On the 18th and 19th of November Ghent University hosts the 1st ENLIGHT Teaching and Learning conference. The central theme is 'Learning from and with each other – peer learning across all levels of the university'. The theme obviously refers to the educational methods used in our courses and programmes, but it also points to the importance of peer learning among teachers. Our conference marks the beginning of a teaching and learning community to empower our ENLIGHT teachers and students.

On the 18th and 19th of November Ghent University hosts the 1st ENLIGHT Teaching and Learning conference. During the formal opening our we are glad to welcome keynote speaker Eric Mazur, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Area Chair of Applied Physics at Harvard University.

Eric Mazur is renowned for his teaching methods, which developed a large following, both nationally and internationally, and has been adopted across many disciplines.

On occcasion of his visit to Ghent Eric Mazur will give two additional student hybrid lectures in the morning of Friday 19 November

Forests are considered one of the most important instruments in the fight against climate change. They have high potential to absorb carbon emissions and play a major role in biodiversity conservation. This session looks at the impact of climate change on forests and their adaptation to environmental changes.

To mark the end of the first Taiwan Studies Programme cycle Ghent University hosts a series online lectures together with the University of Göttingen and the University of Groningen. The lectures are given by the Taiwan Chair holders who were selected during the past five years in the framework of the Taiwan Chair agreement.

The European Solid Mechanics Conference is the major event for the solid mechanics community in Europe, and provides a unique forum for scientists and engineers from Europe and across the world to exchange ideas on the current state-of-the-art in the mechanics of solids, on new concepts and ideas and to identify new research directions. The 11^th European Solid Mechanics Conference will be held at NUI Galway, Ireland, 4^th – 8^th July, 2022 (ESMC2022). The conference is being held under the auspices of the European Mechanics Society (EUROMECH).

Solid mechanics is the bedrock of engineering design in areas such as mechanical engineering, civil and structural engineering, and biomedical engineering. It is a critically important element in the design and development of almost all technologies and products in these areas, such as aircraft, automobiles, buildings, bridges, and medical implants and devices. Further, solid mechanics is a key enabler in the development of new technologies that address the major global challenges of our time in sustainability, renewable energy and health.

The organising committee have assembled a truly outstanding group of international invited lecturers for the conference, covering the General Lecture and five Plenary Lectures.

The conference has general sessions and over 50 mini-symposia on a wide range of solid mechanics speciality areas so there should be something for everyone over a wide range of interests in the solid mechanics domain, for abstract submission.

The NUI Galway organising committee would be delighted for the ENLIGHT member institutions to encourage staff, researchers and graduate students in engineering, applied mathematics and physical sciences, and more broadly across the sciences, to submit abstracts to the conference and for them to visit Galway to attend the conference next summer.

Welcome to a digital Uppsala Health Summit, October 18-21st 2021, that will focus on mental health and wellbeing – considered one of the most important global health challenges of our time. Fostering and protecting mental wellbeing requires multi-sectoral action at all levels of society, but there is often a need for better understanding of available approaches and how they can be successfully implemented and benefit more people. The meeting will provide a unique interdisciplinary platform for researchers, experts and practitioners to present and discuss innovative ways to prevent and intervene for better mental health globally. Topics include Psychological flexibility, Hormones and mood, Towards a new understanding of mental health and wellbeing, and Innovative strategies for closing the treatment gap. 

Some of the confirmed speakers include:

• Professor Vikram Patel, Professor of Global Health at Harvard Medical School
• Dr Ledia Lazeri, Mental Health Advisor at WHO
• Professor Steven Hayes, Founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Mr Benjamin Perks, Head of Campaigns and Advocacy at UNICEF

The plenary sessions are free of charge and open to everyone who has pre-registred. Participation in the workshops are limited, and require pre-registration and includes a fee. Please register here. 

As higher education institutions, the ENLIGHT partner act as regional, national, and global innovators preparing society for necessary transformation through appropriate governance, research, education and transfer activities, as well as sustainable operations and facilities.

One of the major goals of the European University ENLIGHT is the continuous reduction of CO₂ emissions in all areas of the partner universities, which has been emphasised by the signing of the ENLIGHT Sustainability Engagement Agreement [.pdf] in 2021.

Since national and international mobilities at higher education institutions cause high amounts of carbon emissions, it is important to encourage employees and students to travel in a more sustainable way. Therefore, ENLIGHT is developing a Sustainable Travel Policy to foster sustainable travel between the ENLIGHT partner universities.

On the ENLIGHT sustainable travel and living platform, the partners provide instutional and network information with regard to sustainable mobility and living as well as CO₂ calculation and offsetting opportunities.

The ENLIGHT partner universities of Uppsala, Groningen and Ghent are organizing a Virtual Exchange Partnering Fair together with the FAUBAI, the Brazilian Association for International Education (similar to NAFSA or EAIE but for Brazil).

The goal of the initiative is to promote collaboration between the ENLIGHT universities and Brazilian universities participating in the BRaVE programme (Brazilian Virtual Exchange), to develop Virtual Exchange as an innovative teaching and learning method, to facilitate new contacts with teachers in Europe and Brazil, and to provide information about Virtual Exchange training opportunities.

The target groups are teachers and researchers with an interest in collaboration with Brazil and Virtual Exchange, International Relations Office staff, and pedagogical developers.

On Monday, 25 October 2021, 9:00 BRT / 14:00 CEST, we host a one-hour ZOOM webinar in which experts for Virtual Exchange will give an introduction into the concept, good-practise examples and current developments in the field. We will also inform about training opportunities and possibilities to develop new Virtual Exchanges.

After the webinar, the participants are invited to participate in a match-making to find a partner for developing a new VE initiative. Based on a short online questionnaire, we will create some matches and introduce teachers with a shared interest. The matches will receive help from an experienced VE developer during a first meeting in the beginning of November on the Gather Town Platform.  

See the full program and list of instituitonal contacts

REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE

On 27 September ENLIGHT held its formal kick-off of the RISE project in a virtual format. The project officially started on 1 September. A festive launch event will be planned on 2 December at NUI Galway on occasion of the annual ENLIGHT General Meeting.

In the framework of the RISE project the ENLIGHT partners will develop a joint research and innovation agenda. By identifying common strengths, they will foster new groundbreaking, large-scale collaborative research projects. The overarching goal is to jointly serve our societal missions from an R&I perspective around the 5 ENLIGHT flagship areas.

Courses are starting and students are returning to their campuses (or their digital classrooms) which means that the work of the ENLIGHT Student Network continues. Some representatives have left their positions and moved on. Our official hand-over meeting took place in August. We are looking forward to our exciting Student Board elections and working with all the new Student Network Representatives.

The Student Network has successfully sent in an application to participate in the Teaching and Learning Conference in Ghent looking at the lessons we have learned through digital learning and the lessons we will learn as we return to in person teaching. We are excited to engage with the diverse student groups that make up ENLIGHT over the coming year and are hopeful we will meet each other in person over this academic year.

Together with our colleagues from Ghent and in cooperation with all ENLIGHT partner universities, the UG ENLIGHT team is developing a 5 EC Global Engagement Module. It will be piloted in Spring 2022 for 45 students, 5 from each ENLIGHT partner university.

Learn how ENLIGHT develops doctoral education and connects doctoral students from our nine partner universities!