A new international study program was being prepared at UP

The master’s program, which equips students with digital competences, legal knowledge and related social knowledge, is created thanks to the cooperation of UP, the universities of Naples, Innsbruck and Amsterdam and other institutions within the Euridice project. Their representatives met at the UP Faculty of Law, which sponsors the new joint study program, to give it concrete outlines and content.

“Our goal is that its graduates, who will hold high positions in business, politics or society, have a comprehensive understanding of digital society. So, for example, they will understand what artificial intelligence is and how it works, and at the same time they will perceive its impact on society,” explains Anna Bon, chief project coordinator for the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

Teaching in the joint study program will be conducted in English in a hybrid format. Thanks to this, students will gain knowledge from the best experts from several universities; however, other institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises are also involved in the project, which will offer them practical internships.

“Most universities have some focus, so it can be difficult for them to prepare a broadly focused interdisciplinary study. Connecting several institutions makes it possible for one study program to get the best experts in the field of information technology, law and philosophy at the same time,” says Hans Akkermans from AKMC, a company involved in the Euridice project. “Our university will involve, for example, experts in statistics and data science or sociology,” says Emiliano Grimaldi, coordinator of the Euridice project at the University of Naples Fridrich II.

Therefore, one of the key topics of the three-day meeting at Palacký University was the composition of the interdisciplinary teaching team. “Together, we also defined the topics they will focus on, and especially the target outputs and competencies that the graduates of the program should master,” adds Anna Bon.

The Euridice project was officially launched on January 1, 2024 and will run until December 2027. It was largely created thanks to the existing interconnection of European universities in the Aurora network, specifically its Digital Society and Global Citizenship domain. “It can be said that the emerging program is a spin-off of the Aurora 2030 consortium and captures the essence of what cooperation is supposed to bring – to use education to transform higher education and society,” says Thomas Baumgartner from the University of Innsbruck.

The Euridice project originally started as a joint educational module, but gradually developed into a comprehensive master’s degree program, which brings increased demands for technological support as well as accreditation processes. “We used the European Commission’s Digital Europe program to partially secure funding. In the future, we will strive to involve all of Aurora’s partner universities,” notes UP vice-rector for strategy and external relations Michal Malacka.

“We are very proud that we, as Palacký University, can be part of this project and the upcoming prestigious study program, in which very hard-working academics and experts participate. Our team consists of academic staff from PF and PřF, but is administratively supported by the Aurora Office of the UP Rectorate. International educational activities not only benefit UP, its reputation and prestige, but especially also support multicultural exchange, the development of intercultural, professional and personal competences and inspiration and mutual enrichment,” says Markéta Šemberová, coordinator of the Euridice project and Aurora Education Developer.

Maxim Tomoszek, PF UP vice-dean for bachelor’s and master’s study programs, adds: “For the Faculty of Law, this is a synergistic activity to the already accredited doctoral program Law and Digital Technologies and at the same time a unique opportunity to cooperate with top foreign workplaces. The joint work on the structure of the program, the goals of the individual modules and the profile of the graduate is very inspiring.”