Frequently asked questions

What does ECIU stand for?
European Consortium of Innovative Universities.

What is ECIU and ECIU University?
ECIU, the European Consortium of Innovative Universities, is the international network of universities with collective emphasis on innovation, creativity and societal impact. The ECIU University is an EU-funded initiative that creates a groundbreaking and innovative educational model on a European scale. The ECIU University connects 12 universities from 12 different European countries.

Which universities are members of the ECIU University?
You can check the web page about the ECIU members.
 

Is the participation of the teaching and research staff officially recognised, for example with teaching credits?
The institution is still working on the recognition of the participation. For the time being, it can already be advanced that the participation in the ECIU University, when formalised, will be part of the recognised work of the teaching and research staff.

The participation of the teaching and research staff involves mobility in any of the universities on the network, or everything will be done online?
As soon as the health situation will change, three types of mobility are planned, both for students and for the teaching and research staff: on-site, virtual and mixed or blended mobility (which includes both on-site and virtual mobility). The new Erasmus programme will also include a short-term mobility for the three university groups (teaching and research staff, administrative and service staff, and students).

How can the Business Park participate in the ECIU University?
The Business Park and other UAB institutions can propose challenges to be worked at the ECIU University. To submit proposals, you can contact the project coordination at ecuniversity.coordinacio@uab.cat. 

How does the ECIU University interact with the Service Learning (Aprenentatge Servei or ApS)?
There may be synergies, but the relation between the two institutions is complementary: not everything that is done in the SL is classifiable as a “challenge”, so there are aspects that cannot be integrated into the ECIU University.
A “challenge” does not aim to find a concrete solution, but rather seeks to generate a possible solution that is not identified at first.

What relation is possible between the ECIU University and the industrial doctorates?
Industrial doctorates from the UAB are another initiative that puts the reality of the university in contact with a productive environment. In this aspect, multiple synergies can be generated in terms of research, methodology...

What are the ECIU University micro-modules?
Next to participating in the challenge, students will be able to choose from a variety of micro-modules which support them to better solve the challenge. The micro-modules enable students:

• to learn more about regional and international societal issues related to different aspects of making cities and regions sustainable (UN Sustainable Development Goal 11),
• to learn foreign languages,
• to learn skills that are vital in solving challenges in international teams (e.g., intercultural communication).

A micro-module can lead to 1 to 5 ECTS, depending on the work charge.

Where can I find the descriptions of challenges and micro-modules?
You can check it on the web page of the ECIU University about micro-modules.

What is the relation between micro-modules and micro-credentials?
When we talk about micro-modules we refer to the course, the training experience.
Micro-credential is the recognition of the participation in this experience, which can be given in the form of a certificate or any other recognition of the acquired skill. In addition, a micro-credential also recognises other experiences and activities that allow competences to be developed.

Should micro-modules necessarily be based on the challenge-based learning (CBL)?
No, micro-modules are training that can be useful in order to facilitate the implementation of a challenge, but do not necessarily have to be based on challenge-based learning.

Micro-modules resemble to online Coursera's course. What is the difference?
Indeed, some micro-modules could be offered as Moodles. The difference is the fact that the offer of micro-modules is related to the achievement of skills required to work on the challenges of the ECIU University.

When will teaching and research staff be asked again to offer micro-modules?
When it will be clearly defined how to incorporate teaching and research staff into the project, a call for participation will be made again. Meanwhile, it is always possible to contact eciuniversity.coordinacio@uab.cat to submit proposals.

What are the ECIU University challenges?
The ECIU University Challenges are learning experiences that work on real-life challenges, propose a solution and make an impact. The work groups include students, teamchers (members of the teaching and research staff who coordinate the challenge) and stakeholders such as public institutions, businesses, NGOs…) The ECIU University challenges are based on the challenge-based learning, an innovative and multidisciplinary perspective and an international environment.
For more information, check the web page of the ECIU University about challenges.

Where can I find the descriptions of challenges?
You can check the web page of the ECIU University about the challenges.

What is the Challenge-based learning (CBL) approach?
At the ECIU University learners, teachers, researchers, representatives of businesses and public organisations join forces across a variety of disciplines to solve real-life problems. The challenge-based learning approach follows a specific structure consisting of three main steps: engage, investigate and act, letting students be active participants and co-creators in the process.

What types of challenges exist? Social, Business...
The challenges of ECIU University are related to the sustainable development goal 11, "Sustainable Cities and Communities", established by the United Nations.
Within this framework, they can be related to any area of knowledge and, indeed, they always involve several areas of knowledge.

Do the challenges of ECIU University require a dedication of 6 ECTS credits? In the future, will they increase their volume/dedication?
The ECTS credits of the challenges depend on their volume of work. Challenges can have more or less dedication, and according to that the associated credits will change. At the UAB, 1 ECTS, according to the European framework, corresponds to 25 hours of dedication.

How are business challenges recruited?
The challenges can be recruited in many ways: through the faculties, the COREs, the Research Park, and in general the members of the UAB who have direct contact with the operators of the territory. Some challenges will be worked at the ECIU University, others will be worked within the exclusive framework of the UAB. In the future, a one-stop source could be implemented so that it would be possible to submit any possible challenge, as well as any idea of collaboration to participate in the co-creation of knowledge on our campus and territory.

How it is possible to keep the confidentiality of the business challenges?
Depending on the challenge and who will raise it, different way to handle this point can be established. In case a company submits a strategic challenge that requires confidentiality, a procedure can be established whereby a research group or a service-provider can attend to it in a different logic to that of training. This is a specific case which can also be answered in the context of the ECIU University.

Would it be possible to find out which challenges are 'available' in case they can be linked (partially) to the subject of a degree?
Challenges are updated every semester, and published on the web page of the ECIU University dedicated to challenges . To check which challenges are going to be offered in the future editions, you can contact with the project coordination at eciuniversity.coordinacio@uab.cat.