed in graduates and the assessment criteria be standardized throughout the universities in the consortium. Students must also be able to work in groups and in multicultural environments, to think critically and, above all, to have a good command of English.

One of the main objectives of the biannual was to sign an agreement between the eleven participating universities to encourage and guarantee mobility. It is a single multilateral agreement that will allow the multi-campus to be set up effectively.

More than 20 Aurora students representing the eleven universities met for three days before the biannual to participate in the Design Thinking Jam. The goal was to design what a major internationalization experience should be like and how obstacles can be prevented.

During the biannual, discussions were held on how all members of the consortium could share initiatives on internationalization. One of the options is for students to work in online groups with other universities without leaving Tarragona as an online internationalization experience.

During the closing day of the biannual, the participants discussed the need to transform the university from a place where people graduate and leave, to a place with which they maintain a lifelong learning bond. That is to say, it becomes an institution that not only gives a degree but also guarantees lifelong learning, where students can take courses with a few credits, accumulate them and be awarded a professional certificate.

During the presentation of the meeting’s conclusions on Monday, the rector of the URV expressed her satisfaction that the biannual had been organized in Tarragona: “We have put the city on the map of Europe,” she pointed out.

The consortium gives rise to the Aurora Research and Innovation

Just after the biannual, there was a meeting of the partners of the Aurora Research and Innovation programme, involving nine of the eleven universities in the consortium. It is a European project focused on sharing good practices, resources and scientific infrastructure among the members. The aim, according to the Vice-Rector for Research and Scientific Planning, Francesc Díaz, is to encourage cooperation in entrepreneurial activity, empower human capital, “democratize open science and put research in touch with the public.”

Managing partner of the Aurora European University Alliance, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has released their Year in review 2020. In their 2020: Year in review and in their 2020 Annual Report, they reflect on some significant and memorable moments. The year 2020 was exceptional for many reasons. Because of the pandemic, they were forced to work and study primarily online, and to transform into a university that operates at a one-and-a-half-meter distance. It also marked the start of their anniversary year, the Kuyper Year.

The Corona Research Fund, the Athena Institute’s COVID-19 platform, Caring Universities and the free COVID -19 search engine from Findest. These are just a few of the many initiatives that the VU community has introduced, along with partners, during the 2020 corona year. In addition, they had to transform their education into a hybrid format, with an online emphasis. Together, they worked hard in difficult circumstances and showed exceptional resilience, adaptability and commitment.

VU Amsterdam turned 140 in the year 2020. With the Opening Academic Year, they kicked off the Kuyper year with the Kuyper Challenge and with many examples of social entrepreneurship. During the Dies Natalis, Her Majesty Queen Máxima also stressed the importance of entrepreneurship and particularly the role of SMEs. In the year review, Mirjam van Praag, President of the Aurora European University Programme and of the VU Executive Board, also emphasized how Aurora is an opportunity for VU students to gain knowledge and skills to foster social entrepreneurship. VU Amsterdam was also named the most sustainable university in the Netherlands in 2020 and they declared their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2020, VU once again demonstrated its position at the heart of society.

Curious about these stories and more inspiring examples from VU in 2020? Read the Year in review ‘VU Amsterdam: at the heart of society 2020’ in English.

On May 20 – 21st, the tenth Aurora Biannual took place, where Aurora presidents, students and staff met to learn from and with each other.

The first day began with an opening plenary focusing on the future of academic collaboration between British and other European universities following Brexit. Ms Adrienn Kiraly, Head of the Cabinet to Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Education, Culture and Youth, touched upon our collaborations with universities and said “Your alliance is already well placed to be a role model for other higher education institutions in Europe and beyond: Your association with three other higher education institutions in Bulgaria, Slovakia and North Macedonia as well as your commitment to developing a capacity development support programme for more than 30 Universities from Central Eastern Europe and neighbouring countries testify for this.” She also highlighted our collaborations with our students by saying: “I am very happy to see that you have put in place the Aurora Student Champions Scheme in order to ensure student representation in each of your activities.”

During the plenary, Paul Boyle (Vice-Chancellor Swansea University and EUA Vice-President) outlined the 7 key points UK universities must address in order to advance in academic collaborations. One of these points is the need for a European wide funding system open to the world. He mentions that universities in the UK feel fortunate to be part of Horizon EU and participate in the vast majority of that scheme. However, there are many other countries from which they could gain value collaborating too. Karine Samuel (Vice President for International Affairs of Université Grenoble Alpes) stressed the importance of international collaboration and how the Aurora collaboration was especially useful in the pandemic by exchanging experiences and best practices with other Aurora universities. Ms Emily Reise from the University of Iceland added a students’ voice and emphasized on the accessibility and mobility of students and sees the advantage of short term mobility experiences for students.

After lively parallel session presentations and dynamic conversations, we entered the virtual reception building where Jón Atli Benediktsson (Aurora Network President and Rector of University of Iceland) welcomed the Minister of Education, Science and Culture of Iceland, Lilja Alfredsdottir. Ms Alfredsdottir believes that the strength of Iceland lies in its international collaborations and that these collaborating networks have ensured that Icelandic research is truly global and ambitious. She says: “No single institution can tackle world challenges on its own but collaboration brings a strength that can be greater than the sum of its parts. With that in mind, the European Commission has focused its recent efforts in higher education on forming strong European University networks capable of producing internationally competent European students, European research, and European solutions”. Jón Atli introduced Ms Anne-May Janssen who will take over from Kees Kouwenaar as Secretary-General of Aurora from July 25th of this year. The reception also welcomed a comedy sketch by comedian Ari Eldjarn. Ari enthused the public with his charismatic interpretations of the many European cultures.

The second day continued with open parallel dissemination sessions and a wrap up of the reports and reflections. President of the Alliance Board Mirjam van Praag shared the accomplishments and challenges of the last 6 months. Among the achievements are the many courses that have been identified to be Aurorarized, a 2-year master program, an international traineeship program, a framework for mobility grant allocation, the 32 students engaged in the Aurora Student Champion Scheme and 15 student ambassadors. Next to accomplishments, Ms van Praag also shared a key concern about the involvement of academics in Aurora and integrating Aurorarized course into existing degree programs. A full overview of the achievements can be found here.

In total, 25 of Aurora’s active working groups and task teams met during the Biannual, and 7 dissemination sessions informed a wider Aurora audience on aspects of the Aurora programme of activities.

In the wrap-up, it was announced that it is the last term of Callum Perry, initiator of the Aurora Student Champions Scheme and that his successor will be elected in the following months. And lastly, Maria José Figueras Salvat, Rector of Universitat Rovira i Virgili, announced that the fall biannual 2021 will physically be organized in Tarragona.