Running EU-funded research projects
Projects funded by the European Social Fund (ESF+) Programme 2021-2027
Projects funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) Programme 2014-2020
The project aims to promote scientific research in support of economic and social development in South Tyrol. In more detail, the project involves the recruitment of 8 researchers/researchers on fixed-term contracts, each of whom will carry out a research project on a specific topic of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS 3) of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen, pertaining to one of the 5 faculties of the university.
The recruited researchers will carry out research activities under the guidance of already trained academic profiles (professors and professors of the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano), present the results at national and/or international scientific conferences, write scientific articles, and carry out teaching activities on topics consistent with the research project itself (further contributing to its dissemination).
Principal Investigator: Guido Orzes - Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: 29/05/2024 – 31/10/2027
The project is aimed at promoting scientific research to support the economic and social development of South Tyrol. In particular, this project involves the recruitment of 14 research fellows (AR), each of whom will carry out a research project on a specific topic of the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS 3) of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, relating to one of the 5 faculties of the university.
The recruited research fellows will carry out research activities under the guidance of already trained academic profiles (academic staff of the Free University of Bolzano), will present the results at national and/or international scientific conferences and will write scientific articles.
Principal Investigator: Demis Basso - Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 29/05/2024 – 31/10/2027
The project aims to develop general and advanced skills in response to labour market transformations, emphasising digitalisation and social sustainability in the private and public sectors within the framework of EU priorities. It adopts a multidisciplinary and multilingual approach, offering three university Master's degrees in "Digital and socially sustainable management of human resources", for people interested in dealing with human resource management in a company; a Master's degree in "European public administration", to train specialists in the administrative and organisational dynamics of the public sector aimed at graduates interested in working in the public sector with innovative tools and in line with the best European administrations; and a Master's degree in "Design and implementation of quality of life interventions", for those interested in working in the social sector to improve well-being through innovative interventions from a sociological, psychological and pedagogical point of view.
Principal Investigator: Stefania Baroncelli - Faculty of Economics
Project Duration: 29/05/2024 – 31/10/2028
The availability of qualified personnel will increasingly be one of the crucial challenges for maintaining the competitiveness of Italian and particularly South Tyrolean companies. Among such personnel, a key role in terms of impact on research and development activities is played by PhD graduates, possessing the highest level of university education, with critical, scientific and methodological skills to carry out highly qualified research activities at research centers and, more generally, to address and solve complex problems. The objective of this project is the promotion of higher and advanced education in South Tyrol to support the economic development of the region through the training of seven young PhD students, each addressing a topic related to the Smart Specialisation Strategy of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. The PhD students will each belong to one of the following doctoral programs of the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano: Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Mountain Environment and Agriculture, Management, Linguistics, Advanced-Systems Engineering, Computer Science, and Sustainable Energy and Technologies. Doctoral programs last three years. The planned educational activities include attending courses, conducting research activities under the supervision of one or more Tutors. Ph.D students are expected to present the progress of their activities in front of the faculty annually, present the results of their research at conferences, write scientific articles or books, carry out a period of study and research at a foreign university or research center. The final thesis, reviewed by outside experts, is discussed in front of a committee that will award the degree of Ph.D.
Principal Investigator: Massimo Tagliavini – Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
Project Duration: 29/05/2024 – 31/10/2028
The Students Sprint is a vibrant 5-day innovation sprint physically taking place every year at the NOI Techpark. South Tyrolean companies are asked to come up with a business challenge they are facing within the field of the circular economy. The Free University of Bolzano will form challenge-specific interdisciplinary teams of 3-5 students that will respectively propose solutions under the mentorship of experts and scientists. The project aims to provide benefits to both students and South Tyrolean companies. The benefits (win) for students are: (1) getting hands-on experience of working in an interdisciplinary team; (2) Deep-diving into the challenges companies are facing; (3) Showcasing their creativity to companies and win exciting awards; (4) applying their your knowledge and skills into real-life complex problems and learning how to find innovative solutions to them. The benefits (win) for the companies are: (1) getting fresh ideas from and collaborate with young talents working as interdisciplinary teams; (2) getting inspired and motivated for finding new paths; and (3) boosting their visibility as an innovative company that thrives on young talents.
Beneficiary: NOI Spa – Coordinator for unibz: Guido Orzes
Project Duration: 09/10/2023 – 08/10/2026
The Students & Company Sprint is a vibrant 5-day innovation sprint physically taking place at the NOI Techpark. South Tyrolean companies are asked to come up with a business challenge they are facing within the field of the circular economy. The Free University of Bolzano will form challenge-specific interdisciplinary teams of 3-5 students that will respectively propose solutions under the mentorship of experts and scientists. The project aims to provide benefits to both students and South Tyrolean companies. The benefits (win) for students are: (1) getting hands-on experience of working in an interdisciplinary team; (2) Deep-diving into the challenges companies are facing; (3) Showcasing their creativity to companies and win exciting awards; (4) applying their your knowledge and skills into real-life complex problems and learning how to find innovative solutions to them. The benefits (win) for the companies are: (1) getting fresh ideas from and collaborate with young talents working as interdisciplinary teams; (2) getting inspired and motivated for finding new paths; and (3) boosting their visibility as an innovative company that thrives on young talents.
Beneficiary: NOI Spa – Coordinator for unibz: Prof. Guido Orzes
Project Duration: 21.11.2021 – 31.03.2022
The project aims to promote the social and scholastic integration of girls, very young women, with a migratory background attending secondary schools of the second degree, inserted late in the Italian education system of Bolzano (from 10-11 years), who attend language enhancement courses and promoting the social and scholastic integration of girls with a migratory background, very young women, who even if regularly enrolled in school, already from the age of 6, show difficulties of social integration.
Specifically, it means
Promote the acquisition of citizenship skills and personal, social skills and the ability to learn to learn aimed at enhancing the tools of knowledge and interpretation of the social context in which the girls are involved.
Acquire the basics of computer use to encourage the creation of an IT application that puts on the net the difficulties that these girls face every day and that functions as a tool for overcoming them. Promote socialization as a tool against loneliness aimed at creating an informal supporting network for the participants and their network.
Promote the growth of autonomy, furnish tools that allow participants to make conscious choices for their education and for their future work
Raise awareness in the territory of the presence of the target typology.
Considering all this, the intention is to create a participatory path that includes meetings to get to know local services that are useful to achieve an active citizenship; socialization gatherings and direct knowledge of Italian culture and art; participatory meetings to strengthen problem solving skills, participatory moments for the creation of an IT application and a micro-language course aimed at acquiring the basics of computer use
Beneficiary: Ethical Software Cooperativa Sociale Onlus – Coordinator for unibz Prof. Dorothy Louise Zinn
Project Duration: to be defined
The last 10 years have been characterized by the development of new technologies within the framework of Industry 4.0 with the objective of creating the "Smart Factory". At the same time, companies are faced with the challenge of introducing their employees to these new technological developments and qualifying them, so that they can exploit the potential of these new technologies. On the one hand, this includes knowing and being able to select the various technological solutions in the area of Industry 4.0, as well as developing in-depth knowledge for topics such as automation, artificial intelligence, complexity theory or simulation in product development. With its laboratories (Smart Mini Factory, Smart Data Factory and Human-centered Technologies and Machine Intelligence Lab), the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano has built up world-leading competences in the field of these technologies over the years and would like to make these competences available to local companies for the further training of their employees within the framework of this ESF/FSE project
Principal Investigator: Prof. Erwin Rauch — Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: to be defined
The project offers a new model of formal training as an experimental project of social innovation and focuses on fifteen women of working age and at risk of fragility, living in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. The project aims at developing higher level pre-conditions to start work projects, one of which is "ZipLab_Social Tailoring", and to offer to the target women individual and social tools suitable for personal growth and the achievement of decision-making and autonomous actions. The project embraces a set of consulting, services, training and orientation aimed at generating the pre-conditions essential for a stable emancipation of migrant women.
Beneficiary: CiEffe Srl and Officine Vispa
Coordinator for unibz: Prof. Secil Ugur Yavuz — Faculty of Design and Art
Project Duration:1 year starting from 24 August
Further info: Project description
The Digital and Technology Summer Camp aims to promote the key competences of pupils for lifelong learning while reducing the rate of early school leaving. The target group is pupils at risk of dropping out of school at the end of the first year of scientific and technological vocational and secondary schools. The aim is to reach those pupils who are at risk of dropping out of school after the end of their compulsory education and regardless of their academic performance. The Summer Camp in unibz's Smart Mini Factory Laboratory introduces students to the world of digitization and the latest technologies through highly practical teaching units (e.g. 3D printing, robotics or virtual and augmented reality) and an individual final project. The aim is to spark the passion for technology and the thirst for knowledge. Within the units in German and Italian language, all eight key competences (EU2020) are taught.
Principal Investigator: Erwin Rauch - Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: 20.06.2022 – 31.07.2022
In line with the European framework for personal, social and learning to learn key competence, the bilingual training course comprises 22 hours of innovative didactics, both in terms of content and working methods. The aim is to reinforce the competences of educators, collaborators, class and support teachers for preventing and managing the students’ challenging behaviours and promoting their school success at the lower and upper secondary school and in the transition among them. At the end of the training course, participants will be able to use different methods and strategies to manage difficult situations into the class, deriving from challenging behaviours of students, with or without disability.
Principal Investigator: Vanessa Macchia– Competence Centre for School Inclusion
Project Duration: 01.01.2022 – 30.06.2022
The FSE project "Upskill yourself" is addressed to lower secondary school pupils, with particular attention to students attending the last year of school. The project involves pupils in training activities focused on cognitive and metacognitive skills, such as the development of an adequate study method or the use of specific learning tools, and other fundamental skills for educational success and active citizenship, such as literacy skills, necessary for effective learning in all school subjects, or the acquisition of math skills. The activities will take place mainly in a small group (minimum 3 participants). Only one of the training courses, for the preparation to the final exam, will be offered both in small groups and individually for some students.
Five comprehensive school institutions of the Province, located in Bozen and Meran, take part in the project. The training activities will take place between January and June 2022 and between September and December 2022.
Principal Investigator: Dario Ianes – Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 01.01.2022 – 31.12.2022
The project Leading Myself aims to enable students to build confidence in their own possibilities and to reflect on their personal and school development project by developing awareness of their skills and competences and the possibility of self-determination in their personal growth, learning and training process.
The project presents digital storytelling as a didactic approach which, due to its variety and accessibility and its narrative nature, supports the sharing of experiences, the possibilities of active participation and interaction, the promotion of creativity and empowerment. The creative and innovative presentation of one's own stories and visions for the future is a very important and effective activity for the processes of self-determination, self-reflection and self-awareness of young learners.
Principal Investigator: Cinzia Zadra – Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 01.01.2022 – 31.12.2022
The project focuses on raising awareness on the topic of school dropout and promotes the self, reflection, cooperation, and communication competencies of adolescents. Participants are students in the first two years of two higher secondary schools in South Tyrol. Two of the five modules are conducted in large groups to especially promote cooperation and communication competencies for a successful interaction and for addressing various forms of diversity in a constructive way. Three modules aim at specifically promoting the competencies needed to make a reflective choice about one's own educational path and are organized in small groups. The project has a duration of eleven months and is expected to start in December 2021, with activities in the schools starting in January 2022.
Principal Investigator: Barbara Gross – Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 01.01.2022 – 31.12.2022
Automation technology is a constantly evolving field with a wide range of applications in plant engineering and special machine construction. This course offers an introduction to modern automation technology with a special focus on programmable logic controllers. In addition to an introduction to various programming languages and bus systems, the course offers an insight into control with automation systems and networking with higher-level information systems via OPC-UA or ADS. The TwinCAT 3 development environment from Beckhoff will be introduced to deepen the learning content. Self-programmed PLC programs and visualizations will be tested both on your own laptop, using TwinCAT 3 Soft PLC Runtime, and on dedicated Beckhoff Industrial PCs. The latter are connected to a learning factory, which converts the PLC programs into real motion sequences.
Principal Investigator: Angelika Peer – Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: 15/06/2021 – 15/06/2022
The project "Skills training" involves lower secondary school students, with particular attention to students attending the third and last year of middle school. The project offers learning activities focused on cognitive and metacognitive skills, such as the development of an adequate study method, and on other fundamental skills for academic success and full exercise of citizenship, such as the functional use of the Italian language and the acquisition of relevant mathematical skills. The activities will take place in most cases in a small group (minimum 3 participants). Only one of the training courses, related to preparation for the final exam, will be offered both in a small group and individually for some students.The project will take place mainly in the period between January and June 2021. If required by schools, some courses may take place in the period between September and December 2021.
Principal Investigator: Dario Ianes — Faculty of Education
Project Duration:01/01/2021 - 31/12/2021
In line with the European key competence ‘Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship', the project aims to develop teachers’ and other school staff competences in supporting person centred life planning for pupils, with a specific attention to self-determination in the transition phases of lower and upper secondary education. The training course comprises 52 hours of innovative didactics, both in terms of content and working methods. At the end of the training course, participants will be able to implement methods for activating orientation projects and leading sessions for the creation of Individualised Educational Plans centred on self-determination of students with disabilities. Furthermore, it’s worth mentioning the innovative power of the bilingual programme and the pronounced methodological diversity of the training.
Principal Investigator: Heidrun Demo — Competence Centre for School Inclusion
Project Duration: 01/01/2021 - 31/12/2021
The project "Summer Bridge 2021" is aimed to prevent disaffection, school failure and early school leaving, intervening on one of the most vulnerable segments of our education system, the transition from primary to lower secondary school.
The project involves a small group of pupils in a one-week training course, divided into lessons, excursions and recreational-educational activities, to be carried out in a local residential structure.
The training course aims to enhance metacognitive skills, such as the development of appropriate study strategies, and personal and social skills, such as autonomy, resilience and collaboration.
The summer campus will take place between the end of June and the end of August 2021, from Sunday to Saturday.
Principal Investigator: Dario Ianes — Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 21/06/2021 - 31/08/2021
TANDEM-2021 offers a training course dedicated to high school teachers. The training aims at enabling teachers to promote key competences, by bringing new technologies and approaches (such as coding, computational thinking, and educational robotics) into their classrooms. Particular attention will be dedicated to the adoption of software engineering principles, in order to increase the quality of the final product obtained by the students and facilitate the process of creating the solution.
Principal Investigator: Ilenia Fronza — Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: 01/01/2021 - 31/12/2021
The Digital and Technology Summer Camp aims to promote the key competences of pupils for lifelong learning while reducing the rate of early school leaving. The target group is pupils at risk of dropping out of school at the end of the first year of scientific and technological vocational and secondary schools. The aim is to reach those pupils who are at risk of dropping out of school after the end of their compulsory education and regardless of their academic performance. The Summer Camp in unibz's Smart Mini Factory Laboratory introduces students to the world of digitisation and the latest technologies through highly practical teaching units (e.g. 3D printing, robotics or virtual and augmented reality) and an individual final project. The aim is to spark the passion for technology and the thirst for knowledge. Within the units in German and Italian language all 8 key competences (EU2020) are taught.
Principal Investigator: Erwin Rauch — Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: 17/06/2021 - 31/07/2021
The TANDEM project offers two training courses, for teachers of middle and high school. The training aims at enabling teachers to promote key competences, by bringing new technologies and approaches (such as coding, computational thinking, and educational robotics) into their classrooms. Particular attention will be dedicated to the adoption of software engineering principles, in order to increase the quality of the final product obtained by the students and facilitate the process of creating the solution.
Principal Investigator: Ilenia Fronza — Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: 13/01/2020 -29/04/2021
Project Website: tandem.inf.unibz.it
Summer Bridge is aimed at preventing underachievement or early school leaving in the transitions between different school levels (from primary to middle school, from middle school to high school).
It offers residential camp activities for pupils who are going to attend first year of lower secondary education in the following school year. Activities will be focused on study methods and strategies, as well as the conscious use of technology, in order to support students in the transition and equip them with adequate competences and self-awareness.
The summer camp will take place between the end of June and the end of July 2020, and will last one week, from Sunday to Saturday. The camp foresees a maximum of 15 participants selected among those attending the participating schools.
Principal Investigator: Dario Ianes — Faculty of Education
Project Duration: The project will not be implemented due to the Covid-19 emergency
Energy Start is a project offering training activities in the first two years of upper secondary school to reduce underachievement and early school leaving. The activities will take place between January and June 2020 and between September and December 2020.
The main aim is supporting students in the development of study methods and strategies. Interventions also aim at favouring a welcoming start of the school year, especially for students attending the first year, and to support reorientation procedures, when needed. Interventions will involve small groups of students, in a 1 to 3 ratio between trainer/educator and students. The project will also offer individualised interventions. The students involved will be those attending the first two years of the secondary schools participating in the project. Priority will be given to students attending the first year.
Principal Investigator: Dario Ianes — Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 01/01/2020 - 31/12/2020
Last Round is aimed at accompanying students towards a successful conclusion of lower secondary education (or middle school) and its final exam. Between January and June 2020 different training activities will take place with small groups of students, with a minimum ratio of 1 trainer for 3 students, as well as individualised activities for some students. Students will be supported in the preparation to the final exam with regards to the acquisition of core curriculum competences but also study methods and strategies.
Principal Investigator: Dario Ianes — Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 01/01/2020 - 31/12/2020
This project provides agile training activities dedicated both to end-users and professional on iterative processes, visible feedback and reflection, and collaborative and shared learning styles. To deliver such agile training, an agile way of teaching is applied, which is characterised by a problem and challenge base.
Principal Investigator: Ilenia Fronza — Faculty of Engineering
Project Duration: 23/01/2020 - 03/08/2021
Project Website: taste.inf.unibz.it
Learning Tools is a set of coordinated actions aimed at reducing and preventing early school leaving with the aim of promoting access to education and training with formal, non-formal and informal education pathways for the acquiring of specific skills for pupils and teaching staff. The educational measures are:
Principal Investigator: Dario Ianes - Faculty of Education
Project Duration: 01/03/2018 - 31/10/2018
Last update: 24/08/2021