1. Artificial Intelligence & Humanities (101): Developing a Humanities Syllabus for AI & the Digital at Una Europa (AIHUMS101)
Project Coordinator: Cillian Ó Fathaigh, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
Participating universities: Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, University of Edinburgh, University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, Universiteit Leiden, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, KU Leuven
Artificial intelligence and digitalisation have the potential to radically change education and careers in the humanities. However, we still have a poor idea of what students need to know to engage in these developments.
How can we prepare students to play a part in this transformation? What more can Una Europa institutions do to achieve this?
AIHUMS101 will answer these questions, producing a survey on current teaching within Una Europa, a model syllabus of an introductory course on AI and the Digital for humanities students, and a toolkit to help integrate AI into existing courses. Through two workshops, four online meetings and a session with students at the Future UniLab, the project will bring together 32 academics, seven universities and eight institutes.
2. Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance by 360 One Health Approach (AMR360)
Project Coordinators: Ana Isabel Fraguas Sánchez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Elena González Burgos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Participating universities: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, University of Edinburgh, Freie Universität Berlin, Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top 10 threats for global health. A One Health approach must be integrated to combat AMR.
This project will embrace a coordinated effort to foster educational and research initiatives offering a 360° approach to effectively combat AMR, driving self-awareness as well as the discovery and development of new antimicrobials.
AMR360 will deliver a training programme for postgraduate students combining an online course with a hands-on workshop targeting AMR and research strategies and policies with a One Health perspective. The project will foster an interdisciplinary research consortium focused on AMR and aims to drive knowledge transfer from the academy to non-academic stakeholders and society.
3. Contested Rural Transitions: Embracing Conflicts through Participatory Research (CRAFT)
Project Coordinator: Eirini Skrimizea, KU Leuven
Participating universities: KU Leuven, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
As rural areas undergo significant transitions, the frequency and intensity of socio-environmental conflicts are expected to increase. The CRAFT project connects and trains early-career researchers in interdisciplinary sustainability studies to design and implement transdisciplinary and participatory action research addressing these conflicts.
The project will gather learning needs from partner universities and create a CRAFT network that will host hybrid seminars presenting diverse case studies and methodologies. CRAFT will publish a special issue led by early-career researchers for knowledge exchange. The project aims to equip early-career researchers with hands-on experience in the CRAFT living lab in Belgium.
4. Digitally Leveraging Language Archives (DiLLA)
Project Coordinator: Connor McCabe, University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath
Participating universities: University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, University of Edinburgh, Universität Zürich, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
The Digitally Leveraging Language Archives (DiLLA) project aims to promote use of materials held in university language and dialect archives for academic research, including in linguistics, dialectology, and folklore.
The project brings together established and early-career researchers at universities which currently hold rich but often underutilised archival materials (University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, University of Edinburgh) with others who specialise in state-of-the-art digital methods in corpus linguistics and the digital humanities (Universität Zürich, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie).
By seeding these connections, DiLLA opens avenues for future use of such materials and encourages greater institutional, cultural, and individual engagement with these materials and aims to ensure informed access for researchers, students, and indeed the general public.
5. Designing Responsive Advanced Materials for Nanomedicines (DREAM-Nano)
Project Coordinator: Helena Gavilán Rubio, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Participating universities: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Universität Zürich
Comprising an interdisciplinary team of experts working in Una Europa's Future Materials, One Health, and Sustainability Focus Areas, DREAM-Nano will undertake research, dissemination and education activities related to the design of responsive advanced materials for nanomedicines.
The project aims to address global healthcare challenges by advancing cancer diagnosis and therapy. DREAM-Nano will promote alternative care models with a view to making healthcare more affordable and accessible.
A DREAM-Nano PhD workshop will feature online and hands-on courses on the design of nanomaterials for nanomedicines, while the project's final conference will project outcomes and assess its impact.
6. Encryption: Investigating Its Main Criminal Justice Aspects (EnIgMA)
Project Coordinator: Anna Mosna, Universiteit Leiden
Participating universities: Universiteit Leiden, KU Leuven, Freie Universität Berlin, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, University of Edinburgh, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna
The EnIgMA project intends to corroborate and enlarge an existing network of Una Europa universities to foster dialogue about a technology shaping the discourse on crime perpetration, enforcement and fundamental rights protection: encryption.
EnIgMA will focus on (i) police decryption, (ii) encryption as an investigative methodology, (iii) minimising interference with individual rights; and (iv) encryption used to create a secure environment in an increasingly digitalised justice system.
This dialogue will embrace all three Pillars of Una Europa's 2030 Strategy – research, education, and societal impact – connecting researchers from different fields and universities, offering guest lectures to students, and disseminating findings through an international conference and on the LIMA Blog, launched thanks to previous Seed Funding.
7. Interdisciplinary and community-based research on just energy transitions: The role of green hydrogen (JUSTRANS-GH2)
Project Coordinator: Clara García, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Participating universities: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Freie Universität Berlin, Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
The JUSTRANS-GH2 project engages academics, policymakers, industry, and civil society in transdisciplinary problem framing around the role of green hydrogen in a just energy transition.
The project will focus on European hydrogen, but the innovative research design will be applicable to other transitions and geographical areas.
JUSTRANS-GH2 will convene meetings among academics and exploratory interviews, focus groups, and surveys of stakeholders in hydrogen hubs. This will contribute to the creation of an interdisciplinary research network with a strong presence of early-career researchers; a procedure for research design that facilitates participation, appropriation, and action by stakeholders of energy transitions; and the design of a research project that will be submitted to European funding calls.
8. Unveiling University Heritage in the Digital Era: Virtual Museum Exhibitions as a Transnational Practice (Muse-unveiling)
Project Coordinator: Patrizia Battilani, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna
Participating universities: Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet, KU Leuven, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
The Muse-unveiling project aims to create two virtual exhibitions of university collections across Europe on environmental heritage and contested heritage in university museums, through the involvement of students and other cultural stakeholders.
Although university museums have attracted some scholarly attention (also through workshops organised by Una Europa), their contribution to the main challenges of the present has been largely ignored.
By highlighting the interconnectedness of European academic and cultural history, the project fosters a multi-layered European identity and promotes cross-cultural dialogue. It addresses issues of diversity, equality, and inclusion by ensuring broad accessibility and by incorporating multiple perspectives into the curatorial process.
9. Preparation of Prospective Projects on Maternal Care (PreMaCare)
Project Coordinator: Magdalena Kołak, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
Participating institutions: Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, University of Edinburgh, KU Leuven
Most pregnancies are uncomplicated, happy, and exciting events. However, as many as 17 in every 1000 deliveries may be complicated by severe maternal morbidity, leading to intensive care unit (ICU) admission.
Pregnant and postpartum women admitted to the ICU suffer short- or long-term physical and mental health complications with consequences for women, their children, families, and caregivers. Postpartum depression affects 15% of women. Suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality within the first year after delivery in high-income countries.
There is a paucity of evidence addressing outcomes and reporting international data on maternal care, including maternal well-being. PreMaCare aims to set up a consortium and create a road map for future research projects on maternal care.
10. A Three-dimensional Initiative on Academic Freedom (UnAF)
Project Coordinator: Vasiliki Kosta, Universiteit Leiden
Participating institutions: Universiteit Leiden, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, Freie Universität Berlin, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, KU Leuven
The UnAF project sets up a three-dimensional initiative on academic freedom – one of the fundamental values of the Una Europa alliance as well as of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the European Research Area (ERA).
Encompassing teaching, research, and knowledge exchange and outreach, UnAF brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars from Una Europa institutions as well as other stakeholders to explore academic collaborations and discuss future policy options for the EHEA and the ERA.
The project's teaching component involves joint development of a curriculum for an interdisciplinary course on academic freedom that can be integrated into different study programmes, including the Joint Bachelor of Arts in European Studies co-developed by Una Europa partners.
11. Working together in Europe towards One Health around the world (WISE CARE)
Project Coordinator: Martijn Sijbom, Universiteit Leiden
Participating institutions: Universiteit Leiden, KU Leuven, University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
WISE CARE's objective is to develop an interdisciplinary and transnational academic minor Sustainable Health and Care (MSHC) for Bachelor students.
An interdisciplinary approach is needed to face the current complex healthcare challenges such as climate change and workforce shortages. Therefore, this minor will incorporate two interdisciplinary approaches, One Health and Population Health Management, which are interconnected through their shared goals of holistic and integrated health improvement.
Early-career researchers from different disciplines working at five Una Europa universities are in the lead to develop an outline for the MSHC. The outline will be used to apply for Erasmus+ cooperation partnership funding which can be used to further develop the minor and structural external funding.
11. European Network for Sustainable Mining Research and Transfer (EnSMiRT)
Project Coordinator: Ignacio Zapico, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Participating institutions: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, KU Leuven, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, Universiteit Leiden
The European Union faces a significant challenge: expanding mineral resources exploitation (10% of annual needs under the Critical Raw Materials Act (European Commission, 2023)) while restoring degraded landscapes (30% of surface area by 2030 and 90% by 2050 under the Nature Restoration Law (European Commission, 2024)).
Achieving these goals demands sustainable land management strategies and widespread integration of cutting-edge technologies across all stages of raw material production, from geological exploration and extraction to post-mining.
EnSMiRT seeks to harness expertise within the Una Europa alliance and foster collaborations between leading researchers working on several stages of the mineral value chain to address these pressing challenges head-on.
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