Cleaner water, more responsive healthcare, cities on two wheels, and multilingual teaching. These are some of the themes explored by eight projects involving Palacký University Olomouc that have secured funding in the Aurora alliance’s third open call. Academics from UP will join forces with colleagues at European universities and involve students in their research. UP will lead one project and participate as a partner in the other seven.
The third Call for Incentive Research & Education Collaboration awarded funding to fourteen international projects. The Aurora Research Council selected them from twenty-three eligible proposals. Five projects will focus on research, six will combine research and education, and three will offer thematic schools. Additional contributions from member universities increased the call’s budget to €240,000, a 50% rise compared with the previous round.
“The call helps develop international research teams, explore new research directions, and prepare larger joint projects. Research projects and projects combining research and education could receive up to €20,000. They were required to involve at least three partner institutions from the alliance and align with its thematic priorities. Thematic schools were eligible for the same maximum amount. The call also supports short-term research stays for early-career researchers,” says Marie Jadrníčková, Aurora Deputy IC & Research Officer.
A new feature of this year’s call is support for projects that directly connect research and teaching. Their outcomes may lead to joint courses, blended intensive programmes, micro-credentials, or degree programmes. Students will have opportunities to participate in international research and engage with the latest research findings.
Eight of the eleven proposals involving UP were successful: three research projects, four projects combining research and education, and one thematic school. Jiří Pánek from the Faculty of Science will lead the CitiesOn2Wheels summer school, while UP will participate as a partner in the other seven projects. The funded activities will involve experts from the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Science, and the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN).
CitiesOn2Wheels
Jiří Pánek — Faculty of Science, UP
The summer school will focus on research into the use of bicycles, e-bikes, and e-scooters in urban environments. Participants will combine insights from urban and digital geography with the study of sustainable transport and learn a range of data collection methods that involve local residents. UP will organise the school jointly with the University of Iceland and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.
Research-NEST
Pavlína Flajšarová — Faculty of Arts, UP
The project will connect research and teaching in sustainable urban development. It will focus on the circular economy and how urban planning relates to residents’ needs and everyday habits. Interdisciplinary collaboration, field-based learning, and testing ideas in practice will produce approaches applicable across Europe. Particular emphasis will be placed on university–community collaboration and service-learning.
PATVOICE
Slavka Silberg — Faculty of Arts, UP
PATVOICE will explore how well healthcare organisations listen to patients and their loved ones, and how their experiences inform communication with healthcare professionals and management. It will examine organisational rules alongside the social and cultural factors that encourage or limit patient involvement. Practitioners, researchers, and students will contribute to fieldwork and analysis.
TRACE
Sabine Voda Eschgfäller — Faculty of Arts, UP
Student teams from five universities will investigate antifeminist, sexist, and racialised narratives in education, their contexts, and the responses of teachers and students. Through international online workshops, they will assess their findings and create digital outputs, such as social media videos, offering alternative perspectives. The project will combine student research with the development of critical media literacy.
TaME
Markus Johan Öbrink — Faculty of Arts, UP
The project Towards a multilingual norm for European university alliances will focus on multilingualism in higher education teaching. It will develop a toolkit to help Aurora teaching staff make better use of different languages in their classrooms and develop students’ language skills. The project will draw on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the Aurora LOUIS competence framework.
CHEMUNITY
Jiří Pospíšil — Faculty of Science, UP
CHEMUNITY will connect chemistry research and teaching through joint workshops, researcher exchanges, and seminars. It will focus on sustainability, environmental monitoring, and the development of molecules for health applications. A working group will lay the foundations for a joint European bachelor’s programme in chemistry and assess opportunities for joint master’s programmes in specialised fields.
AURORA HEALTH
Alexander Dömling — Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), UP
Researchers will seek compounds that selectively inhibit two forms of the enzyme arginase, which are associated with cancer and other diseases. They will identify promising compounds through high-throughput screening and work to improve their stability, bioavailability, and ability to enter cells. Nanoparticle-based targeted delivery systems will be used to enhance their efficacy and selectivity.
NANOCAT
Jan Filip — Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), UP
NANOCAT will support the development of nanocatalysts for producing renewable fuels from biomass residues and treating wastewater. The teams will focus on 3D-printed biomass-derived materials, single-atom metal catalysts, and the light-driven removal of pharmaceuticals and dyes from water. They will monitor these processes using nanosensors also made from biomass.
The full list of the 14 funded projects, including their coordinators and partners, is available on the Aurora Universities website.