Erasmus+ promotes undergraduate research

Advancing digital research among students is the goal of the new international project „A European Network for Digital Undergraduate Research“ (EU-dUR) led by the University of Oldenburg. 

Launched in March as a strategic partnership comprising four other European partner universities, the project will receive around 286,000 euros from a fund within the EU's Erasmus+ programme aimed at advancing digital education. Dr. Susanne Haberstroh, Deputy Director of the Department for Study Affairs and head of Research-Based Learning at the University of Oldenburg, is the coordinator of the project, which is titled A European Network for Digital Undergraduate Research (EU-dUR). In addition to coordinating the project as a whole, the University of Oldenburg is also heading one of its sub-projects.

Haberstroh emphasizes that the role of research in learning is gaining ever more importance in university teaching. Studies have shown that students familiarize themselves with their chosen subject more quickly and intensively through research-based learning than conventional learning methods. The new project aims to support students, university educators and universities in expanding on this innovative learning concept. In three sub-projects, the project partners will develop various digital tools, such as a new platform for student research and citizen science. In one of the sub-projects the University of Oldenburg's Centre for Lifelong Learning (C3L) and Centre for Open Education Research (COER) are developing an online training programme that teaches university lecturers how to supervise students' research work. When the project ends it will be made available to all European universities. The goal is to develop educators' digital competences. In the long term the project aims to help establish a European network for undergraduate research, similar to that created by the Council on Undergraduate Research in the US.

In addition to the University of Oldenburg, the project partners are the University of Vienna (Austria), the University of Warwick (UK), the Université de Paris (France) and LCC International University (Lithuania), with the University of Teacher Education Lucerne (Switzerland) and the US Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) as associated partners. The Erasmus+ Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness fund supports projects that promote online, distance and blended learning formats, including supporting teachers and trainers, as well as safeguarding the inclusive nature of digital learning opportunities.