Group: For staff

Aurora Communication and Dissemination Team Explores Brand Storytelling Through Merchandising Strategies

Written by Aniza Pourtauborde on 2026-03-23. Posted in News.

From 3 to 5 March 2026, Palacký University Olomouc (UP) hosted the annual Aurora Trusted Local Communicators (TLC) Workshop, bringing together communication representatives from across Aurora universities. Over two days, participants explored how brand storytelling can be shaped through visual communication and merchandising strategies.

Aurora Communication and Dissemination team during the Aurora TLC Workshop 2026

The workshop was part of Aurora 2030 Work Package 10 on Impact and Dissemination, particularly Task 10.1 on Communication and Dissemination. It provided an understanding of the different ways that universities can adopt storytelling strategies that communicate vision, values and impact to their target audiences.

Institutional Strategy as a Foundation

The programme opened with a welcome by UP Vice-Rector for International Relations Ivona Barešová, who highlighted the importance of collaboration in shaping strong and lasting institutional narratives.

This was followed by a presentation from Matěj Dostálek, UP Vice-Rector for Communication and Social Responsibility. Emphasising on the maxim of being “regionally rooted, globally connected”, Dostálek revealed “UP to the Future”, a ten-year strategic framework leading the development of the university in the context of future challenges. Based on the values of responsability, sustainability and resilience, this framework aims to build the university of the future as a space of trust, an actor of public responsability, and a European institution in both its values and action.

Left to right: Ivona Barešová (UP Vice-Rector for International Relations), Selma Porobic (Aurora Institutional Coordinator at UP), Matěj Dostálek (UP Vice-Rector for Communication and Social Responsibility) and Vendula Lužná, Science Communicator

Storytelling in Practice

Communication being the driver of change, UP representatives demonstrated how storytelling is applied across communication activities:

Vendula Lužná, Science Communicator
“Science is not finished until it is communicated.” Lužná pointed to the university’s role in building trust by connecting scientific research with real-world issues through active scientist engagement. UP is able to connect topics of interest to real societal issues such as mental health, healthy aging, and digital technologies.

Ondřej Martínek, Head of Marketing and University Events
“We define and sell the values of the university.” Martínek outlined UP’s strategy of building a “love brand” and promoting Olomouc as a student-friendly city, supported by strong marketing tools such as social media, video, a mobile app, merchandising, and a student ambassador programme.

Michael Kozák, Marketing and Events Specialist
“University storytellers.” Through a series of beautiful photographs, Kozák presented the UP Student Ambassador programme, highlighting students’ key role in peer-to-peer communication and community building through events such as roadshows, education fairs, and festivals.

Vojtěch Kmenta, Photographer and Social Media Manager
“Stories connect, emotion drives engagement.” Building on five content pillars, Kmenta demonstrated how UP uses Instagram to create an emotional gateway to the university through visually driven storytelling.

Sustainable Merchandising as Storytelling

Sustainability is one of the core values at UP, reflected in its merchandising. Marie Hanušová, UPoint Shop Manager, presented the principles behind UP’s official merchandise store in Olomouc city:

A clear framework for evaluating sustainable materials and suppliers
Practical design and production strategies
Tools for communicating sustainability authentically.

Marie Hanušová, UPoint Shop Manager, presented the principles behind UP’s sustainable merchandising strategy

“Sustainable merchandise is not a cost. It’s a statement of values,” says Hanušová. “When done well, sustainable merchandise builds emotional connection, extends brand reach, and positions your institution as a leader – not a follower – in the values economy.”

Each product’s story adds value, builds trust, and invites customers to be active participants of something good beyond just being regular buyers. The session offered practical guidance for more impactful merchandising choices in future Aurora activities.

From Ideas to Practice

Participants then applied these insights in two interactive workshops focused on Aurora’s upcoming participation at the EAIE 2026 conference in Glasgow. Discussions explored:

Visual concepts for the Aurora exhibition booth
Ideas for sustainable and engaging merchandise.

Working in groups, participants first developed creative concepts without limitations and then refined them under specific constraints, encouraging both innovation and strategic thinking.

Brainstorming visual design and merchandising strategies for the Aurora booth at the EAIE 2026

The Aurora TLC Workshop 2026 on Brand Storytelling through Merchandising Strategies provided a clear and practical overview of how storytelling, design, and sustainability can work together to strengthen institutional communication and enhance the Aurora brand.

Aurora Micro-credential Coordination Committee (Aurora-MCC) Moves from Framework to Implementation

Written by Aniza Pourtauborde on 2026-02-04. Posted in News.

The Aurora Micro-Credential Coordination Committee (Aurora-MCC) formally constituted itself in November 2025, marking an important step in translating the Aurora Guidelines for Setting Up Micro-Credentials into coordinated practice across Aurora.

Participants at the second Aurora-MCC meeting. Photo credit: Aurora-MCC, Raab

The constitutive meeting chaired by Christina Raab from Universität Innsbruck, confirmed the committee’s mandate, composition, and operational arrangements. With this, the Aurora-MCC was established as a permanent, cross-institutional coordination body focused on facilitation, peer learning, and ecosystem-building rather than quality control.

Moving from Framework to Implementation

The committee’s work builds directly on the Aurora Guidelines for Setting Up Micro-credentials, published in 2025 as a living document aligned with the European Council Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials. These Aurora guidelines provide a shared European framework for the quality-assured design, implementation, recognition, and visibility of Aurora micro-credentials, while fully respecting institutional autonomy and national regulatory contexts. The Aurora-MCC ensures continuity between this strategic framework and its operational interpretation across Aurora.

At its second meeting in January 2026, conducted online, the Aurora-MCC discussed a proof of concept for the implementation of jointly offered Aurora micro-credentials. The discussion addressed overarching principles and workflows, including coordinated academic collaboration, issuing arrangements and digital and administrative processes. The proof-of-concept discussion served as a structured test case to explore how the Aurora guidelines can be applied in practice and how joint Aurora micro-credentials could be implemented in a scalable and interoperable manner.

The Aurora-MCC currently works predominantly in an online format, enabling regular monthly meetings and continuous exchange. Through its ongoing activities, the Aurora-MCC is actively advancing the implementation phase of the Aurora guidelines, contributing to the development of a trusted, interoperable, and future-oriented micro-credential ecosystem within the Aurora.

For questions related to the work of the Aurora-MCC, the committee can be contacted via aurora-courses@uibk.ac.at

A Broader Mind event at VU Amsterdam

Written by Sharon Feijen on 2025-12-18. Posted in News.

On 15 October 2025, educators and academic leaders from across Aurora gathered at VU Amsterdam to explore an innovative approach to interdisciplinary education: the A Broader Mind Course. Organised by the Digital Society and Global Citizenship Hub, the event offered Aurora partners a unique opportunity to experience first-hand how VU Amsterdam prepares students to engage with complex societal challenges through cross-disciplinary thinking.

Developed by Prof. Govert Buis, the A Broader Mind Course challenges early-stage students to look beyond their primary discipline, guided by more advanced peers. Through diverse academic perspectives, students develop a holistic understanding of pressing societal issues: a mindset they carry throughout their academic journey.

From Concept to Collaboration

The day brought together teachers, students, educational advisors, researchers, policy staff, and programme directors to dive deep into the A Broader Mind methodology. Prof. Buis introduced the course’s pedagogical foundations, followed by a hands-on session where participants engaged with a concrete course assignment, experiencing the interdisciplinary approach from a student’s perspective.

The heart of the event was dedicated to ideation: working groups explored how A Broader Mind could evolve into a true Aurora-wide initiative. Participants discussed various implementation models: from flex mobility arrangements and local course variants to student exchange opportunities and joint programme development across partner institutions.

Building a Broader European Education

The event concluded with plenary feedback sessions where groups shared their visions for bringing A Broader Mind to their own universities, creating a roadmap for follow-up collaboration.

The A Broader Mind Event demonstrated how peer-guided interdisciplinary learning can make teaching more engaging, curricula more relevant, and institutional societal impact more profound. It marked an important step in the Aurora community’s shared mission to transform higher education across Europe, preparing students not just for their chosen fields, but for the complex, interconnected challenges of our time.

Aurora Showcased at CEEDUCON Conference in Prague

Written by Niels Hexspoor on 2025-12-09. Posted in News.

On 19 and 20 November 2025, Palacký University Olomouc (UP) represented Aurora at CEEDUCON 2025, one of Central Europe’s leading conferences on the internationalisation of higher education. The seventh edition of the event, formerly known as CZEDUCON, brought more than 900 participants to Prague’s O2 Universum. Over the course of two days, they participated in expert lectures, interactive sessions, and exchange among practitioners and policy makers.

The Czech National Agency for International Education and Research organised CEEDUCON, together with several other central European Agencies such as DAAD and OEAD. It serves as a key platform for advancing dialogue on global engagement in higher education. This year’s programme featured over 50 sessions and focused on themes central to Aurora’s mission. These included Internationalisation for All, strategic Global & Regional partnerships, Smart & Sustainable International Cooperation, and Alumni, Employability & Future Skills.

Representatives of Palacký University Olomouc participated in discussions, panels, and workshops. They shared their institutional experience and achievements, contributing Aurora’s perspective to the broader European conversation on higher-education cooperation.

Strengthening Stakeholder Engagement

The UP Aurora Office prominently highlighted Aurora in two sessions, also featuring Aurora associate partner Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (UPJS).

Selma Porobić, Aurora Institutional Coordinator at UP, chaired a panel “Advancing Strategic Global & Regional Partnerships: Insights and Lessons from European University Alliances”. It featured contributions from Silvia Ručinská (UPJS), as well as Magdalena Sikorska (EUNICE Alliance) and John Gardiner (Ulysseus Alliance). The discussion drew on experiences from the FOREU4ALL Topical Group – Internationalisation and Global Outreach, chaired by Selma, Magda and John.

The panel featured three concrete case studies of best practices:

Aurora – a regional cooperation model focused on structured outreach and capacity-building in the CEE region;
Ulysseus – showcasing global strategic programmes and multi-continent partnerships;
EUNICE – presenting global gateway initiatives and innovative formats for inclusive stakeholder collaborations.

Additionally, Niels Hexspoor, Aurora Engagement and Impact Leader at UP, led an interactive workshop that explored how European university alliances can create inclusive and future-proof student communities in “Next Gen Student Communities: Futures Thinking for European Universities”. In the workshop, participants were challenged to imagine different possibilities for inclusive student engagement.

UP’s active presence at CEEDUCON 2025 was a great opportunity to demonstrate Aurora’s commitment sharing and learning with other higher education professionals to shape the future of European higher education—foregrounding openness, inclusivity, and strategic partnership building as shared priorities across Europe.

Building the Future of Flexible Learning: Aurora’s Shared Approach to Micro-credentials

Written by UIBK on 2025-11-28. Posted in News.

Micro-credentials are rapidly transforming higher education in Europe. As certified, small-scale learning units with clearly documented and assessed learning outcomes, they offer a flexible, inclusive, and responsive way for learners to acquire relevant competences. Within Aurora, micro-credentials play a vital role in shaping the inter-university campus of the future – one that is modular, transdisciplinary, and accessible across borders.

Christina Raab from Universität Innsbruck presents the Aurora Guidelines for Micro-credentials

The newly developed Aurora Guidelines for Micro-credentials provide a shared framework for designing, issuing, and recognising these qualifications across partner universities. Grounded in the European Council’s Recommendations and driven by Aurora’s mission for societal impact, these guidelines aim to harmonise practices and strengthen collaboration throughout the alliance.

A European Approach for a Changing Learning Landscape

Micro-credentials have emerged as important instruments to support lifelong learning, upskilling, and mobility within the European Higher Education Area. They allow learners to engage in small-scale learning experiences while ensuring that the acquired competences and knowledge are quality-assured, portable, transparent and stackable.

For Aurora, micro-credentials are more than just short courses. They are building blocks for a European inter-university campus:

Gateways to flexible participation across institutions
Tools for harmonising recognition and mobility
Foundations for socially impactful, transdisciplinary education.

The alliance’s decision to develop shared guidelines stems from the need to remove structural and technical barriers, align institutional practices, and ensure that learners can benefit from high-quality, jointly recognised opportunities – regardless of where they begin their studies.

These guidelines fully align with the 2022 Council Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials, as well as the principles of the European Qualification Framework (EQF), National Qualifications Frameworks, and the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG).

Designing Micro-Credentials for Quality, Transparency, and Impact

Aurora micro-credentials follow a set of shared principles to ensure comparability and quality across universities:

Learning outcomes-based design: Each micro-credential integrates subject-specific and transversal competences, drawing on frameworks such as the Aurora Competence Framework, LOUIS, BEVI, and seizmic
Standardised size and structure: Typically 3 to 10 ECTS credits, documented according to the standard elements defined by the European Council Recommendation
Quality assurance: Each issuing university applies its institutional QA processes, guided by ESG standards and national regulations
Levels of Aurorisation: Micro-credentials must reach at least Level 2 – meaning they are aligned with an Aurora Educational Hub, an SDG, and at least one key competence, ensuring a clear connection to Aurora’s mission and pedagogical standards.

Together, these principles ensure that every Aurora micro-credential is robust, comparable, and recognised across the alliance and beyond.

Aurora Academic Matchmaking Retreat where the Aurora Guidelines for Micro-credentials were presented

Collaboration Across Borders: How Joint Micro-Credentials Are Built

Joint micro-credentials are co-designed within Aurora’s Educational Hubs, where academics collaboratively develop content, align learning outcomes, and agree on assessment methods. “Joint” may also simply refer to the fact that participating students can come from all Aurora universities. While co-creation in the development process is the intended goal, it is not an absolute requirement for every joint micro-credential. Each participating university quality-assures the components it teaches, while one or more designated universities act as the official issuers. Because not every partner institution is equally positioned or technically equipped to issue micro-credentials, issuing responsibilities are assigned based on regulatory and technical feasibility. This collaborative model – anchored in mutual trust and transparent procedures – allows learners to combine learning units across institutions and receive a single, high-quality, jointly recognised credential.

To ensure consistency and support continuous development, Aurora’s Micro-Credential Coordination Committee (Aurora-MCC) – formally established in November 2025 – serves as a central body for coordination, expertise, and peer learning. Rather than enforcing compliance, the committee fosters a shared ecosystem, promoting visibility, interoperability, and alignment across work packages.

Digital Solutions for a Seamless Learning Experience

Technology is central to Aurora’s micro-credential ecosystem. The Aurora Virtual Campus serves as the central platform for publishing, accessing, and promoting Aurora micro-credentials. The corresponding courses will be displayed in the Aurora Joint Course Catalogue, enhancing visibility, transparency, and open participation for Aurora students and staff.

Aurora universities currently issue micro-credentials in two primary formats:

Digitally signed (e-sealed) PDF certificates, and
Secure digital badges, compliant with EU interoperability and data protection standards.

Looking ahead, the alliance aims to adopt European Digital Credentials (EDC) and digital wallets, enabling learners to securely store, manage, and share their achievements across Europe.

These digital solutions reinforce learner ownership, transparency, and employability -supporting a truly borderless learning experience.

Next Steps: Harmonisation, Visibility, and Future Readiness

Implementation of the guidelines will progress through several key actions:

Mapping existing micro-credentials and aligning them with Aurora standards
Increasing visibility through the Aurora Virtual Campus and shared catalogue
Developing shared workflows for issuing, recognition, and interoperability
Establishing a regular review and peer-learning cycle under the Aurora-MCC.

By 2030, micro-credentials are expected to become a core element of Aurora’s inter-university campus model. They will support personalised learning pathways, enable digital and physical mobility, and strengthen the alliance’s mission to foster research-driven, socially impactful education across Europe. Aurora also plans to expand micro-credentials into non-formal learning spaces and diverse learner communities, promoting access, inclusion, and lifelong learning.

Reflections: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead

The movement toward micro-credentials brings immense promise. They empower learners to design their own pathways, support cross-institutional collaboration, and encourage institutions to adopt more flexible, outcome-based approaches to teaching, learning and recognition. They also help connect formal and non-formallearning in more seamless ways.

Yet challenges persist. Aligning institutional regulations, recognition procedures, and digital infrastructures remains complex. Equally important are the cultural aspects: varying understandings of learning, hesitations around new practices, and the natural pull toward familiar institutional traditions.

Overcoming these challenges requires openness, trust, and a shared commitment to innovation. For Aurora, the path forward is clear: building a flexible, interoperable, and learner-centred ecosystem that supports Higher Education’s transformation in an era of continuous change.

A Conversation With Larissa Jenewein and Ramon Rispoli: Continuous Learning and Internationalisation in a Changing World

Written by Aniza Pourtauborde on 2025-10-21. Posted in News.

Today, internationalisation in higher education extends far beyond the classical models of mobility. In this Aurora conversation, Marina Vives Cabré speaks with Larissa Jenewein and Ramon Rispoli about how blended opportunities, transdisciplinarity, and co-creation are shaping the future of continuous learning in Europe’s universities.

This discussion was led by Marina Vives Cabré, Internationalisation Projects Officer at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Lead for the Aurora 2030 Work Package 8 Enabling Mobility and Exchange. She interviewed Larissa Jenewein, Institutional Erasmus+ Coordinator at Universität Innsbruck, and Ramon Rispoli, Associate Professor of Design, Università Federico II of Naples.

Moving Beyond Traditional Models – Beyond the Classical Perspective

For many years, internationalisation in the European context meant long-term Erasmus exchanges, the use of English and English-language training, and physical mobility. But as Vives notes, internationalisation today must be understood as an institutional intentional and ongoing strategy, one that responds to society’s evolving challenges and students’ and professionals’ requests.

This shift is most evident in the rise of Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs), short-term mobilities, and virtual exchanges.

Larissa: It gives us so much more space to include target groups who were excluded before in the Erasmus Programme. They were not really (represented) in their scheme, so I think that was actually the original idea of the European Commission to have some alternatives for the people who are not able to do a long-term mobility – like a typical classical semester mobility as we all know – because of so many reasons: health issues, a disability, because of caretaking duties, because they have to work. But now we are at the point where it goes even beyond addressing underrepresented target groups. Now it’s really central for the strategic perspective of institutions.

Inclusivity and Flexibility

For Rispoli, these innovations provide vital flexibility for both students and faculty members. In his own teaching, Rispoli has designed blended courses combining online theory with in-person workshops. His students—often already internationally mobile—benefit from these compact, impactful opportunities. At the same time, he and fellow academics gain the chance to collaborate across institutions without committing to months abroad.

Ramon: It’s especially good for Master students. With a short-term mobility like a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), they avoid spending one semester out of four abroad, which would be a big deal.

Transdisciplinarity and Co-Creation

A recurring theme in the discussion is transdisciplinarity, and highlights the crucial distinction from interdisciplinarity. As Rispoli explains, BIPs open up new ways of designing courses.

Ramon: It’s almost impossible to build real transdisciplinarity within a traditional curriculum, while an intensive week of a BIP plus the online part really gives you the possibility of overcoming traditional disciplinary boundaries.

In interdisciplinarity, you put your expertise on the table. In transdisciplinarity, you build new knowledge by learning from others and questioning your own assumptions. BIPs make this possible by bringing together students from diverse fields—design, engineering, social sciences, medicine, and more.

Larissa: Co-creation enriches the experience even further. When we’re thinking about the BIPS for instance, it’s not only about the exchange of students or professors, but also about the co-creation process of the event, lecture or the seminar itself. So, you also gain intercultural skills, for example.

Transforming Institutions and Looking Ahead

Vives links this to the broader concept of comprehensive internationalisation, where governance, staff, academics, and students all play vital roles in creating more connected, flexible universities. For internationalisation to continue evolving, keywords like flexibility, boundary crossing, co-creation, and openness remain essential.

This conversation is part of a series called “A Conversation With…” undertaken within the framework of the Aurora 2030 programme supported by the European Commission. It is an interview format that focuses on a specific topic and is meant to inspire its readers to reflect on and catalyse positive impact. The exchange is available in its original format on the Aurora YouTube channel.

Members of the UDE Aurora Community sit at a long table to meet, talk, and exchange ideas

UDE Aurora Community Meet-Up

Written by Mayannah Dahlheim on 2025-07-08. Posted in Events, News.

On July 7, 2025, members of the Aurora UDE Community came together for an informal meet-up to connect, exchange ideas, and welcome new faces. Colleagues from various Aurora work packages based at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), as well as several Aurora student ambassadors, took the opportunity to share insights about their work and their experiences, and learn more about each other’s activities within the Aurora network. The gathering provided an open space for networking, questions, and inspiration, particularly for newcomers interested in contributing to Aurora’s mission of combining academic excellence with societal impact.

Thank you to everyone who joined and made the exchange so enriching. The Aurora Community at the UDE looks forward to continuing these conversations and strengthening connections across disciplines and departments

For further inquiries about the UDE Aurora Community, please contact the Aurora Alliance Office here.

Planting the Seeds for the Education of Tomorrow: Looking Back at the Aurora Annual Conference 2025

Written by Aniza Pourtauborde on 2025-06-02. Posted in News.

From May 19 to 22, 2025, the Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) hosted the Aurora Annual Conference 2025, bringing together thought leaders, experts, academics, staff, and students from Aurora universities and beyond. The event fostered dynamic exchanges around education, research and innovation, sustainability, and societal impact.

Aurora Annual Conference 2025 attendees from Aurora universities across Europe
© Ciprian Olteanu

The conference began with an opening ceremony at the historic Amphithéâtre Liard in La Sorbonne, with welcome remarks by Prof. Martin Schwell, Vice-president European Affairs and Aurora Institutional Coordinator at UPEC. The President of UPEC Prof. Jean-Luc Dubois-Randé gave a resounding opening address. He highlighted the essential role of European universities like Aurora in preserving and enriching knowledge through new forms of European integration, such as the creation of joint degrees and intercultural experiences.

“Aurora’s commitment to, and impact on, society and the environment, are powerful vectors for the creation and sharing of knowledge and, by extension, for profound transformation,” said Prof. Jean-Luc Dubois-Randé.

Prof. Jean-Luc Dubois-Randé, President of Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) addresses a full house at La Sorbonne, Paris
© Ciprian Olteanu

In his opening speech, Dr. Ramon Puras, Aurora Secretary General, added that the transformative power of Aurora also lies in its ability to harness strong collaboration and harmonise systems across its member universities.

One of the major highlights of the Aurora Annual Conference was the ceremonial handover of the Aurora presidency. Through a symbolic “passing of the baton” from Prof. Martin Procházka of Palacký University Olomouc to Prof. Veronika Sexl of Universität Innsbruck, this change in leadership marks a new chapter for Aurora and its universities.

Nurturing deeper academic reflections, Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn delivered a fascinating keynote address on her groundbreaking discoveries in the field of cellular biology, which have had profound implications for aging, cancer research, and cellular biology.

European Universities for Research, Education, Students’ Rights and Sustainability

Throughout the week, the conference featured engaging plenary sessions on a range of topics from the future of the European Universities Initiative and building scientific communities in Aurora, to students’ rights and representation.

Next to the plenary programme, the Aurora Annual Conference featured many additional workshops, strategy sessions, and task team meetings throughout the week. These gatherings enabled further cooperation and progress on topics in Aurora relating to research support network, educational hubs, international mobility, and citizen science.

Beyond the formal sessions, there was also ample space for networking, culminating with the Gala dinner and reception at the stunning Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, and its aquarium in Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris. During the dinner, two prominent Aurora events took place: the seizmic Awards 2024 ceremony, featuring winners Team thisAbility from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and runners-up Team Synergy Hydrogen Solutions from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The second event was the 3MT competition pitches by winners Stéphanie Chedid and Juliette Direur from UPEC.

The three-day conference also saw the rise of the first-ever Aurora Sustainability Summit. The summit spotlighted Aurora’s impressive achievements in developing best practices for sustainable campuses. Furthermore, it brought to light the challenges ahead in the creation of greener, more sustainable universities. The summit featured plenary sessions, followed by interactive workshops exploring key themes such as futures literacy, climate action, and biodiversity.

The Aurora Annual Conference 2025 served as a window into Aurora’s progress thus far. It provided an insight into its ever-growing community as actors of change planting the seed to shape a more inclusive, greener, and sustainable European higher education landscape.

Aurora Welcomes Veronika Sexl As New President

Written by Aniza Pourtauborde on 2025-05-23. Posted in News.

Aurora universities are pleased to welcome Veronika Sexl as their new President, effective 1 May 2025, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the network’s leadership and continued commitment to advancing inclusive, research-driven, and socially impactful higher education across Aurora partner universities.

Veronika Sexl, Rector of Universität Innsbruck and Aurora President, effective 1 May 2025

During the opening ceremony of the Aurora Annual Conference 2025, held on 19 May at the historic Sorbonne University in Paris, a significant leadership transition took place. Martin Procházka, former Rector of Palacký University Olomouc, formally handed over the Aurora Presidency to Veronika Sexl, Rector of Universität Innsbruck.

This ceremonial handover not only celebrated continuity in leadership, but also signals a renewed momentum for Aurora’s collective mission to shape the future of European higher education through matching academic excellence with societal relevance and collaboration, research, and social impact actions.

A Vision for Aurora

Reflecting on her new role, President Sexl shared:

“I am deeply honored to take on the presidency of Aurora at such pivotal moment. In a time marked by global uncertainty, societal polarization, and rapidly evolving challenges, the role of higher education and cross-cultural European collaboration is more vital than ever. Aurora exemplifies the strength of European cooperation – diverse, inclusive, and united by a shared commitment to addressing the most urgent issues of our time through education, research, and public engagement.

As President, I will take care of the work of my predecessors and focus on new initiatives that support key Aurora strategic priorities, promote fresh ideas, and enhance Aurora’s impact within our communities; including our involvement in the European Universities Initiative. Aurora has been funded through the Erasmus+ European Universities Initiative since 2020, and through this, it contributes actively to the broader goals of the European Higher Education Area—helping to foster collaboration, innovation, and shared values across institutions.”

About Veronika Sexl

Veronika Sexl brings a distinguished scientific and academic background to her new role as President of the group of Aurora universities. A trained medical doctor, she studied at the University of Vienna before pursuing research fellowships in the United States at prestigious institutions such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her academic career has included professorships at the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni), where she chaired the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Since 2023 she serves as Rector of Universität Innsbruck.

Prof. Sexl is internationally recognized for her contributions to cancer research and molecular pharmacology. Her work focuses on translational medicine, immune-mediated tumor surveillance, and key signaling pathways in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis. Her research excellence has been recognized with numerous awards, including the ERC Advanced Grant and the Kardinal Innitzer Prize, and she is a member of both the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

With a keen focus on fostering collaboration, driving innovation, and making a positive impact, President Sexl is set to lead Aurora towards an even stronger and more connected future. She is deeply committed to supporting young researchers, recognizing that the next generation of scientists is key to shaping the future of knowledge and discovery.

Aurora Meetings Highlight Strategic Development in Education and Training

Written by Aniza Pourtauborde on 2025-03-31. Posted in News.

International relations and mobility experts, and Aurora Institutional Coordinators, gathered to exchange views on the strategy for Aurora, and the development of Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) and the digital campus.

Hosted by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and the Aurora Central Office, close to thirty participants from across Aurora universities met over the week for two major events: Workshop on BIPs and the Aurora Executive Committee Seminar. The objective of these meetings was to move further in the work initiated by the Aurora 2030 Work Package 8 Enabling Mobility and Exchange, and to discuss the future of Aurora and its impact.

Aurora Executive Committee and experts on education and training gather at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)

Leveraging BIPs for Mobility and Exchange in Aurora

Opened by the Rector of URV Josep Pallarès, the programme began with the Workshop on BIPs led by Marina Vives from the URV International Centre and Nanna Teitsdóttir from the University of Iceland. Blended Intensive Programmes are short-term intensive programmes that use innovative learning and teaching methods.

Part of the training includes a virtual component that requires online cooperation between educators and participants. By enabling new and more flexible mobility formats that combine physical mobility with a virtual component, BIPs aim to reach students from all backgrounds, fields of study and study cycles.

BIPs may include challenge-based learning, in which transnational and transdisciplinary teams collaborate to address issues in society. These issues could be linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or other societal problems identified by companies, cities or regions.

URV Rector Josep Pallarès Marzal opens the Workshop on BIPs to a full room of participants, including Aurora Institutional Coordinators from all member universities

The workshop included sessions on the long-term strategy for BIPs within Aurora universities, a critical audit of the current and future challenges, and a thorough review of the manual for mobility and communication of Aurora opportunities. Further discussions allowed participants to reflect upon the key aspects of blended intensive programmes, such as the type of collaborations involved, skills the BIPs are intended to improve, and values like diversity and inclusion that must be considered.

“The organisers are very satisfied with the agreements reached in a very collaborative and almost unanimous spirit,” said Marina Vives, Lead for Aurora 2030 Work Package 8 at URV.

Aurora Institutional Coordinators and participants of the Workshop on BIP work hand-in-hand during brainstorm sessions on Blended Intensive Programmes in Aurora

Moving Forward in Aurora

The Workshop on BIPs was followed by the Executive Committee Seminar, a strategic meeting of Aurora Institutional Coordinators representing their universities. The seminar opened with an introduction by Ramon Puras, Aurora Secretary General, about milestone developments in Aurora and on the Aurora 2030 European university alliance programme.

During the meeting, Institutional Coordinators also weighed in on the future of Aurora and its impact. Intensive work sessions were organised around the strategic planning for the alliance, as well as the progress of the Aurora digital campus services.

Full member of Aurora, the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) has been an integral partner since 2019. Together with other universities within the network, URV is aligned with Aurora’s vision of influencing societal transformation through academic excellence and research.