The first edition of the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) Game Development with VR/AR has successfully concluded at Cracow University of Technology, bringing together students and academics from across Europe under the STARS EU Alliance.

The programme combined several weeks of online learning with an intensive on-site week in Kraków, creating a unique international environment where technology, creativity, and intercultural collaboration met in practice.

Opening the on-site week, programme coordinator Adrian Widłak highlighted the spirit of the initiative:

“We are meeting here as part of the Alliance STARS EU, bringing together Poland, France, Germany, and our guests from Slovenia. What I love about this initiative is that it’s not just about mobility. It’s about mixing realities.”

The programme began with an online phase running from 24 March to 26 May 2026. During this period, participants developed skills in C# programming, 3D modelling, Unity game development, and immersive VR and AR technologies.

The international group then gathered in Kraków from 15 to 19 June for the on-site component. Throughout the week, students transformed theoretical knowledge into practical solutions by working in multinational teams on a common challenge.

Their task was to design and develop an augmented reality experience capable of transforming a traditional computer laboratory into an interactive educational escape room. Using tablets, AR tools, and game design principles, participants created missions, puzzles, and story-driven scenarios that blended digital content with physical space.

The resulting projects demonstrated how augmented reality can enhance learning environments, increase engagement, and create new forms of educational interaction.

One of the key objectives of the programme was to strengthen students’ ability to work in international and interdisciplinary teams. Beyond technical development, participants gained valuable experience in communication, problem-solving, project management, and intercultural cooperation.

Academic staff from partner institutions provided expert guidance throughout the programme. Participants were supported by Frédéric Lassabe (France), Volker Paelke (Germany), and Krzysztof Skabek from the Computer Graphics and High Performance Computing Research Group at Cracow University of Technology. Practical workshops and project sessions were led by Adrian Widłak, Gloria Kuliś, and Wojciech Malik.

Their diverse academic and research perspectives enabled students to explore VR and AR technologies from multiple viewpoints and application areas.

The programme also offered participants the opportunity to experience the cultural heritage of southern Poland.

Students visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine and explored Kraków’s historic city centre, both UNESCO World Heritage sites. These visits provided valuable opportunities for networking, cultural exchange, and discovering one of Central Europe’s most historic regions.

The successful delivery of the programme was supported by members of Visgraph, the student scientific association operating under the supervision of Michał Dolina and Jakub Dec. Visgraph students contributed to event organisation, participant support, media coverage, photography, audiovisual production, and promotional activities. Their involvement played an important role in creating a welcoming and professional environment for all participants.

The Game Development with VR/AR programme demonstrated how modern higher education can move beyond traditional teaching models. Rather than passively receiving information, students learned by designing, building, testing, and refining their own ideas. By combining emerging technologies, project-based learning, and international collaboration, the programme provided participants with valuable technical competencies, practical experience, and professional connections that will continue to benefit them long after the programme’s conclusion.

As a STARS EU initiative, the programme also showcased the Alliance’s commitment to creating innovative educational opportunities that prepare students to work and collaborate in an increasingly digital and interconnected Europe.

European students and academics are addressing sustainable innovation and bioeconomy during the Blended Intensive Programme “Circular Bioeconomy and Sustainable Innovation”, taking place this week at the Cracow University of Technology (Poland) within the framework of the STARS EU Alliance. The training initiative enables international teams of students to work together on projects tackling real-life sustainability and circular economy challenges, while developing innovative and practice-oriented solutions.

The initiative has brought together 28 students and 12 lecturers from seven STARS EU partner universities: Cracow University of Technology (Poland); University West (Sweden); Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands); Hochschule Bremen-City University of Applied Sciences (Germany); Polytechnic University of Bragança (Portugal); Silesian University in Opava (Czech Republic); and Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës (Albania).

The programme, who’s in-person phase is taking place in Krakow from 18 to 22 May, includes interdisciplinary collaborative work sessions, mentoring activities, expert lectures and a study visit to the company KLGS, located near the city. In parallel with these activities, participants also have opportunities for intercultural exchange, networking and collaboration among students and academic staff from across the STARS EU alliance.

Over the past weeks, participants have attended international lectures and workshops focused on circular economy, sustainable business models, life cycle analysis, biomaterials, biotechnology, renewable resources and sustainable innovation strategies. Following the mobility week in Krakow, teams will continue working online until the end of June, when the final presentations of the projects and reports prepared by each group will bring the activity to a close.

“Circular Bioeconomy and Sustainable Innovation” is coordinated by Katarzyna Matras-Postołek, Associate Professor at CUT, together with academics and experts from STARS EU partner universities, including Annabella Loconsolo (University West), Pavel Adamek (Silesian University in Opava), Daniela Hendrikse (Hanze University of Applied Sciences), Anja Noke (Hochschule Bremen), as well as representatives from the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança and other partner institutions.

This BIP is yet another example of how the STARS EU Alliance connects students, researchers and universities around shared European values, innovation and sustainable development.

The STARS EU Commission held its annual meeting as part of the celebrations marking the 80^th anniversary of Cracow University of Technology (CUT), one of the alliance’s nine partners. The meeting, held on 1 and 2 October, brought together rectors and members of the partner universities, as well as researchers and academic leaders from other European higher education institutions, united by a common purpose: to strengthen international cooperation and to define the roadmap for the future of the alliance.

This strategic and decisive meeting consisted of two days of intensive work. The agenda on the first day (Wednesday, 1 October) began with an institutional meeting between the Rector of the host university, Andrzej Szarata, and the members of the STARS EU Commission, composed of the rectors and representatives of the partner universities: DickPouwels – President of Hanze University of Applied Sciences; Francisco Javier García Rodríguez – Rector of University of La Laguna,; Mats Jägstam – Rector of University West; Tomas Gongol – Rector of Silesian University of Opava;  Orlando Rodrigues – President of Bragança Polytechnic University; Shkëlqim Fortuzi – Rector of Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës, and Hugues Daussy – President of Marie and Louis Pasteur University.

Governance models

There was a “shared feeling” regarding the need to move towardsimproved governance, one that places greater emphasis on the alliance. Another key point on which the rectors agreed was the need to go further to ensure that joint work continues, regardless of the continuation of the financial support provided by the European Union (EU). Possible ways to achieve stronger unity among the nine universities of the alliance were discussed.

Later that same day, 1 October, a joint meeting was held between the STARS EU Steering Committee, where discussions focused on the governance of the alliance, the third draft of the Research Solutions Agenda, the presentation of the STARS EU Campus Charter, and the work plan for the 2025/2026 academic year.

The day also included a stimulating visit to the At the Environmental Aerodynamics Laboratory they were presented with projects on wind energy, smog research, air purification systems, and the resilience of structures under extreme weather conditions. At the Ultra-Precise Coordinate Measurement Laboratory, they learned about equipment used in advanced research for the aerospace, defence, and microprocessor industries. At the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the delegation was shown projects related to hydrogen- and methane- powered vehicles, including prototypes designed and built by CUT students.

Commemorative acts

The second day (Thursday, 2 October) was dedicated to the official celebrations of CUT’s 80^th anniversary. Members of STARS EU attended various events, including a Mass at the majestic Cathedral of St. Stanislaus in Wawel Castle, followed by a ceremonial procession along the iconic Grodzka Street to the Market Square. The day concluded with the official inauguration of the 2025/2026 academic year at the Polish Aviation Museum, and a concert at the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków.

Through this meeting, STARS EU reinforced its commitment to international collaboration, shared research, and the development of an open and dynamic European campus, consolidating the alliance’s role within the European Higher Education Area.

 

Representatives of the Cracow University of Technology took part in the 2^nd European Universities Conference, which took place on September 4-5, 2024 in Cracow, Poland.

The event, organized by the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, the National Agency of the Erasmus+ Program and the European Solidarity Corps, with the support of Erasmus+ InnHUB Innovation Centers, was dedicated to sharing experiences in the field of European Universities.

Within the European Higher Education Area there are currently 64 European Universities operating, the aim of which is, among other things, to harmonise education, so that students can complete part of their studies at any university in the Alliance, and employees can move to teach at universities that are part of the Alliance or work in the same capacity as they do at their home university.

“The participation of the Cracow University of Technology in the STARS EU Alliance is associated with enormous challenges resulting mainly from differences in the education systems in individual countries. During numerous discussions, we develop common solutions so that projects implemented with international partners bring real benefits, first and foremost for students, but also for the scientific and teaching staff of our university,” says Ewa Siekierzyńska, an expert at the Cracow University of Technology Project Support Centre.

The Cracow conference addressed the issues of good practices, experiences and challenges for Polish universities participating in alliances. The two-day event filled with numerous panels, discussions and presentations was attended by: Dr. Joanna Żelazny and mgr Ewa Siekierzyńska from the Project Support Center, mgr Katarzyna Baron – Lisiakiewicz and mgr Daria Majka-Sitko from the International Cooperation Department, vice-rector for science dr hab. inż. Magdalena Niemczewska – Wójcik, prof. PK and the STARS EU coordinator on behalf of the Cracow University of Technology – prof. dr hab. inż. Dariusz Bogdał, vice-rector for science at the Cracow University of Technology in the term 2020-2024, as one of the panelists during the session “New EU trends in strategy building –  Future-ready learning University”.

A delegation of deans from Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB) has visited the Cracow University of Technology on 16 and 17 April to meet their counterparts at the Polish institution. The purpose of the visit is to thoroughly examine the mutual offerings in the field of international partnership and to establish the details of further cooperation between the universities in the framework of STARS EU.

The intensive program has included meetings with the university authorities and visits to faculties such as Computer Science and Telecommunications, Environmental Engineering and Energy, Chemical Engineering and Technology

The Portuguese delegation of deans was composed by Nuno Ribeiro (School of Technology and Management), Adília Fernandes (School of Health), Sonia Nogueira (School of Public Management, Communication and Tourism), Pedro Bastos (School of Agriculture) and Carlos Teixeira (School of Education).

They were received, among others, by Andrzej Szarata, Rector of the Cracow University of Technology; Dariusz Bogdał, Vice-Rector for Science; Katarzyna Baron-Lisiakiewicz, head of the International Relations; Michał Bereta and Natalia Ryłko, Vice-Deans of the Faculty of Computer Science and Telecommunications; Stanisław Rybicki, Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Power; and Piotr Michorczyk, Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology.

One of the objectives of STARS EU is to contribute to regional development, mainly through higher education, research, teaching and transfer activities. And this was the main issue that occupied several sessions of the annual conference of this alliance, held on 21 and 22 March in the French city of Besançon, organised by one of the allied institutions, the University of Franche-Comté.

Thus, in addition to the researchers, professors, technical staff and students who are already part of the alliance, local stakeholders were also invited to this event so that they could contribute their point of view on the role that universities can have in the development of the regions where they are located. These guests participated in a specific panel on this issue, as well as in a working session with the presidents, rectors and TIGS leaders, not to mention the numerous networking opportunities that the meeting facilitated.

In that discussion panel participated representatives of several regions, such as Benjamin Rodrigues (Bragança Portugal), Christian Schütt (Bremen, Germany), Pauline Prat and Laurent Volle (Bourgogne Franche-Comté, France) and Astrid Burhöi, (Västra Götaland region, Sweden), under the moderation of Daniel Hissel, vice-president of Socioeconomic Partnership and Innovation of the University of Franche-Comté. Issues such as the need to improve digital skills, entrepreneurship and English in professional contexts, and to make the technical person more aware of the socio-political context were raised. STARS EU was seen as an opportunity to bridge the gap that sometimes exists between research and society.

In addition, during the first day of sessions, three other discussion sessions focused on the possible contributions of the alliance to the Research and Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) from the point of view of knowledge development, STARS EU curriculum and entrepreneurship. These discussions are based on the diagnosis of this strategy developed by the Regional Transition Accelerator, which was presented during the opening of the conference by its coordinator, Marieke Steenbergen.

Opening

The opening ceremony was led by Samir Jemeï, Vice-President in charge of International relations of the University of Franche-Comté and, in addition to Steenbergen, was attended by the President of the host university, Macha Woronoff, the President of Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Dick Pouwels, and the Vice-President in charge of Higher education & Research of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region, Laëtitia Martinez.

Macha Woronoff recalled that this was the first STARS EU annual conference following the approval in July 2023 of the project submitted to the European Commission, by virtue of which the alliance now has the status of European University. She stressed, however, that STARS EU is not just this project, but a long-term vision that aims to respond to the challenges of the present and the future and to train the leaders of tomorrow who will have to face them.

Dick Pouwels congratulated the host university on the recent celebration of its 600th anniversary and, taking advantage of the fact that Besançon is known as the French capital of watchmaking, told a parable in which the protagonist asked the price of an antique watch he had inherited in different shops, and was told in all of them that it was a cheap object. But when he asked in a watch shop, he was told to his surprise that the price was one million. The moral is that the right place and the right people will give you your real value, hence the importance of recognising your own value, and also the value of other people.

Finally, Laëtitia Martinez explained some initiatives that her region has put in place to bring researchers and decision makers together to find new answers to social, economic and environmental challenges. She also emphasised the need to involve students in the process.

Status of the alliance

As has become customary at each annual meeting, the alliance coordinator, Rima Dijkstra, took stock of the current state of STARS EU, pointing out the goals achieved and also the pending tasks, always with the four main aims of the alliance as a guideline: to develop the European University project; to create a new future-oriented students’ generation, to promote innovative, flexible and diverse challenge-based educational and research systems; and to contribute to green and digital transition and sustainable development of regions.

Thus, with regard to the Regional Transition Accelerator, research on the similarities and complementarities of the partners in the context of RIS3 has been completed, and networking with local and regional stakeholders has begun to be strengthened. Among the challenges, she cited the creation of infrastructures for innovation and entrepreneurship and, in the longer term, making recommendations for a joint policy on regional transition.

On the collaboration in education, addressed by the Curriculum Lab, the STARS EU Competences Catalogue has already been created and a learning community has been built within the alliance. The next steps are the creation of the Future Competences Catalogue and the Joint Micro-Credential Catalogue, as well as weighing up possible joint doctorates and other academic degrees.

Research is covered by the Challenge Lab, and research priorities have been established, several STARS Talks have been held and the STARS EU Seed Grants for joint projects have been developed. The design of the alliance’s list of research needs and the implementation of the technology transfer office are still pending.

The TIGS has already developed a strategic agenda for the next three years and an action plan for 2024-25, hold regular meetings and develop joint initiatives such as projects, papers, courses and events.

Work has also progressed on the implementation of the STARS EU campus, both physically and digitally, and is currently in the comparative study phase for its development. A challenge identified by Dijkstra was the need to increase student mobility by 50% and staff mobility by 40%.

In terms of dissemination and communication, there is already a Communication Plan for the alliance and its adaptation to the nine allied universities, and the first issue of the quarterly newsletter Nova has been published. It now remains to make progress in branding, improving the website and opening the Open Data repository, as well as training in Open Access.

Also highlighted was the activity of the Student Board, which has an action plan for the next academic year and is getting involved in the different working groups of the alliance to ensure that the student perspective is always taken into account.

Among the risks faced by STARS EU, its coordinator pointed out the lack of involvement of staff and students, economic sustainability, mobility, the complexity of legal frameworks for designing joint degrees, and institutional resistance to change, among others.

Finally, the next steps of the partnership are to implement the European project and to apply for Erasmus+, Interreg, Horizon Europe, FP10, national and regional calls for proposals. In the longer term, the legal entity of the partnership will have to be addressed and the extension of the project to more years will have to be tackled.

Other meetings

After the opening, the conference itself got underway, with guest speakers including Karel Haegeman from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, who gave a provocative presentation on the role of universities and innovation in achieving place-based transformation; and on Friday 22nd, Pam Fredman, who presented her WEXSUS (West Sweden Nexus for Sustainable Development) project, which has started in 2024 after several years of preparation, with the aim of creating an “arena” in which universities and local actors collaborate.

In addition, the teams in charge of the tasks of the eight project work packages, the TIGs, the alliance groups, the STARS EU commission and the steering committee were able to advance their work, with the advantage of being able to do so face-to-face and not virtually, as is the norm in the alliance. The in person meetings are assets that not only allow work to progress, but also strengthen links between members, which also has a positive effect on the purely professional side.

That is why the alliance will continue to promote, as far as possible, on-place meetings. The next ones will be on 5 and 6 November at Bremen University of Applied Sciences, to continue monitoring the progress of the European project, and in 2025, on 21 and 22 March for the next annual conference, this time in Albania, organised by the Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës.

(Photo credits: all images in the body of the text have been taken by Nuno Nascimento, from Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. The group photo in the header has been provided by the University of Franche-Comté).

Last week, Bremen University of Applied Sciences (HSB) held a Staff Week with participation of members of all STARS EU partners. The German institution is also running three Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP) independently for the first time. These activities are important building blocks on the way to becoming a European university.

The Staff Week focused on digital working methods at the participating STARS EU universities. Close to 50 experts on e-learning, digital campus and Erasmus Without Paper, as well as teaching staff and researchers from the Thematic Interest Group (TIG) “Digital Transformation“ came together to discuss this complex topic. The aim is to gradually establish a joint digital campus.

The launch of the three Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP) is an important test for the further development of the internationalisation of HSB‘s curricula. Several STARS EU partner universities are involved in these programmes.

The three projects at a glance:

• “Startup Blended Intensive Programme”, School of International Business with Stephan Form together with the University of La Laguna (Spain), Silesian University in Opava (Czech Republic), Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal), University West (Sweden) and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences at Groningen (Netherlands)
• “Sustainable Urban Building Intervention”, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering with Maria Clarke (Architecture) and Thomas Rauscher (Civil Engineering), together with the Polytechnic Institute Bragança (Portugal) and Cracow University of Technology (Poland).
• “Embedded Systems for Mobile Robots”, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, under the responsibility of Martin Hering-Bertram and supported by Sören Peik, together with the Polytechnic Institute Bragança (Portugal) and the Hanze University of Applied Scioences (Netherlands).

In all projects, the students initially start  in online groups and work together on preparatory tasks. In the projects from the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, a total of 15 students from each of the partner universities will come to Bremen for a week later in the semester to work on the practical part of their module and prepare the final presentation.

The practical part of the project of the School of International Business will take place at Groningen with the participation of a total of 25 students from the partner universities involved in these BIP.

The projects are worth six credits. Lecturers from all participating universities are involved with their own contributions and in supervising the group work.

 

On October 30, employees of the Marketing Department of the Cracow University of Technology planted tulip bulbs on the main campus of their institution. This gift from Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands will bloom in Spring with the colours of STARS EU.

Thios act comes few montts after the alliace was awarded with a grant in the Europea Universities call of the European Comission, with 12.4 million eurs of budget.

“We are opening a new chapter in international cooperation. The allocated funds will allow us to face the scientific and social challenges of the 21st century even more effectively. By cooperating with partners and learning from each other’s good practices, we will strengthen the quality of education and research at PK, not only on a regional or national scale, but also on a European scale” said Dariusz Bogdał, the University’s Vice-Rector for Science, and chief coordinator of STARS EU at Cracow University of Technology.

With only ten days left until the deadline for the Erasmus+ 2023 European Universities call, the STARS EU Alliance partners have met in Crakow (Poland) to finalise the work started several months ago on the design of the application for funding. The Cracow University of Technology, with its Vicechancellor of Research, Dariusz Bogdal, as respresentative and organizer, held this Steering Comitee meeting during two intensive days of working, 19th and 20th of January.

Fort he first time, the Erasmus+ 2023 European Universities call is open for participation as full partners in the alliances to higher education institutions from all Western Balkans countries, and STARS EU is proud to apply with the Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës (Albania). Moreover, this is the first time that our French partner, University of Franche-Comté (France), participate in the call as a full integrated partner.

The Steering Comitee has dedicated these two intense days of work to review the actions carried out during these years of the Alliance; to adjust the actions to be developed in the new four-year period, marked by this call, to the objectives; and to update the ongoing tasks to the incorporation of the new partners.

The new call also offers the opportunity for STARS EU to renew energy and introduce new work packages, in line with the experience acquired, the needs generated by regional realities and the guidelines set by the EU in its policies and objectives.

During this meeting, professor Valeriy Yaschuk, from the department of General Physics at the Nationa Taras Shevchenko University from Kyiv, an associated partner of STARS EU, presented his university’s key figures and the results of his team’s recent research on biological physics, more concretely on telomers structure and function.

The members of the STARS EU alliance plan to keep a strong collaboration with this university and with Prof. Yaschuk’s team in the context of the TIG on Healthy Ageing. They also expressed their sympathy to their Ukrainian colleague for the current situation in his country and conveyed to him their best wishes and their desire for a prompt termination of the war.

The spirit of the STARS EU alliance is strongly Europeanist, of public service, by accelerating the transition to a green and digital model for making our future sustainable, following the 2030 Agenda and always having citizenship at the centre of its actions.

This new Erasmus+ call for proposals will continue the rollout of the European Universities initiative with a record total budget of €387.2 million.

The European Universities’ work encompasses all higher education institutions’ missions of education, research, innovation and service to society. These alliances have diverse models of systemic, structural and sustainable transnational cooperation which reinforce the quality, performance, attractiveness and international competitiveness of higher education across Europe, for the benefit of their students and staff, while promoting our democratic values.