The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Green Charter guides all the researchers and the academic community to work towards a greener and better future. Therefore, the current action is appropriate and timely as it is primarily dependent on the reduction of the excessive amount of carbon footprints, generated through the huge number of fossil-based experiments conducted to observe the suitability of structural materials for different applications and denoting fire-ratings. The project will focus on introducing fossil-free electric heating (inductive/resistive) for different structural materials and compare the results to the established fossil-based ones. The aim being to prove that fossil-free methods can also help in providing the required information on different structural materials, resulting in possible standardisation of the same. Acceptance and proper functioning of the method will substantially help in reducing the use of fossils, specifically propane, and in working towards a more sustainable environment. Furthermore, the process will also enable in providing a portable and economical way for research institutes and universities to conduct large-scale experiments on new structural materials. The action will also involve the specification of a method to achieve optimal desired fire-safety in materials, and a renewable wood-based structural composite material that has good mechanical and fire performances. The successful preparation, testing and analysis of the new structural material will further enable the team to file a patent. Additionally, the same material will be used to prepare corrugated and honeycomb sandwiched structures with numerical modelling, that for the first time will capture the influence of the cell sizes on the flammability of the structure.

Context/backgroundLTU educates and examines undergraduates and doctoral students to become attractive and well prepared for an international career. The strategy objectives reflect the fact that internationalization is a key component that should help the university achieve its set goals. In order for internationalization to have the desired impact, it needs to permeate all levels of the university. That is why a number of internationalization goals in the areas of research, education, culture and environment have been identified. For education the overall goals should facilitate that we have an international perspective in all our study programmes, that our doctoral undergraduates/doctoral students spend part of their study period abroad, that or strong research and innovation areas provide turnkey study programmes that are attractive to foreign undergraduate/doctoral students, and that we develop joint courses and programmes with our international collaborative partners and we create opportunities for international careers. Partner universities should be chosen based on a number of criteria that not only meet our own strategy but also facilitates a long-term relationship with possibilities for in-depth cooperation. This includes joint courses, joint projects, multiple degrees, exchange of administrative staff, teachers and researches. LTU works actively so that through Erasmus+ it is possible to build strategic partnership and knowledge alliances with both EU and non-EUhigher education institutions in order to create international cooperation and capacity building projects. Objectives LTU has set up a number of goals to achieve this:-All LTU students who are interested in student mobility and placements and who meet the Programme criteria shall have the opportunity to participate in the Programme activities. -Teaching staff that wish to participate in mobility activities are to be encouraged and given financial support. Research staff shall be encouraged to participate in international research activities. -LTU shall actively work to be in several cooperative educational activities that use the Programme models for collaboration between the ERI:s in different countries. With more international students on the LTU campus there will be greater opportunities to meet other from different cultures and nationalities.-Students along with researchers shall have the opportunity to participate in high quality education and research that will help them become successful after leaving LTU, working in international and multi-cultural environments.Number and type of profile of participantsIn total, 118 individuals participated in the project. 81 students have been studying at one of our partner universities. Germany has been the most popular destination for studies, followed by France and UK. Many of our partner universities in our Erasmus Mundus consortias are located in Germany and France. 8 students have received a placement grant. Less students than expected have been carrying out placements. The difficulty to find a placement on their own is a strong reason for few applicants. 15 teachers have had teacher assignments in 9 different countries, spread all over Europa. 14 members of staff have been on staff exchange. Partner universities that have participated in our staff weeks have hosted our participants. To promote the possibility of student exchange, we participate in information meetings, at fairs (with different target groups), in close cooperation with our partner universities we inform us about their course offer. The number of outgoing students has increased, the main reasons are participation in Erasmus Mundus programme and more courses taught in English all over Europe. Results and impact attainedMobility is an important tool for internationalization on different levels and among many different categories within the organization. Teacher, staff and student exchange create new partnerships and also play an important role to deepen and develop already existing cooperation networks. Agreements for teacher exchange have been signed in for us new interesting countries like Romania and Luxembourg.Many different catagories of staff take the opportunity to get international experiences through the project - HR, student services. librarians etcThe goal of increasing the number of outgoing students has been achieved.

This action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students and staff from EU Member States and third countries associated to Erasmus+ to any country in the world. Students in all study fields and cycles can take part in a study period or traineeship abroad. Higher education teaching and administrative staff can take part in professional development activities abroad, as well as staff from the field of work in order to teach and train students or staff at higher education institutions.

This action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students and staff from EU Member States and third countries associated to Erasmus+ to any country in the world. Students in all study fields and cycles can take part in a study period or traineeship abroad. Higher education teaching and administrative staff can take part in professional development activities abroad, as well as staff from the field of work in order to teach and train students or staff at higher education institutions.

Existing EU policies aiming on strengthening and growth are mainly focused on new developments, omitting investments in inspection and maintenance operations due to traditionally high costs. To overtake this, VORTEX aims to commercialize the Vortex Robot (VR) technology developed in Η2020 FETOPEN CompInnova, which will increase the inspection efficiency in terms of lower execution times, lower operational costs and higher worker safety. VORTEX will focus on the creation of its brand name and expand the dissemination/communication activities implemented in CompInnova to focused industrial events and wider media/press channels, for maximizing societal and market acceptance of autonomous multi-robot systems tackling inspection and maintenance tasks. VORTEX will use as the base the identified aerospace maintenance market and the end-users/customer base formed during CompInnova from within the aerospace industry, to expand on potential stakeholders and customers in wider inspection and maintenance areas. Through the implementation of a commercialization plan, analysis of potential markets, technology assessment and consolidation of intellectual property rights, the envisioned activities will lead to the development of the VORTEX business case. The planned dissemination and exploitation activities will stimulate the formation of an open and proactive mindset towards exploiting innovative tools in infrastructure inspection and maintenance, which are beyond the technical capabilities of existing companies, for addressing the demands for higher human safety and reduced downtime costs.