Silesian University in Opava (SUO), Czechia, and Bragança Polytechnic University (IPB), Portugal, have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen academic, scientific, and pedagogical cooperation between the two institutions.

The agreement was signed by Orlando Rodrigues, President of IPB, and Tomáš Gongol, Rector of SUO, during an institutional visit of the Czech delegation to Portugal held between 26 and 30 April 2025. The delegation also included representatives of the SUO’s School of Business Administration in Karviná, led by Dean Roman Šperka.

One of the most important outcomes of the visit is the preparation of the School of Business Administration in Karviná for its first-ever double degree program. The new program, “Master in Product and Process Innovation”, currently undergoing the accreditation process, will allow students to obtain two diplomas in cooperation with the Portuguese partner institution. The first students could enroll as early as September 2027.

During the visit, the delegation participated in meetings with representatives of IPB schools, research centers, and innovation structures, including CeDRI, UNIAG, Brigantia EcoPark, MORE CoLAB, and the AquaValor Water Technology Transfer Center. Discussions focused on student and staff mobility, applied research, Living Labs, innovation, entrepreneurship, and practice-based learning methodologies.

“IPB makes full use of its regional context. Local challenges are transformed into opportunities for cooperation, research, and innovation. They build multidisciplinary teams, precisely the kind of approach that is needed,” said Rector of SUO, Tomáš Gongol. Dean Roman Šperka highlighted the shared educational vision of both institutions: “We are creating new opportunities for study programs taught in English while building on the Team Academy concept.”

The cooperation further strengthens the growing collaboration among STARS EU partner institutions and supports the alliance’s commitment to internationalization, innovative education, academic mobility, and regional impact across Europe.

Around 80 academics and professionals from 15 universities across 10 countries — including France, Sweden, Portugal, Turkey, and the Netherlands — gathered for the second edition of the Staff Week at Silesian University in Opava. The event, held from May 12 to 16 at the School of Business Administration in Karviná, featured working meetings, strategic discussions, and thematic workshops aligned with the main initiatives of STARS EU.

Designed to strengthen the ties within the alliance, the central activity of this 5th International Week  placed special emphasis on the STARS EU (Strategic Alliance for Regional Transition), thus reaffirming the university’s commitment to collaborative innovation and internationalization in higher education. Key topics addressed included STARS EU priorities such as the development of the digital campus, traineeships, Living Labs, and joint programs.

The academic program featured lectures and workshops delivered in English to SBA students, focusing on educational innovation, curriculum internationalization, and regional development. Highlights included talks by Joaquim Leite (Bragança Polytechnic University, Portugal) on digital tools for corporate performance and citation strategies, and Ipek Eker (Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey) on co-creative learning models.

Other engaging topics were presented by Roman Zajíc (MSIC), who analyzed the university’s role in regional innovation ecosystems, and Jos Beelen (The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands) together with Eva Janebová (Czech Mestenhauser Institute), who discussed embedding internationalization into curricula through both formal and hidden teaching pathways.

The event welcomed participants from the STARS EU Steering Committee, the Regional Transition Accelerator, the Curriculum Lab (joint courses, BIPs, degrees, micro-credentials), and the Co-Creation Campus, as well as from Thematic Interest Groups (TIGs) on Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Digital Transformation.

Immersive cultural experiences

Beyond academic exchange, the event offered immersive cultural experiences, including a guided tour of the city of Karviná and a visit to POHO Park—an innovative project transforming a former mining area into a hub for education and community engagement. Networking continued in more informal settings and concluded with a gala dinner, closing a week of meaningful connections.

Roman Šperka, Dean of the Faculty, emphasized that the International Week aimed to connect educators from different countries to share teaching practices, explore joint research, and develop new forms of collaboration. Particularly noteworthy was the students’ direct interaction with international lecturers, which enriched their academic experience.

The STARS EU Staff Week once again demonstrated the value of international cooperation in higher education. It strengthened institutional ties within the alliance and brought fresh perspectives to the teaching and research environment. With enthusiastic participation from faculty and more than 100 students, the event reaffirmed the university’s active role as a driver of European regional transformation through education and innovation.

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 Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, the Silesian University in Opava and the Bremen University of Applied Sciences are partners, together with the National Institute of Administration and the FEFAL Foundation, of the INNlocal project, whose kick-off event took place last December 2023 at the Communication, Administration and Tourism School in Mirandela of the Portuguese institution of higher learning.

The aim of this project is to create practical solutions that adapt to the needs of society, with a view to new local public policies capable of facing increasingly current challenges such as environmental sustainability, diversity and inclusion and citizenship and participation.

The official kick-off was attended by representatives from all partners, and it was focused on discussing the mission of this project, which appears within the scope of the European consortium STARS EU.

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 12 and 13, Hanze University in Groningen hosted STARS EU partner from Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic. A delegation of the Silesian University brought a working visit to Hanze UAS.  On Friday they visited -as a part of a wider programme- the Centre for Talent and Learning of Hanze to share ideas about talent development of both students and employees and to learn about the Honours program of Hanze. Both partners discussed the varying approaches to ‘excellence’ within the framework of inclusivity and exclusivity.

Michaela Weiss, vice-rector of Silesian University in Opava for Student and Social Affairs: “It is time to explore new directions of talent recognition and management in education. Due to immense social and cultural changes, we now have to prepare students for roles and careers that might still not exist. As such, we need to redefine the whole concept of talent to recognize and develop the skills of the future, specifically flexibility, commitment to continuous learning, and communication. Such challenging tasks cannot be undertaken by an individual or a single institution. We are therefore grateful to be a member of the STARS EU alliance, which provides a platform for a fruitful dialogue and mutual growth. Together with our partners, we are now forming learning communities and designing a systematic approach to talents and lifelong-learning experience of both students and staff, which would benefit the individuals, communities, as well as regions.”

On April 24 – 23, 2023, the School of Business Administration of the Silesian University in Opava (SU SBA), Czechia, played host to an exceptional event: the first edition of the STARS EU Staff Week. Held in conjunction with the International Week event of the SU SBA, the Staff Week brought together professionals from nine higher education institutions associated with the STARS EU Alliance. The event aimed to foster collaboration, share best practices, and establish new connections among engaged universities. With over 70 participants from 14 different countries and 20 foreign universities, the event was a resounding success.

Opening day

The opening ceremony commenced with a warm welcome from Tomáš Gongol, the newly appointed Rector of Silesian University. He highlighted the significance of the STARS EU Alliance as a strategic focus for the university and expressed his delight in hosting the event. Roman Šperka, the Dean of the School of Business Administration, followed with an informative presentation on the university and its hosting School. Jana Šimáková, the Vice-Dean for International Relations, extended a warm welcome on behalf of the organizing team, wishing all participants a productive and rewarding week in Karviná.

Rima Dijkstra, the alliance leader from Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, shared an insightful overview of the STARS EU Alliance. Rima highlighted the alliance’s focus on addressing common societal challenges and themes such as demographic change, future competencies, industrial transition, and sustainability. The presentation also introduced the alliance’s cooperation structures, joint projects, and ambitious plans for the future, including e.g. the establishment of a “Technology Transfer Office” or “Future Lab”.

Daniel Stavárek, the Vice-Rector for Science and International Relations at Silesian University, delivered an informative presentation on the European Universities Initiative. He discussed the benefits of EU Alliances, the challenges associated with funding and governance, and emphasized the need for coordinated efforts and improved financial support for alliance activities.

One of the highlights of the day was an interactive world café session facilitated by Rima Dijkstra. This session encouraged participants to engage in lively discussions. The characteristics of a European University and ways to contribute to its establishment were explored. Ideas for increased student mobility, harmonized quality management systems, and more opportunities for lifelong learners were among some other topics discussed. The session sparked creative thinking and fostered a sense of shared STARS EU vision among all the participants.

Following up on the word café, Niels Hexspoor from Palacký University in Olomouc, a member of the Aurora Alliance, shared his experience and insights. Aurora, established in 2016, is a consortium of 10 research-intensive universities dedicated to social impact and community engagement. Niels emphasized the importance of proper organization, student engagement, and building strong relationships within the alliance. He advised setting realistic targets, not forgetting to involve IT staff and always thinking of backup plans. He also stressed the need for a dedicated team who can work for the alliance full-time to ensure successful completion of tasks and reminded participants that the alliance is a long-term commitment, not just a project with an end date.

Working group meetings

During the STARS EU Staff Week, 5 working groups met to discuss important topics and explore opportunities for collaboration within the STARS EU Alliance. All working group meetings, including the Steering Committee meeting, were organised in a hybrid format, i.e. with the possibility to connect online via MS Teams.

The STARS EU officers group focused on integrating the alliance into member organizations, emphasizing the need for regular meetings and better internal communication. They also agreed to connect with the Communication managers group to explore joint activities.

The Strategy advisers group delved into strategy development, highlighting the significance of internationalization and European values. They shared concrete ideas on involving more colleagues in the alliance and emphasized the importance of top management support. Joint research projects, student and staff mobility, and utilizing platforms like BIPs were identified as key areas for success. Engaging students through podcasts, interviews, and social media was also suggested.

The E-learning experts group compared information and e-learning systems used by alliance members, acknowledging both similarities and differences in support structures and resources. They discussed the possibility of creating a shared platform for accessing courses based on different students’ identities and would like to focus on the concept of a virtual campus in the following discussions.

The Erasmus without paper group, comprising mostly international relations officers, focused on student and staff mobilities. They discussed the sharing of study courses and programs within the alliance and examined each university’s mobility system. The functionality of platforms varied among institutions, leading also to discussions on centralized and decentralized approaches to inter-institutional agreements.

Other speakers and cultural program

The event was enriched by the valuable contributions of other speakers. Diederich Bakker from Hanze University of Applied Sciences shared his expertise in teaching abroad and working with students from diverse cultures. How does cooperation between universities and innovation agencies help support entrepreneurship in regions undergoing transition? Adéla Píchová from the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre came to talk about this topic.

The event also featured an engaging social and cultural program. Participants enjoyed a visit to Marlenka cake factory in Frýdek-Místek, explored the Leaning Church of St. Peter of Alcantara, took a tour of Karviná, and even had the opportunity play golf. The memorable gala dinner was held at Petrovice Chateau nearby Karviná.

For a detailed programme, photo gallery, reports and more information about the event please visit go.slu.cz/intweek.

We look forward to meeting again for the next STARS EU Staff Week planned for 20-24 November 2023 in Bremen, Germany!

The Erasmus+ face to face week of Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) took place in Bragança (Portugal) from 23^rd to 27^th of January.

Students from the four STARS EU partners -Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB, Portugal), Hanze University of Applied Sciences (HUAS, The Netherlands), Silesian University in Opava (Czechia) and University of La Laguna (Spain)- had the face to face component of BIP – Challenge-Based Innovation course 2022/2023, together with other participants, as Universidad de Almería (Spain), Kaunas University of Technology and Šiauliai State University of Applied Sciences (Lithuania), and Medical University Wroclaw (Poland).

The partners professors of IPB, HUAS, SU, and ULL enabled the students to develop their projects ideas, with workshops about interviews, storytelling concept and the perfect pitch. This on-site week was the last stage of a semester of work involving different institutions and external business partners.

Students had the opportunity to improve their ideas being challenged, which resulted in a week of creativity and problem-solving skills. The last day, all the groups presented their Final Pitch, were they reported all the outcomes from the entire semester, and could realize the high increase of knowledge curve in a few days.

The next edition BIP – Challenge Based Innovation group, the online component, will start in April of 2023, and the face to face week is booked to the last week of June of 2023 broadening the participation of professors and students to other STARS EU partners.