THEMATIC NETWORKS


A Thematic Network (TN) is a co-operation between departments of higher education institutions and other partners (e.g. academic organisations or professional bodies). It is created to deal with forward-looking, strategic reflection on the scientific, educational and institutional issues in the main fields of higher education.

If you want to know more about them, visit the European Union's site about thematic networks.

  • EUGENE (EUropean and Global ENgineering Education)

    The EUropean and Global ENgineering Education Academic Network is a new Thematic Network in Lifelong Learning Programme with the main goal of improving the impact of European Engineering Education on competitiveness, innovation and socio-economic growth in a global context.

    This goal will be achieved by setting–up and a top-level “discussion & action” forum to monitor and support the continuous evolution of EE in the EHEA and to open its competition and cooperation borders beyond Europe. Indeed, although European EE and research is well recognised worldwide, its attractiveness still needs improving, and time has come to discuss, analyse and improve its strengths and weaknesses in the global context: a first step has been the establishment of the worldwide Intern. Fed. of Engineering Education Societies IFEES. Socio-economic growth and competitiveness is mostly “technology driven” and based upon innovation and entrepreneurship: therefore, EE is a priority for the industrial/professional corporate world.

    The project has been submitted by the University of Florence with SEFI as one of the main partners and is going to contribute to the building up of strong links to other European organisations within engineering education and higher education.


  • EU-VIP (Enterprise-University Virtual Placements)

    EU-VIP enhances the quality, efficiency and impact of international work placements by focusing on how to organise these placements, thereby boosting interaction between HEIs and enterprises using the advantages of the newest technologies.

    Work placements can play an important role in the knowledge transfer between higher education institutions and the business community. In a global economy it is also becoming more and more important to introduce students to an international working environment during their education. When students do go abroad for a work placement, the integration of this placement in the curriculum is not always optimal. Furthermore, there are also students who, for financial, geographical or social reasons, do not have the possibility to go abroad.

    EU-VIP provides the necessary (technical, pedagogical, organisational) models and services for:
    - virtual mobility activities to prepare and follow-up students who go physically abroad for a placement
    - fully virtual placements, from selection, preparation, execution to follow-up


  • StartPro

    StartPro is a platform launched by EUROCADRES in 2005 which represents the link between students and professional life. StartPro concentrate on three areas:
    - Higher education and students
    - The transitional period between the end of studies and the first job which is often characterised by unemployment and/or precarious jobbing
    - The working conditions and quality of graduates' first employment


  • ESTIA-Earth

    The main objectives of ESTIA-Earth are to build up a thematic network, focused in creating women- friendly interdisciplinary postgraduate education in Electrical Engineering, Computer Technologies and Applied Sciences.

    The network aims at increasing awareness about gender bias issues in education, informing and motivating young women, leading women to their educational and career paths, and studying the potentials for implementing a new interdisciplinarity-based postgraduate curriculum.


  • Education and Research in Biosystems or Agricultural and Biological Engineering in Europe (ERABEE)

    The main objectives of this Thematic Network is to initiate and contribute to the structural development and the assurance of the quality assessment of the emerging discipline of Biosystems (or equivalent Agricultural and Biological) Engineering in Europe.

    The innovative and novel goal of ERABEE TN is that it seeks to promote this critical transition, which requires major restructuring in Europe, exploiting along this direction the outcomes of USAEE TN. It also aims at enhancing the compatibility among the new programmes of Biosystems (or Agricultural and Biological) Engineering, aid their recognition and accreditation at the European and International level and facilitate greater mobility of skilled personnel, researchers and students.


PARTNERS


Networks:

  • International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES)

    The International Federation of Engineering Education Societies, or shortly IFEES is the network organisation of worldwide societies who are dealing with Engineering Education. It is based in United States and have more than 40 members from different continents. It is founded in 2006. BEST is the only student organisation as founder and currently only student organisation member. Omer Hantal, the President of BEST and an Edu-ID member, is in the Executive Department of IFEES for the period of 2007-2009.

    IFEES will work to establish effective engineering education processes of high quality around the world to assure a global supply of well-prepared engineering graduates. IFEES will strengthen member organisations and their capacity to support faculty and students.


Organisations:

  • European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI)

  • European Space Agency (ESA)

    The European Space Agency's educational programmes give students access to some of Europe's best gravity-related research facilities.

    "Drop Your Thesis" - microgravity experiments in the ZARM Drop Tower Facility

    This program will allow students to develop microgravity experiments to be performed in the ZARM Drop Tower Facility in Bremen. This facility is one of the most sophisticated and high-quality research centres of its kind in Europe and boasts a 146m high tower that gives experiments up to 9.3s of microgravity.

    "Spin Your Thesis" - hypergravity experiments in ESA's Large Diameter Centrifuge

    Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) in ESTEC, The Netherlands has been developed by ESA for use in professional hypergravity research. Using the LDC students are able to design and carry out experiments in a range of different hypergravity levels, from 1 to 20 times earth's gravitational acceleration, for durations of minutes or even hours.

    Sounding Rockets and Balloons

    Fancy flying an experiment on a stratospheric balloon or sounding rocket? Want to experience the full life-cycle of a space project? Then the REXUS/BEXUS program is the one for you!

    This programme is a well established collaboration between DLR, SNSB and ESA Education and offers students across Europe the unique opportunity to design, build, test and launch their very own space projects. All experiments are launched from Kiruna, Sweden, 200km north of the Arctic Circle!

    Conference Opportunities and the NASA Academy 2010

    ESA offers opportunities for students to participate in a range of space-related conferences throughout 2011 and also aims to sponsor two students to attend the NASA Academy in the summer of 2011.