Aurora Opportunities

This winter, UI staff and students can partake in an online cycle of workshops, training events, and open seminars designed to foster awareness, skills, and discussion on the practical implementation of Open Science and Citizen Science across Aurora universities.  

Events in the cycle will be conducted online in English and take place from November 2025 to May 2026 with the concluding final seminar being held in person in May 2026 at the Aurora Annual Conference in Duisburg-Essen.  

The events schedule and additional information on the cycle and can be found below. 

Please register for the cycle or individual sessions through this link.

Open Science and Citizen Science: From Principles to Practices Seminars, Workshop, Training Events (2025-2026) 

Running from November 2025 to May 2026, the series blends structured learning, hands-on training, and thematic debates. It is conceived as a coherent path to empower doctoral and master students, early-career researchers, and academic staff with the knowledge, competencies, and ethical awareness needed to integrate Open and Citizen Science practices in research and teaching. 

Schedule 

• Workshop - Best Practices in OS and CS  - 4 November 2025  - Hybrid  
• Training Event 1  - Research Data Management, FAIR, Ethics in CS - 18 December 2025 - Online  
• Training Event 2  - Open-Source Software, Workflows, Licensing  - 23 January 2026  - Online  
• Open Seminar 1  - Open Data, Open Access in Teaching, CS in Higher Education - 20 February 2026 - Online  
• Training Event 3  - OS in scholarly communication  - 26 March 2026  - Online  
• Open Seminar 2 - Legal and Ethical Challenges in OS and CS  - 16 April 2026  - Online  
• Open Seminar 3 - The role of OS and CS in AI and innovation - 18-21 May 2026 - In-person (Aurora Annual Conference, Duisburg-Essen)  

Course description:

This course joins together real-world volunteering experiences with knowledge and theory on civic participation. The course is offered by the Faculty of Education and Diversity at the University of Iceland in collaboration with the Red Cross in Iceland.  

The course discusses volunteering and the social, educational and psychological theories that have been associated with this type of civic participation. It also discusses the motivations for such participation and gender differences in this regard. Finally, it discusses important aspects of the organization and structure of volunteering that are conducive to participants experiencing a sense of purpose in participating and are more likely to volunteer in the future. Students will also have the opportunity to experience volunteering firsthand and participate in work at institutions and non-governmental organizations that provide assistance to people with social equality and welfare as their guiding principles.

See the course in the UGLA course catalogue

Course structure and assessment

Students attend a session at the beginning of the course where they are introduced to the Icelandic Red Cross volunteer work, its values and goals. Over the course of the semester, students will then participate in volunteer activities with the Red cross. During their participation, students will keep a journal where they reflect on their volunteer experience. In discussion sessions, the experience is put into context with specific concepts or ideologies. At the end of the semester, students submit a report on their participation in which they explain their experience and put it in an academic context, as well as discussing how it can be useful to them in their work in the field of education and welfare.

To register, please fill in this form before 15 June 2026

For inquiries about the course, please contact aurora@hi.is or the main course instructor, Juan Camillo.

Course description:

This is a BIP course (Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program) with weekly hybrid sessions from September to November and an on-site week on 26-30 October 2026, where students get to experience hands-on learning in the MATÍS lab.  

This BIP course is delivered by the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Iceland in collaboration with the Faculty of Oenology at University of Rovira i Virgili and the Department of Chemical Biology at Palacký University Olomouc. Furthermore, the course is delivered in collaboration with MATÍS (Iceland Food and Biotech R&D).

In this course, students are introduced to biotechnology with a particular emphasis on its application in the food industry. The course covers the fundamental concepts of biotechnology, its development, and how the targeted use of living organisms, especially microorganisms, has created new opportunities to produce foods, ingredients, and bioactive compounds in an efficient and more sustainable manner.

The course integrates foundational knowledge in genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, and microbiology with key methods in molecular biology and genetic engineering. Selective breeding is introduced as the earliest form of biotechnology, followed by an overview of how modern genetic engineering enables more targeted and efficient modifications than traditional approaches. In addition, the course addresses bioinformatics, advances in genome sequencing, and the use of genetic databases that form the basis of modern biotechnology.

Particular emphasis is placed on examples from current research and industry, providing students with a clear understanding of how theoretical knowledge in biotechnology is directly applied to the development of foods, raw materials, and sustainable production processes. Upon completion of the course, students will understand how biotechnology is applied in the modern food industry and the scientific and technological foundations that enable innovation and value creation.

See more information in the UGLA course catalogue 

Course description:

Students will gain an insight into the newest research and developments within the marine resources sector, including new product development, technological and processing advances, novel analytical quality assessment techniques, as well as obtain a holistic view of the many aspects affecting seafood processing and handling, all from the effects of catching/harvesting ground to the development of marine products and their effect on the human body during their consumption.

Amongst covered topics are processing novelties and optimization, robotics and automation within seafood processing, technical advances in quality analytics, novelties in product development including 3D food printing from marine resources, fish protein and peptide processing, micro-plastics hazards in the marine food chains, marine bioactive compounds, as well as characterization, processing and product development of marine raw materials and underutilized side streams.  

Learning outcomes:

After completing this course students should be able to:

Describe the newest developments within technological, processing and product development of marine raw materials

Identify and describe the main processing steps and their effect on quality and safety of marine products

Identify side streams and underutilized raw materials from marine resources

Discuss possible product developments of underutilized raw materials from marine resources

Discuss and critically assess environmental and health impacts on marine products, such as the introduction of micro-plastics into the food chain etc.

Demonstrate familiarity with the newest products development trends from marine resources, such as 3D printing, fish protein processing and more.

Apply and evaluate gained knowledge in a case-based project and report writing

See more information in the UGLA course catalogue 

Course description:

In this course students develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between environmental science and financial markets. Students learn current methods for structuring green and sustainable finance frameworks, issuance process, certification.  

This course covers main methods and concepts related to impact reports. Students learn how sustainable finance frameworks are used in practice after issuance within financial institutions. This course covers ESG risk assessments, main methods and practical use in the investment process and portfolio structuring. This course covers main indicators reported by financial institutions regarding their loan and investment portfolios, i.e., GAR (green asset ratio) and BTAR (book taxonomy aligned ratio). This course covers different types of climate risks as defined by the TCFD (Task force on climate related financial disclosures). Students learn about responsible and impact investment methodologies and the goals investors seek using such methodologies. This course covers the legal requirements regarding disclosures, in particular the EU Taxonomy and related regulations. Students learn about financed emissions using the PCAF methodology (Partnership for carbon accounting financials). This course will also cover the relationship between the insurance sector and sustainability.

Learning outcomes:

Students understand main concepts and KPI’s related to sustainable finance.

Students can structure a sustainable finance framework and understand main methods used for impact reports.

Students understand main laws and regulations related to sustainable finance

Students understand the benefits and drawbacks of ESG risk assessments and can put those to practical use.

Students can use sustainability disclosures to structure investment portfolios.

See more information in the UGLA course catalogue

Course description:

The main purpose of this course is to provide participants with opportunities to critically analyse institutional and systems approaches based on different types of leadership and ideas of expertise. The concepts of professionalism and professional identity in leadership will be examined, particularly in the field of education and topic on sustainable development. Wicked problems will be defined and discussed, possible solutions identified and what could prevent their progress and how outcomes could be evaluated. Issues of professional learning for change and leadership including taking actions will be discussed and connected to the UN SDGs and eight key competences for sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Attention will be given to professional capital for sustainability with some focus on integrative learning, linking thinking skills and content. The final topic will be a professional development plan putting reflection and self-assessment into structured private plan.

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course students can:

demonstrate knowledge and understanding of issues and models related to institutional and systems approaches

differentiate threats and opportunities when working with sustainability in different institutions

analyse relations among different institutions from a systems approach and apply concepts such as resilience and adaptability.

demonstrate familiarity with a range of models and research related to sustainability

identify wicked problems inherent in different institutions and on the systemic level

can engage in difficult dialogue and work with controversial issues in writing and oral debate

debate ideas on change management and educational action for sustainability and related problems and solutions with both specialist and non-specialist audiences

state a position or present objections, scrutinize assumptions and implications of different ethical perspectives

engage in and interpret academic readings showing autonomy in dialogue within and beyond own subject field

See the course in the UGLA course catalogue

This winter, UI staff and students can partake in an online cycle of workshops, training events, and open seminars designed to foster awareness, skills, and discussion on the practical implementation of Open Science and Citizen Science across Aurora universities.  

Events in the cycle will be conducted online in English and take place from November 2025 to May 2026 with the concluding final seminar being held in person in May 2026 at the Aurora Annual Conference in Duisburg-Essen.  

The events schedule and additional information on the cycle and can be found below. 

Please register for the cycle or individual sessions through this link.

Open Science and Citizen Science: From Principles to Practices Seminars, Workshop, Training Events (2025-2026) 

Running from November 2025 to May 2026, the series blends structured learning, hands-on training, and thematic debates. It is conceived as a coherent path to empower doctoral and master students, early-career researchers, and academic staff with the knowledge, competencies, and ethical awareness needed to integrate Open and Citizen Science practices in research and teaching. 

Schedule 

• Workshop - Best Practices in OS and CS  - 4 November 2025  - Hybrid  
• Training Event 1  - Research Data Management, FAIR, Ethics in CS - 18 December 2025 - Online  
• Training Event 2  - Open-Source Software, Workflows, Licensing  - 23 January 2026  - Online  
• Open Seminar 1  - Open Data, Open Access in Teaching, CS in Higher Education - 20 February 2026 - Online  
• Training Event 3  - OS in scholarly communication  - 26 March 2026  - Online  
• Open Seminar 2 - Legal and Ethical Challenges in OS and CS  - 16 April 2026  - Online  
• Open Seminar 3   - The role of OS and CS in AI and innovation  - 18-21 May 2026  - In-person (Aurora Annual Conference, Duisburg-Essen)  

This Lunch Talk Series is a monthly online space dedicated to sharing experiences, exchanging ideas, and discussing key topics in the field of internationalisation across and among the Aurora institutions.

The Lunch Talk are designed as an informal, interactive get-together where we can learn from one another and explore good practices emerging across the alliance. Each session will start with a presentation by two selected experts followed by a Q&A -we encourage active participation!

When and where?

The Lunch Talks take place every first Tuesday of the month (via ZOOM), from 13:00 to 14:00 CET, throughout the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter terms of 2026.

No registration is required — simply drop in!

Join the sessions on Zoom: Meeting ID: 638 6513 1075, Passcode: 861977

Spring/Summer 2026 Programme

3 March 2026 
Collaborative Online International Learning. What is in it for me? 
Eric Hertzler (UPEC), Enric Castelló (URV) — introduced by Marina Vives (URV)

7 April 2026 
SUCTI – Systemic University Change towards Internationalisation 
Larissa Jenewein (UIBK), Montserrat Martinez (URV) — introduced by Verena Heuking (UDE)

5 May 2026 
Understanding Europe – Microcredentials in Aurora 
Florian Freitag (UDE), Christina Raab (UIBK) — introduced by Larissa Jenewein (UIBK)

2 June 2026 
Mixed Model Classroom – Results and highlights of the Aurora BIP 
Reyka Lycklama a Nijeholt (VU), speaker TBC — introduced by Marina Vives (URV)

Fall/Winter 2026 Programme (Dates subject to change)

1 September 2026 
Inclusive Comprehensive Internationalisation

6 October 2026 
How to engage your university community in Aurora opportunities

3 November 2026 
Virtual Campus and Erasmus Without Papers (EWP)

1 December 2026 
Blended Intensive Programmes in Aurora. Progress and implementation