Aurora Opportunities

Students at the University of Iceland can sit courses at several universities in Europe through the European University Alliance Aurora.

We would like to specifically highlight a course that will be taught at the University of Naples Federico II in October of this year. The course is open to undergraduate, master‘s and PhD students and is titled Rethinking Food Systems in the Anthropocene. The course will be run as a hackathon and will be rooted in design thinking.

This is the 5^th edition of the course and this year’s edition will specifically focus on urban agriculture and permaculture within the Neopolotan context. Some workshop activities will take place in a community garden within Parco Viviani, situated in the heart of the city.

Credits: 3 ECTS

One virtual lesson on 1 October

On-site week in Naples 20-24 October

Application deadline 15 September

Applications are submitted via the Ugla exchange studies application portal. Further information on the course can be found in the Aurora Course Catalogue.

This application is also an application for a grant in support of travel and subsistence costs. Grants are calculated in accordance with the rules of Erasmus+. Students can apply for up to two funded travel days under “comments” in their application, if they are needed. Additionally, students can check the box for an Erasmus+ top-up grant for students with fewer opportunities, if they meet the criteria of the Erasmus+ national agency.

Undergraduate and master’s students can only receive one grant for short-term mobility per academic year.

Please note that students must contact their faculty’s International Coordinator for information on whether the course can be evaluated into their studies at the University of Iceland, please cc aurora@hi.is on all such communication.

The applicant must be an active, registered student at the University of Iceland that has completed at least 30 ECTS credits at university level and must have paid the registration fee. Students graduating before the end of courses, exchange students and guest students at University of Iceland cannot apply. Further prerequisites for exchange studies can be found on the University of Iceland website.

Any questions regarding Aurora or the application process can be sent to aurora@hi.is.

More information on Aurora can be found here.

Join us on 15 October 2025 for a transformative event to learn how VU Amsterdam’s A Broader Mind Course prepares young students to begin understanding complex societal issues.

This event offers Aurora partners a unique opportunity to explore our innovative approach to interdisciplinary education as initiated by Prof. Govert Buis. The course challenges early-stage students to think beyond their primary discipline, guided by more advanced peers. Through diverse academic perspectives, students develop a holistic understanding of complex societal issues: a mindset they'll carry throughout their academic journey. Discover how this course can transform your institution by making teaching more engaging , curricula more relevant, and your societal impact more profound.

Programme

• 09:30 – Doors open and coffee
• 10:00 – Introduction to the A Broader Mind Course
• 11:00 – Hands-on: a concrete assignment for participants to work on
• 12:30 – Break
• 13:30 – Ideation to turn A Broader Mind into a true Aurora Course (in groups)
• 14:00 – Plenary feedback from the groups
• 14:30 – Reflection on the day and wrap up
• 15:00 – Drinks and end at 16:00 hours

Registration

• You can register at https://forms.office.com/e/HytCZ96Faj

This event is organised by TT.2.2. Digital Society and Global Citizenship. You can join us either at the VU Amsterdam Education Lab, or online.

Through the Aurora cooperation students at the University of Iceland get the opportunity to take part in exciting courses at the University of Innsbruck, at undergraduate and master’s level.

Information on the application process can be found here.

Master‘s students can apply for the following course:

• 800.874 Heavy Metal Sustainability. On the rocky road to a circular economy: Tracing the life cycle of metals from the past to the future

The course awards 5 ECTS credits and will be run as a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), which means that, in addition to virtual lessons, the course includes an on-site stay in Innsbruck. Further information is available here.

Additionally, the following virtual courses are available to master’s students:

• 800.872 Lecture series on Climate Protection
  
  (Master Level, hybrid, lecture, 2,5 ECTS Credits)
• 800.875 Sustainability Communication
  
  (Master Level, further details tbd)

Undergraduate students can apply for the following virtual courses:

• 198.870 Aspects of Digitalisation: Special Topics in Ethics and Digitalisation
  
  (Bachelor Level, online, 5 ECTS Credits)
• 800.861 Perspectives on Europe in a Global Context
  
  (Bachelor Level, hybrid with obligatory attendance, 5 ECTS Credits)

Students accepted for a course that includes a stay abroad can apply for a travel and subsistence grant. Each undergraduate or master’s student can only receive one Aurora/Erasmus+ short mobility grant per academic year.

Please note that applicants must contact their faculty’s International Coordinator for information on whether the course can be evaluated into their studies at the University of Iceland.

The applicant must be an active, registered student at the University of Iceland who has completed at least 30 ECTS credits and must have paid the registration fee. Students graduating before the end of the courses, exchange students, and guest students at the University of Iceland cannot apply. Further prerequisites for exchange studies can be found on the University of Iceland website.

Any questions regarding Aurora or the application process can be sent to aurora@hi.is.

More information on Aurora.

Join us on 15 October 2025 for a transformative event to learn how VU Amsterdam’s A Broader Mind Course prepares young students to begin understanding complex societal issues.

This event offers Aurora partners a unique opportunity to explore our innovative approach to interdisciplinary education as initiated by Prof. Govert Buis. The course challenges early-stage students to think beyond their primary discipline, guided by more advanced peers. Through diverse academic perspectives, students develop a holistic understanding of complex societal issues: a mindset they'll carry throughout their academic journey. Discover how this course can transform your institution by making teaching more engaging , curricula more relevant, and your societal impact more profound.

Programme

• 09:30 – Doors open and coffee
• 10:00 – Introduction to the A Broader Mind Course
• 11:00 – Hands-on: a concrete assignment for participants to work on
• 12:30 – Break
• 13:30 – Ideation to turn A Broader Mind into a true Aurora Course (in groups)
• 14:00 – Plenary feedback from the groups
• 14:30 – Reflection on the day and wrap up
• 15:00 – Drinks and end at 16:00 hours

Registration

• You can register at https://forms.office.com/e/HytCZ96Faj

This event is organised by TT.2.2. Digital Society and Global Citizenship. You can join us either at the VU Amsterdam Education Lab, or online.

On 29 and 30 September 2025, the Aurora international academic conference “DUAL – Dichotomies in Urban Agendas and Logics“, an event promoted within the framework of the European Universities Initiative programme Aurora 2030, will be held at the Department of Humanities of the Università Federico II of Naples (UNINA), Italy.

An activity organised within the Aurora educational hub Cultures: Identities and Diversities, the conference is a continuation of the course Challenges in Europe that took place between April and June 2025 at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It stems from the successful collaboration between the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) and UNINA.

The conference aims to continue to reflect critically and transdisciplinarily on the theme of the city and urban space, exploring the multiple dichotomies that cut across its material, social, political and symbolic dimensions. Centre/periphery, inclusion/exclusion, mobility/immobility, visibility/invisibility, are just some of the dichotomies that can be used as a tool to critically read the past, understand the challenges of the present and imagine a new future for our cities.

The conference is a moment of dialogue between different approaches to the study of the city, welcoming contributions from fields such as Urban Studies, Architecture, Sociology, Geography, Philosophy, History, Political Science, Environmental Studies, Anthropology, Arts, Design, Media and Communication, Digital Humanities and many others.

Click here for further information and abstract submission.

The University of Iceland will offer an Erasmus+ BIP course on the LOUIS Competence Framework in Autumn 2025. The course is open to academic teaching staff responsible for delivering courses/modules and PhD students and will award 3 ECTS credits. 

The physical mobility will be held from 20 to 24 October 2025, and the virtual components will take place before and after the on-site session. 

All interested participants can apply through our application portal using their home university credentials: https://ugla.hi.is/courses/open. The application deadline is 15 August 2025.

The following documents must be attached to the application:

• A copy of their passport information page or a copy of their travel ID
• Phd students: A transcript of records or official letter confirming that they are registered in a PhD programme
• Academic staff: An official letter confirming that they are academic teaching staff responsible for delivering a course/module at their home institution

Further information can be found in our course catalogue or by email aurora@hi.is.