The launch of the first edition of the STARS EU Student Case Competition brought together yesterday (Monday, April 20) around one hundred people at Hanze University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), including students, faculty, university staff, and STARS EU ambassadors. Participants have joined this first training initiative, which brings together the nine member universities .

The opening day of this pilot experience, which combines collaborative work with practical learning and international exchange to promote skill development and teamwork, was marked by the arrival of participating teams and the first program activities.

The event began with the registration and reception of students, followed by an institutional welcome led by Dick Pouwels, general coordinator of the alliance and president of Hanze’s Executive Board, together with Mira Bloemen-Bekx and Heinrich Naumann.

First contacts

Afterwards, teams were assigned to their respective working divisions, where they had the opportunity to meet and establish initial contact before sharing a group lunch. The day continued with a social activity in the afternoon, preceded by a group photo that brought all participants together.

The program taking place over these days also promotes intercultural communicationand analytical skills in different contexts. To achieve this, participants—organized into nine international teams—will work and develop solutions under pressure, which they will present in the coming days to an international jury made up of academic staff and industry experts.

Active involvement of partners

This STARS EU initiative has achieved active involvement from the nine partner universities, which have sent their student teams accompanied by their respective tutors, helping to strengthen the alliance’s international and collaborative nature.

The universities participating in this pioneering experience, in addition to the host institution (Hanze University of Applied Sciences), are: University West (Sweden); Bragança Polytechnic University (Portugal); University of La Laguna (Spain); Silesian University in Opava (Czechia); Aleksandër Moisiu University in Durrës (Albania); Cracow University of Technology (Poland); Hochschule Bremen – City University of Applied Sciences (Germany); and the University Marie and Louis Pasteur (France).

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STARS-Health partners focused their latest international working meeting (23–24 March 2026), held at the Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic, on the next stages of project implementation.

The meeting brought together representatives of the STARS EU project consortium from the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the Czech Republic over two days. During this time, partners reviewed progress achieved so far, shared updates from the different work areas, and coordinated the next actions.

Particular attention was given to key project activities, including needs analysis, the development and adaptation of digital tools, as well as the preparation of educational and support activities for caregivers. The programme included working sessions, presentations of preliminary results, and discussions on upcoming pilot testing and the practical implementation of project outcomes.

The meeting held in Opava marked another important milestone in the collaboration of the consortium, composed of five STARS EU members, and helped further strengthen joint work on solutions applicable to real-life health and care settings.

 

*STARS-Health is a project funded by the European Partnership on Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS).

STARS EU will host an innovative training experience from April 20 to 24 at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen (The Netherlands), bringing together students, faculty, and staff from its nine member universities for the first time. The aim of the first edition of the STARS EU Student Case Competition is for participants to work on real business cases, mainly focused on the challenges faced by family businesses.

The planned program combines collaborative work with practical learning and international exchange to promote skills development, teamwork, intercultural communication, and analytical abilities in different contexts.

To this end, the participants, organized into nine international teams, must develop solutions under time pressure and present them to an international jury of academic and industry experts. The activity is structured into intensive preparation, problem-solving, and presentation sessions, alongside interactive spaces designed to strengthen shared learning.

Pilot experience

The initiative, conceived as a pilot experience, represents a milestone within the alliance, as it is the first training activity in which representatives from the entire academic community participate together. With it, the aim is to consolidate the foundations for developing this type of initiative, which could be gradually and rotationally implemented at each of the member universities.

The program will conclude with a final day, during which the work produced by each team will be presented and awards will be given to the best teams and participants.

The participating institutions, in addition to the organizing university (Hanze University of Applied Sciences), include University West (Sweden); Bragança Polytechnic University (Portugal); University of La Laguna (Spain); Silesian University in Opava (Czechia); Aleksandër Moisiu University in Durrës (Albania); Cracow University of Technology (Poland); Hochschule Bremen – City University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and Marie and Louis Pasteur University (France).

In addition to the competition, the event will feature a social and cultural program designed to foster networking, collaboration, and intercultural exchange among participants.

With this initiative, STARS EU takes a significant step forward in promoting joint training activities that strengthen collaboration between its universities and create new learning opportunities in an international environment.

The University of La Laguna (Spain) hosted the live session of a BIP course on Machine Learning for Data Science for a week at the end of January. This is the third edition of the course and the first time the Spanish institution has hosted its in-person portion, specifically at its School of Engineering and Technology.

Around thirty students from institutions linked to this BIP attended: Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), Hochschule Bremen-City University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Bragança Polytechnic University (Portugal) and the University of La Laguna itself, all part of STARS EU. Students from the Celso Suckow Federal Center for Technological Education in Fonseca (Brazil) also joined .

During the opening session, professors Juan Albino Méndez and Rafael Arnay, both from the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering at the University of La Laguna, presented the program for this week’s work, which focused primarily on mentoring practical projects developed in groups by the 32 participating students to be presented on Friday, January 23. Two seminars were also held: one on data analysis using Knime software and another on machine learning in energy systems.

This BIP on Machine Learning in Data Science is worth 6 credits, corresponding to 60 hours of work, both in-person and online. During this practical week, students developed a hands-on Machine Learning project using real data provided by the instructors. They applied the methodologies described during the online instruction to develop a model that solved the proposed problem.

The course has been designed to explore different Machine Learning techniques , from basic concepts to advanced methods, and learn how to apply them to analyze complex datasets and extract meaningful information.

At the end of the course, students should be able to, among other objectives, discern what type of solution should be used; establish a chronological and functional view of AI techniques and their connections with other sciences; know the main models and implement them to solve practical problems; understand the limitations and advantages of computational intelligence techniques; and adapt AI techniques to specific case studies, for example, Pattern Recognition problems.

In addition to the aforementioned Juan Albino Méndez and Rafael Arnay from ULL, the teaching was provided by Uta Bohnebeck (Bremen); Rui Pedro Lopes (Braganza); Meriecke Bouma and Remi Thüss ( Hanze ); and Eduardo Bezerra (Fonseca), many of whom also traveled to Tenerife to tutor the face-to-face work .

Science that reaches society, research that crosses countries and projects that mark the future. This is how STARS EU participated  in the European Researchers’ Night, an event held simultaneously in 25 countries and more than 460 cities to showcase science in a more informative and approachable way.

As the general coordinator of the alliance Dick Pouwels highlighted, for all the members of STARS EU it is very important that “research does not stay within universities, but that we put our experience and knowledge at the service of society”. And a good example of this are the research initiatives that allow the public to approach three key areas: healthy ageing, clean energy and entrepreneurship with a European impact.

Health and technology for the elderly

The researcher at the University of La Laguna, Sara Darias-Curvo, presented a project (STARS-Health) focused on improving digital literacy and health of the elderly, especially in rural areas. The aim of the project, in which several STARS partners are involved, is to adapt existing applications to the real needs of these people to facilitate their day-to-day lives and that of their caregivers. “The first thing is to listen to the population and then design tailor-made solutions,” Darias stressed.

Hydrogen, the energy of tomorrow

From the French region of Franche-Comté, the researcher at the Marie et Louis Pasteur University (France), Samir Jemei, and the dean Jan Jaap Aué, from the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), showed how they work on sustainable mobility, electrolysis and energy storage, united by a common horizon: to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The key?, the international collaboration:  “By sharing knowledge, we learn from each other and accelerate change.”

Entrepreneurship with European impact

The third axis of the night was entrepreneurship, by researcher Ariola Arizi, from Aleksander Moisiu University (Albania), the alma mater of the BETTER project. Backed by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, its initiative supports startups, students and researchers in sustainability, digitalisation and health. “We are training the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators and, to do this, international collaboration is essential in opening up opportunities for all.”

Europe, a network of collaboration

The event left a common and forceful message: research is not an isolated matter, but a living tool to transform the present and the future. When Europe works together, the speakers agreed,  it empowers people and transforms their regions, the motto and spirit of STARS EU.

Take a look at this special evening and discover our projects through the voices of their own protagonists.

The STARS-Health Project, part of the STARS EU framework, recently presented its roadmap to guide older adults in the use of digital health management services, thereby contributing more effectively to reducing health inequalities among the senior population.

Led by Hanze University of Applied Sciences, together with the universities of La Laguna (Spain), West (Sweden), Silesian (Czech Republic) and Bragança (Portugal), STARS-Health officially began its journey with a workshop held in Groningen (the Netherlands). The event also included an online launch, joined by patient organisations, healthcare professionals, educators and researchers.

Opening the session, Rima Dijkstra, STARS EU coordinator, highlighted the importance of collaboration in initiatives of this kind, which are so vital to society. This was further emphasised by Prof. Dr Hans Hobbelen, researcher and professor at Hanze University of Applied Sciences, who warned about the growing number of older adults against a backdrop of a progressively shrinking healthcare workforce — a challenge that underlines the urgent need for projects such as this.

The session continued with presentations, follow-up and updates on the project — developed within the framework of the Thematic Interest Group (TIG) Healthy Ageing — led by the different Work Package leaders. Throughout, participants reaffirmed their strong commitment to the shared mission: to empower older adults with low health literacy by improving access to and use digital services.

Project phases

The first phase of STARS-Health focuses on analysing the current situation of older adults, informal caregivers and healthcare professionals struggling with digital tools. The second phase involves conducting interviews in Sweden, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal.

The project will only select digital applications that meet strict usability criteria for older adults, co-create a digital environment in which users and professionals can jointly select the most suitable apps, and develop training programmes to support professionals in guiding both older adults and their caregivers.

In addition to the professionals involved, students will play an active role by identifying and classifying apps in their own countries — a clear example of co-creation in action. STARS-Health will also collaborate with @Label2Enable and other European initiatives such as #Care about IT, #Health Noord, #HealthTech in Society and #Proeftuin Toegankelijke Digitale Zorg, which work towards more accessible and inclusive digital healthcare. These synergies broaden the project’s reach and reinforce its impact across Europe.

Research team

The project’s research team, comprising five of the nine partners of STARS EU along with the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS), is led by Prof. Dr Johannes Hobbelen and Dr. Sandra Jorna-Lakke (Hanze University of Applied Sciences); Margareta Karlsson (University West); Rui Pedro Lopes (Polytechnic Institute of Bragança); Sara Darias-Curvo (University of La Laguna); Markéta Skalná (Silesian University in Opava); and Lilisbeth Perestelo-Pérez (Canary Islands Health Service).

STARS-Health will run for three years with funding of €912,060, granted by the European Partnership on Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS). This is a co-funded action under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Framework Programme (2021–2027) of the European Union.

The University of La Laguna is actively participating in a research project that the STARS EU alliance of European universities, of which the university is a member, will soon launch to improve the capacity of elderly patients with poorer health and limited digital literacy. The initiative, called STARS- Health, is led by the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, along with the University of La Laguna, the University West, the Polytechnic University of Braganza, and the Silesian University in Opava .

The main objective of STARS-Health is to help older patients understand and use digital services to prevent and manage health conditions, empower patients, and improve communication with their caregivers. All these measures are ultimately aimed at reducing inequalities in access to healthcare, the ultimate goal of STARS- Health , a European-funded project with a total budget of nearly one million euros.

To achieve the stated goals, as explained by the project researchers at the University of La Laguna (ULL), Ángel Acebes Vindel, professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, and Sara Darias -Curvo, professor in the Department of Nursing, an application called FindMyApps, originally developed for people with mild dementia, will be redesigned and adapted for older adults with lower health and digital literacy (LHDL). In addition to this application, the project addresses the development of training programs for caregivers in primary, hospital, and community care settings.

In the integrated care process, it is essential to consider a series of specific care needs. That is why STARS- Health starts by identifying the needs of elderly patients with LHDL, as well as those of their caregivers; reviewing digital services designed for these individuals; redesigning and implementing FindMyApps; and providing specialized communication training for professionals specializing in the care of the elderly.

As the STARS- Health team at the University of La Laguna (ULL) explains, developed within the framework of the Healthy Aging Thematic Interest Group (TIG) of the alliance, its results will not only impact the health of older adults with low-grade dysplasia (LHDL), but will also help alleviate pressure on health centers and primary care facilities, as well as improve communication between patients and caregivers. «The goal is to promote secondary and tertiary prevention in primary, hospital, and community care for these individuals,» the ULL researchers emphasize.

Promotion of new prevention strategies

The initiative will also promote new prevention strategies and improve equity in access to healthcare, especially for residents of rural areas. Another benefit would be the potential reduction of pressure on the healthcare and social services system, resulting from improved performance and job satisfaction among caregivers thanks to the use of support tools.

It’s important to recognize that caregivers support patients in managing their own health through the use of digital tools, such as apps, health portals, and monitoring devices. Many of these caregivers and patients struggle to find, understand, or use health information in digital media, so they need an integrated and effective healthcare system that guides them from hospitals to community care services.

The fact that 42% of the European population has a low level of health literacy affects the quality of care, increases pressure on healthcare systems, and exacerbates inequalities, especially in rural areas. Recent data indicate that lower health literacy among patients is linked to a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, hospitalizations, and doctor visits, which puts pressure on secondary and tertiary prevention programs within the healthcare system.

The project’s research team, which includes five of the nine partners that make up STARS EU, is headed by Sandra Jorna-Lakke (Hanze ), the project leader and coordinator, along with Hans Hobbelen , from Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands); Margareta Karlsson , from the University West (Sweden); Rui Pedro Lopes , from the Polytechnic University of Bragança (Portugal); Sara Darias -Curvo and Ángel Acebes, from the University of La Laguna (Spain); and Yvetta Vrublova , from the Silesian University in Opava (Czech Republic), together with the Canary Islands Health Service of the Government of the Canary Islands, represented by Lilisbeth Perestelo – Pérez.

STARS- Health , which begins next April, will last three years and has received €912,060 in funding from the European Partnership for the Transformation of Health and Care Systems (THCS). This co-financed action is part of the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme for the period 2021-2027.

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).

The upcoming Staff Week about Healthy Ageing organized by the Center of Expertise Healthy Ageing at the Hanze University in Groningen, will be held from Monday June 10  to Friday, June 14, 2024.

This event aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices among professors and regional stakeholders in the field of Healthy Ageing ans it’s exclusively dedicated to staff members of the STARS EU alliance.  Applications are open for approximately 5 individuals per partner, with an expected total of 45-50 participants.

Registration and additional information

During the first week of March nine representatives from the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança visited the Hanze University of Applied Sciences at Groningen, following the works within the STARS EU alliance.

Ther were several eetings at the schools of Law, Engineering, Communication, and Business & Marketing, whch  sparked inspiring discussions on potential education and research collaborations. There was also time for a captivating city tour, showcasing Groningen’s charm and culture.