On 12–16 May, Paulius Baltrušaitis, Head of the Department of Informatics and Media Technologies, Rita Kmitė, International Coordinator of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technologies, Associate Professor Dr Jonas Cicėnas, and Aurimas Galkontas, Head of the Student Affairs and Career Unit, participated in the international week events ‘Innovative Strategies to Bridge Education and Research’, held at the UNINOVIS alliance partner institution – Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS), Germany. The event brought together participants from various European and Asian higher education institutions to share experiences on how to innovatively connect education, research, and cooperation with external partners.

‘The week’s programme was intense and full of meaningful activities. On the first day, we got acquainted with various THWS institutes and their structure – this allowed us to compare our institutional models and gain ideas on how to strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation. On the second day, we visited the Technology Transfer Centre in the field of electromobility (TTZ-EMO), as well as the Robotics Centre (CERI) – the latter left a special impression, as it demonstrates advanced interaction between scientific research and industry,’ shares A. Galkontas, Head of the Student Affairs and Career Unit.

He adds that great attention was paid to the visit to the Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAIRO). According to A. Galkontas, this is one of the examples of how it is possible to form Excellence Hub-type structures, integrating AI solutions both into studies and applied activities. In Germany, these centres already operate as a connection between universities, business and the public sector, and their further development is planned precisely on the Excellence Hub principle: ‘I wanted to adopt this experience so that we could successfully apply a similar model in our institution, especially in developing advanced science and studies connections.’

At the end of the week, creative workshops were held, in which participants from different countries presented the experience of their institutions in carrying out research and experimental development (R&D) activities. A. Galkontas notes that this became an excellent platform for discussions about challenges, sources of funding and the integration of research into study processes. The second workshop was dedicated to the topic of cooperation with external partners in organising student internships – solutions were shared on how to more effectively involve employers in the study process and ensure high-quality preparation of students for the labour market.

‘Participation in this week strengthened the understanding of the potential of the Excellence Hub, provided concrete ideas and established new international contacts that can become a solid basis for further cooperation,’ says A. Galkontas, Head of the Student Affairs and Career Unit.

Students Dainius Rainys, Vilius Smilga, Kipras Kailius and Deividas Baltutis participated in the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) organised by THWS on the topic of artificial intelligence and robotics. The students, to whom the BIP challenge was presented by the Head of the THWS Robotics study programme, Prof. Dr Marian Daun, worked in groups for a whole week together with THWS lecturers and students from Finland, Spain, Taiwan and other countries, aiming to answer the question ‘Do humanoid robots serve a legitimate purpose – or is it just a hype?’.

‘Although the teams represented by our students did not become winners, they all unanimously say that it was an undoubtedly valuable life experience, the result of which was lessons in working in a multicultural team, getting to know the learning conditions of foreign students, sharing the knowledge gained during their studies, and making new acquaintances and friendships,’ says R. Kmitė, International Coordinator of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technologies.