What if your next semester was about solving real challenges instead of simply studying them?

Imagine working alongside students from across Europe, collaborating with researchers, companies and regional stakeholders to develop solutions with real impact.

This is FutureLab Camp 2027, the next edition of the international Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) developed within the STARS EU Alliance and coordinated in 2027 by Bragança Polytechnic University (UPB), Portugal.

Designed for Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD students, FutureLab Camp brings together participants from all STARS EU partner universities to work in international and multidisciplinary teams on real challenges connected to regional development.

Building on previous success

FutureLab Camp has already proved the value of challenge-based learning across the alliance.

Following successful editions hosted by Cracow University of Technology (2025) and Université Marie & Louis Pasteur (2026), where international teams developed innovative solutions for regional challenges, the 2027 edition will continue this journey in Bragança by connecting students with the UPB Living Lab and the region’s strategic priorities.

Learning beyond the classroom

FutureLab Camp combines:

International and multidisciplinary teams

Real challenges proposed by regional stakeholders

Applied research and innovation

Collaboration with researchers and Living Labs

30 ECTS recognised through Erasmus+ BIP mobility

The programme starts with an intensive on-site week in Bragança (1 – 5 March 2027), followed by several months of online collaboration, allowing teams to further develop their solutions.

Projects will focus on themes linked to the future of European regions, including digital transformation, artificial intelligence, circular economy, rural innovation, and creative industries. The final challenges will be announced in autumn 2026.

How to apply

Applications are coordinated through each STARS EU partner university.

Students should contact the FutureLab Camp coordinator at their home institution during the application period (July – November 2026).

A full list of institutional contacts is available below:

Bragança Polytechnic University (Portugal) – jprp@ipb.pt

Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) – h.k.naumann@pl.hanze.nl

Hochschule Bremen (Germany) – katrin.winkler@hs-bremen.de

University of La Laguna (Spain) – veropino@ull.edu.es

Silesian University in Opava (Czechia) – prazakova@opf.slu.cz

University West (Sweden) – johanna.eliasson@hv.se

Cracow University of Technology (Poland) – adam.sadlo@pk.edu.pl

Université Marie & Louis Pasteur (France) – robin.roche@univ-fcomte.fr

Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës (Albania) – natashahoda@uamd.edu.al

Why join FutureLab?

Because it offers much more than international mobility

Work on real challenges

Join an international multidisciplinary team

Collaborate with researchers and regional stakeholders

Develop practical, research and intercultural skills

Experience challenge-based learning within STARS EU

Key dates

Bragança, Portugal

Physical Week

1 – 5 March 2027

Online collaboration

March – June 2027

Applications are now open! Please, contact your home university.

 

Are you ready?

Become part of a European team.

Create solutions that matter.

Help shape the future of European regions.

FutureLab 2027 starts with you.

The staff week will be held on June 1-3 in Bremen.

Hochschule Bremen – City University of Applied Sciences (Germany) will host an in-person event bringing together professionals from across the STARS EU Alliance to reflect, exchange ideas, and advance the development of virtual mobility. The event will place particular emphasis on the student experience, digital processes, and organisational challenges.

Over three days the staff week in Bremen will focus on Understanding student needs and strengthening engagement in virtual mobility. Further more Digitalisation, application processes and recognition of mobility as well as Organisational challenges, implementation and structural anchoring will be main points of the face-to-face meeting between representatives of all the Alliance’s work packages.

Day 1 – Understanding, Connecting, Unlocking Potential

June 1 | 09:00 – 16:00

The first day is dedicated to building a shared understanding and establishing a common foundation for the rest of the event. Participants will explore the connections between mobility, teaching, and digitalisation, with a strong focus on the student perspective.

In addition, the sessions will examine how virtual mobility formats can be better designed and communicated to increase their reach and student engagement.

Day 2 – Strengthening Digital Access, Processes and Recognition

June 2 | 09:00 – 14:00

The second day focuses on the role of digitalisation in mobility, addressing key aspects such as the use of digital tools, application processes, and communication strategies. The aim is to identify structural barriers, improve usability, and strengthen recognition mechanisms across the alliance.

Day 3 – Concretising, Aligning and Embedding

June 3 | 09:00 – 15:30

The third day addresses the organisational and structural challenges affecting the implementation of virtual mobility. It also builds on the outcomes of the previous days to prioritise solutions, assess their feasibility, and define the steps needed for their implementation and long-term integration within the alliance.

For more information, visit: Hochschule Bremen

Hochschule Bremen (HSB) – City University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and Marie and Louis Pasteur University (UMLP), France, both partners in STARS EU, will launch a new academic collaboration within the Business Administration/International Management (BIM) degree programme, which will enable the development of a double degree programme between the two institutions.

Thanks to this agreement, students will be able to complete their studies following the so-called “two-plus-two” model: four semesters in Bremen and four at the partner university abroad, allowing them to obtain two official bachelor’s degrees.

The collaboration will take place within the framework of STARS EU, of which both universities are members alongside seven other European institutions. With UMLP joining the BIM programme as a new partner university, STARS EU moves closer to one of its key objectives: promoting joint degrees and greater academic integration across Europe.

“We are delighted to welcome UMLP as another strong partner university to the BIM network,” says programme director Leena Pundt. “This collaboration strengthens our international profile and opens up further attractive opportunities for our students to gain a truly binational education.”

Powerful linguistic approach

Julie Beugnot, professor and programme director at the French university, explained that UMLP has been working for several years to internationalise its academic offer. The university’s proximity to the German border, together with the existence of an ABIBAC double qualification programme (German Abitur and French Baccalauréat) at one of the largest secondary schools in Besançon, played a decisive role in UMLP’s decision to establish a double degree with HSB.

Ulrich Krüger, professor in the BIM degree programme and responsible for negotiating the new double degree agreement with UMLP, highlighted the importance of finding a partner university capable of helping further develop the integrated international programme. “As a member of the STARS EU alliance, UMLP is an ideal institution for offering a multilingual Franco-German double degree,” he said.

For her part, Célia Berger-Tarare (UMLP), who negotiated the agreement on behalf of the French university, explained that professors from both institutions already maintained strong links in research as well as in short-term training programmes. “We needed to build on this momentum through a long-term collaboration that would also involve students,” she noted.

This new partnership not only expands the international exchange opportunities available through the double degree programme but also brings the alliance closer to its main objective: facilitating joint study programmes throughout Europe. At the same time, it strengthens the programme’s distinctive language-based approach, as students will complete their studies bilingually in German and French while also receiving additional training in English, providing them with the foundation for a trilingual international career.