In the last decades, advanced thin film technology has enabled a wide range of technological breakthroughs that have transformed entire sectors such as electronics and lighting by the implementation of outstanding nanoscale phenomena in reliable products that involve ultralow contents of critical raw materials (CRMs). EPISTORE aims to revolutionize the energy storage sector by developing pocket-sized kW-range stacks based on thin film reversible Solid Oxide Cells (TF-rSOCs) that will be able to efficiently store renewable electricity for applications where the use of batteries is inefficient due to size constraints or long term storage requirements, e.g. off-shore power generation or transportation. Nanoscale breakthroughs and never explored materials will be combined in revolutionary TF-rSOCs giving rise to radically new ultracompact and fast response Power-to-Gas and Power-to-Power storage solutions with superior performance (hydrogen production of 10kg/l per hour and specific power of 2.5kW/kg) and negligible use of CRMs (50mg/kW). In order to enable this science-to-technology step forward, our nano-enabled TF-rSOCs will be integrated in scalable silicon technology to show their viability as a potentially low-cost new paradigm of large-scale energy storage. The EPISTORE project addresses this challenging objective by building an interdisciplinary research consortium that includes consolidated and emergent leading researchers in modelling, micro- and nano-technologies, materials science and energy together with high-tech pioneer SMEs that cover the whole value chain and possess unique capabilities to develop kW-range modular stacks for real applications. Moreover, the structure and communication strategy have been designed to make EPISTORE a lighthouse project for boosting this novel storage paradigm and building an innovation ecosystem founded on advanced thin films applied to energy technology.

The project is based on the idea of creating a new training course that will combine general economic knowledge with the specifics of the sectoral economy. During their studies in the field of tourism, students get acquainted with general principles and methods of financial management and business economics in basic courses. In the courses focused on tourism, they subsequently focus mainly on the operational specifics of tourism companies with only a marginal emphasis on the financial issues of business in tourism. The aim of the project is to combine the areas of tourism and financial management and to create a new holistic training course. The second impulse for the creation of the project was the current epidemiological situation, which emphasized the need for intensive use of modern technologies in teaching and pointed out the insufficient quantity and quality of available didactic materials in electronic form.The main goal of the project is to create an innovative didactic material with the support of modern information technologies, which combines general economic knowledge with the sectoral economy specifics. Other goals are to support the internationalization of the educational process within higher education and to fill the gap in the education in the tourism sector.The project involves three European universities (Prague University of Economics and Business, Technische Hochschule Deggensdorf, Universidad Europea de Madrid), which have extensive experience in teaching subjects in tourism, finance and business economics and in processing international projects. All partners have set up highly accomplished expert teams to work on the project. Representatives of partner universities consider the project to be very beneficial, as they perceive a gap in university curricula and study materials and are interested in using the created didactic material in their teaching. There is no comprehensive modern methodology on the topic Financial management specifics in tourism companies, which would mediate this issue to students with the use of digital technologies.The output of the project will be comprehensive modern didactic materials (course content and methodology (syllabus), online teaching course, methodological manuals for teachers and students). All outputs will be in English The main output is an online training course comprising of 12 lessons, which will include in each lesson: a digital presentation of the topic, an example, a video / audio interview (podcast) with an expert, a case study, a control test. The content of the course is divided into two parts: the first part contains the theoretical background of financial management (4 lessons) and the second part describes the financial management specifics in various types of tourism companies (restaurants, hotels, travel agencies, guide services, transport companies, destination management organizations, spa facilities, event companies). Experts from the industry will also collaborate on the output - in the form of consultations and podcasts.Other outputs will be accompanying materials to the online training course: methodological guidelines for students and teachers and course syllabus (course content and methodology). Methodical guidelines will be the basic support for teachers and students, they will contain methodological procedures, solving examples and case studies, expanding questions and tasks, recommended resources. The syllabus puts the course into study plans, defines the requirements for students, requirements for graduation, states the structure of the course and the recommended literature.All partners will participate equally in the processing of individual outputs; one partner university will always be responsible for the finalization and final form of each output. Each partner will work on all outputs simultaneously. Representatives of partner universities will meet regularly at semi-annual intervals (a total of 4 meetings), further communication will be online (e-mail, video calls).The main result of the project will be modern teaching material that will be available to students and teachers in the field of tourism free of charge online. The newly developed online training course can be used as a whole or only for selected topics. The training course will contain mainly timeless information. Due to the digital form, it will be easy to update, the update will be performed primarily by the project coordinator or the partner university under its direction. The sustainability of the project is estimated to be at least 5 years.The main group that benefits from the project results are students and teachers of partner universities. The project results will be available to other schools on the platform Erasmus+. Given the expected average number of students per year at the partner universities, it can be estimated that the project outputs will be used annually by 360 students in the field of tourism.

ELECTRIFIC will revolutionise how electric vehicles are integrated into power grid and users’ life. The fundamental premise on which the project will work that significant improvements to electromoblity can be unlocked by increasing coordination of all the actors in the electromobility ecosystem. To this end, the project will deliver novel techniques and ICT tools for enabling such coordination at all levels of the ecosystem. At the grid level, the project will develop new smart charging stations capable of dynamically controlling charging rate, maximizing the use of renewables and making as grid-friendly as possible. At level of EV users, the project will develop advanced driver assistance services that help and motivate the users plan travel and charging in a way that is convenient and yet respects potential constraints on charging capacity. Finally, at the EV fleet level, the project will develop management tools that help to optimise fleet operations, maximising battery lifetime and minimising charging costs. ELECTRIFIC comprises a balanced consortium of experienced research partners, energy providers and innovative electromobility SMEs. The results of the project will disseminated in the scientific community and rolled out to commercial use from e-bikes to e-buses, from private owners to government services and including cross-border mobility.

The ATEST (Assessment of Traineeships within the European credit transfer SysTem) project was proposed as a two year project and looked for a solution and recommendation around ECTS credits award for internships. Partners of the project were 9 universities from 9 EU countries, coordinator was Educa International, o.p.s. (NGO).The traineeships are for students a part of their university education to gain practical experience in their field of study through practical activities in companies and other institutions . This is very important and essential for their further professional development and better emloyability after the graduation.The current practice used for recognition of traineeships results shows a huge differences between universities and also within the same university. We can see large differences in the attitude towards allocation of credits for internship performed within the Erasmus programme (from 0 ECTS to 30 ECTS). If we accept the Erasmus programme traineeships as an integral part of study, it must be objectively evaluated in accordance with recognized rules, i.e. ECTS. For traineeships there was no model how to evaluate and recognize participation in Erasmus traineeships under the ECTS, mainly of volutary traineeships. The project partners analyzed their own credit allocation systems at their universities, universtities of Educa Consortium and also all partners asked other universtities in their countries to fill in a project questionnaire which was distributed also to other countries participating in Erasmus traineeship activities. Project team prepared analysis, and outcomes present a possible solution and recommendation how to approach traineeships based on ECTS according to the period, results and other aspects of traineeships.Project found also other problems that should be addressed by another analysis of data. The attitude of companies toward traineeships and evaluation of traineeship.

The aim of the project is to increase the quality and benefits of internships by creating closer cooperation between companies and universities in the implementation of internships.The reason of the project proposal is ensuring the quality and relevance of traineeships by developing of closer cooperation companies and universities when Erasmus traineeships are realized. The project proposal aims at enhancing cooperation between universities and companies through innovative benefits in which students will have the chance to develop their skills and competences for their future careers. Partner organizations will work with companies and students to develop methods together with companies and other relevant entities.Traineeships can become more attractive for university students if a clear assessment of their traineeships is used and the results are recognized as a regular part of study. Also if their assessment evaluates their abilities and skills so that they can use it in their future application for job and they have already practical experience and are trained and prepared for employment.The objective of this project is to set up a system for assessment of quality of traineeships. In order to make the assessment even more reliable and useful for companies and for students, we are planning to submit an Erasmus KA2 project AQET that aims to analyze according to which criteria the outcomes of the traineeships are most useful for companies (future employers) and for students (future employees).The project proposal will enhance the quality and relevance of traineeships by developing of assessment and recognition of Erasmus Traineeships for participating institutions and to disseminate it to the other universities, too.We believe that the EU needs to put more responsibility on companies who hire interns through the Erasmus+ program. The companies are benefiting from Erasmus+ as they are able to have highly educated interns subsidized by EU funding. Increasing the companies’ obligations on reporting or evaluation will inadvertently increase the dialogue between the companies and the universities. This enhanced communication could also assist the European Commission in achieving its goal of having industry, research and education all working together.Dissemination activities will be divided to several directions. Very important is dissemination within each partner institution (internal dissemination). It is important to disseminate information inside the university and inform all faculties and departments, that this kind of project is realized. There will be information sent to all teaching and administrative staff responsible for traineeships. The dissemination activities within own institution since the beginning is very important for the project results and final success. There will be also dissemination activities oriented out of institutions (external dissemination). The first external dissemination information will be presented on web which will be used for project progress presentation and will be opened the whole public. This “ex ante” dissemination activities will promote the project and its goals.