Supporting the connection of HEIs is one of the KA2 call priorities under the ESCI, further to the European Commission announcement in March 2019 that from 2021 HEIs participating in the Erasmus programme will have to gradually adhere to the EWP standards. Another mention of digitalisation is also placed in the new Erasmus Charter for HE for which the call has been published in February, 2020. As a consequence, the next Erasmus Programme framework is foreseen to be digital in nature taking into account a gradual shift towards fully digital mobility management.The main objective of the SUDTE project is to facilitate this change of paradigm by ensuring extensive support in achieving a smooth and well-coordinated digital transformation process. The project seeks respond the challenges of digital transformation that HEIs, students and National Agencies will face in the next Erasmus+ programme.The EU Commission as the regulatory body needs to provide stability and future certainty for the overarching initiative to be harmonious and streamlined. The digital platforms provided to the HEIs must be able to serve to the needs of more than 5000 universities taking part in the Erasmus+ Programme. To do so, they need to be implemented and tested by HEIs of different structures as early as possible. A systematic set of supporting initiative will be offered by the SUDTE project which is expected to play an important role in contributing the roadmap of the ESCI with the following goals: -Determination of the needs of HEIs and NAs in the integration process through a systematic mapping-Assessing and comparing the available digital tools to address the challenging infrastructural transformation -Assisting HEIs in design and execute their implementation strategies based on evidence-based decision-making and policy formulation-Measuring efficiency gains and impact assessment regarding workload reduction-Equipping students and staff with the knowledge and skills with a view to ensures readiness for next Erasmus programme-Developing software modules to expand available IT servicesDigital transformation of the HEIs is at the core of how we will interact with ESCI in the next Erasmus programme. The EUF universities have been key drivers in bringing about this change of paradigm, and are thus particularly well positioned to take leverage on their shared know-how. The SUDTE project will bring together a consortium of five EUF partners from Italy (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico), Spain (University of Vigo), Luxembourg (EUF) and Turkey (Selcuk University and Izmir Institute of Technology).The project activities leading to achieve expected results and outcomes as described in the Intellectual Outputs are designed to allow active collaboration of all the consortium partners. The SUDTE project will be employing a traditional management approach which uses sequential phases to define, build, test, and release project deliverables, known as waterfall method. When changes of requirements (e.g. as a result of new technologies, changes in the higher education area) cannot easily be incorporated with the waterfall method, more flexible methodology like Agile may be followed to be adaptable above all other qualities.During the project all partner institutions will expected to take leverage on their shared know-how to upgrade and update their IT infrastructure in compliance with ESCI requirements. While the project partners consider their role in addressing digital transformation within their organization as critical, it is targeted to ensure other EU Universities as well as National Agencies benefit from the outcomes of the project on its completion. Moreover, through the training activities, students and academicians will be able to equip themselves with the digital skills which is necessary to cope up with the challenges the scale of the transition presents as the world moves to a digital era. Facilitating the digital transformation of Higher Education Institutions in line with European Commission’s initiative will contribute to overcome the challenges in streamlining the gradual shift towards fully digital mobility management. The outcomes of the project are therefore intended to have a significant impact on the stakeholders of the ICTs.The general impacts of project implementation are also related to increased digitalisation, modernisation of HEIs and EU standardisation of mobility management. This strategic partnership will enable a meaningful, project-oriented and policy-relevant exchange of know-how between the participating institutions. Moreover, it will spread that knowledge to other individuals and institutions through a series of project outputs in which new content can be developed for the interested stakeholders.The project aims to improve in the long-term the quality of university services, the skills of staff of HEIs so as to guide students and aims in the adoption of the ESCI throughout Europe.

Spinning discoveries out of research institutions requires expertise and ecosystem that is hard to bring together in the academic environment. One of the main challenges is the lack of qualified personnel having multidisciplinary technical skills endowed with transferrable skills. Biomedical Technologies and Innovation (BIOTIN) doctoral programme features an international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach to provide 10 doctoral candidates (DCs) a unique blend of research training skills in the convergence of life sciences, engineering, and computational & data science, and entrepreneurship skills, with the aim of advancing innovation in biomedical research and education. The BIOTIN programme will address the challenges in three intertwined themes of biomedical research: drug discovery and development, diagnosis, tissue engineering and regeneration, by leveraging latest developments in data science and machine learning. BIOTIN is presented and coordinated by Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) in collaboration with two implementing partners: Bogazici University (BOUN) and Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG). A total of 22 associated partner organisations including 11 academic and 11 non-academic organisations will contribute to the programme. BIOTIN fellows will benefit from a highly-qualified interdisciplinary supervisory team, secondment-and short-visits to network partners in Europe and beyond including prominent universities, NGO (Istanbul Health Industry Cluster), large enterprises (e.g. Siemenes Healthineers and Amgen) and start-ups, alongside the opportunity to develop and practice entrepreneurship skills in leading technology development zones of Turkey. The consortium will build a group of researchers with a valuable and rare blend of academic skills and industry readiness, who in return can fulfil regional, national and international human resources needs in biomedical research far beyond the funding period.

Cities need support to implement their Sustainable Action Plans in line with the ambitious and stringent regulations towards a zero carbon Europe. The EYES HEARTS HANDS Urban Revolution (EHHUR) project will develop and test a co-designed methodological structure to support cities in their built environment transformation by using already existing good practices and complementing them with the New European Bauhaus and EU Missions principles. 7 Lighthouse demonstrators will be involved across EU and Associated countries (DK, EL, BE, PT, TK, HR, IT). EHHUR will tackle socio-economic and cultural challenges through relevant case studies facing social segregation, vulnerable residents (experiencing energy poverty), coal transition, depopulated and degraded historic centres. EHHUR relies on engagement and co-design as the “backbone” of its methodology, by deploying a set of tailored social innovation activities aimed not only to engage, but also to commit the participation of relevant urban players at multiple and multidisciplinary levels (technology co-design, co-financing, aesthetic co-creation). The EHHUR new integrated methodology will cover innovative i) engagement practices to transform citizens into active players of their future urban transformation and empower them in the decision-making process, ii) financing schemes involving local businesses and citizens, iii) digital and green technologies, iv) architectural design and materials to meet climate change and sustainability challenges while respecting heritage and cultural eco-systems, v) arts and creative co-design in third sector buildings and public areas. The diversified experiences of the LH demonstrators will provide a variety of good practices and guidelines for future replication. Future adopters will benefit from a DSS tool, supported by a capacity building programme, that offers the ideal mix of best technical solutions, optimal financing schemes and engagement tools and social innovation practice.

To satisfy the expected plethora of demanding services, 6G is envisioned as a revolutionary paradigm to carry forward the capacities of enhanced broadband, massive access, and Ultra-reliable and low latency services in 5G wireless networks to a more robust and intelligent level. This move will introduce significant new multidisciplinary research challenges emerging throughout the wireless communication protocol stacks, including the way the mobile network is modelled and deployed. The structure of 6G networks will be highly heterogeneous, densely deployed, and dynamic. Combined with the tight quality of services, such complex architecture will result in the untenability of legacy network operation routines. In response, artificial intelligence (AI), especially machine learning (ML), Semantic Communication and Digital Twin (DT) are emerging as solutions to realize the fully intelligent network orchestration and management. By learning from uncertain and dynamic environments, AI-enabled channel estimation and spectrum management will open up opportunities for bringing the excellent performance of Ultra-broadband techniques into full play. Additionally, challenges brought by Ultra-massive access concerning energy and security can be mitigated by applying AI-based approaches. The overall research objective of the SCION project is to develop and design the network systems for seamless wireless access for Secure and Intelligent Massive Machine-to-Machine Communications for 6G. In addition to technology development, to meet the urgent needs for the future working force of the coming 6G era, this collaborative project will create a training network for Doctoral Candidates who will contribute to the design and implementation of future 6G networks.

MiningBrines offers an innovative training program to address Europe's strategic need for sustainable access to critical raw materials (CRM), energy gases (EG) and renewable energies. 19 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will receive interdisciplinary training in geosciences, biogeochemistry, artificial intelligence (AI), and socio-economic analysis, equipping them with advanced skills in reservoir modeling, machine learning and biogeochemical processes. DCs will develop intuitive fluid chemistry modeling workflows and innovative multi-criteria intelligent decision support tools, preparing them to drive innovation in geothermal brine mining while collaborating with academic and industrial partners. MiningBrines introduces novel techniques to maximize geothermal multi-resource recovery while minimizing environmental impact. Key innovations include microbial-driven CRM recovery, customized modeling workflows, scalable AI models, and decision support tools that consider technological, economic, and societal aspects. These advances aim to reduce the environmental footprint of resource extraction and align with the sustainability goals of the EU Green Deal. MiningBrines supports the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act by combining CRM and EG recovery with renewable energy production and circular economy principles, reducing Europe's import dependency and strengthening resilience. In addition, MiningBrines emphasizes collaborative education to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals capable of transforming geothermal multi-resources into a key driver of Europe's green transition. The impact of MiningBrines goes beyond scientific advances, fostering a skilled workforce for academic and industrial sectors, while establishing Europe as a global leader in sustainable resource management. MiningBrines promotes public awareness of the multiple benefits of geothermal energy, setting a standard for green industrial practices and long-term strategic autonomy.