Accelerate Future HEI
Funded by the Horizon Europe program, the project Accelerate Future HEI (2023-2026) aims to develop and test services to accelerate the process of institutional transformation, thus supporting higher education institutions in developing their capacity to become innovative and entrepreneurial universities, bringing together 12 European partners from 11 countries, including the Politehnica University of Timișoara.
EDEN 2025 Annual Conference
June 6
Dr. Diana Andone and Conf. Dr. Ing. Vlad Mihăescu represented UPT at the EDEN Digital Learning Europe 2025 Annual Conference in Bologna, with the theme Shaping the Future of Education in the age of AI, presenting the results of the project Accelerate Future HEI at an Action Lab event.
Co-creating with students: a model for community impact
August 29
Within the Accelerate Future HEI project, UPT students have become active partners in the co-creation process, developing sustainable digital solutions with a direct impact on the local and regional community. And during 2025, they contributed to shaping the digital landscape by creating websites, online platforms and mobile apps for medical institutions, cultural projects such as „Spotlight Heritage Timisoara” and numerous non-profit organizations, turning technical expertise into valuable resources for civil society.
UIIN professional development courses
November 18
During 2026, the project finalized the series of online training courses organized in collaboration with UIIN and the E³UDRES² Alliance, courses aimed at strengthening skills in entrepreneurship and strategic university-industry partnerships. The programs offer teaching and administrative staff access to advanced professional development modules, facilitating the integration of international best practices into UPT's institutional transformation processes.
Bell Labs VR Expo app„
May 16
As part of the project, the students extended their technical expertise by developing the „Bell Labs VR Expo”, a virtual reality experience integrating the Nokia building and the Telephone Museum. The initiative has facilitated the digital preservation of local industrial heritage and promoted technology education among the community, and has been successfully presented to the general public at numerous community events and actions.
Interactive Digital Media Student Student Contest (IDMSC) 2025
June 15
Now in its 11th year, the student competition IDMSC 2025 brought together 28 students from 3 Romanian universities, as well as international students from the University of Applied Sciences St. Polten in Austria and the University of Fulda.
This year's edition was held under the umbrella of the Accelerate Future HEI project, which also awarded the grand prize to the winnerAlexandru-Mihai Zvîncă (Automatics and Computers, UPT) for the TreeHelper - Wood Transport Authorization and Monitoring System project, an intelligent monitoring system that demonstrates the impact that student ideas can have.
UPT International Digital Skills 2025 Workshop on Digital Resilience
The 10th edition of Digital Skills 2025 International Workshop was organized with the support of the Accelerate Future HEI project, bringing together more than 800 participants interested in building resilience in the digital environment. During the event, Dr. Diana Andone presented the impact of the Accelerate Future HEI project, highlighting its contribution to transform UPT into an innovative and entrepreneurial institution.
E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators
project E³UDRES² Entrenovators aimed, throughout the 3 years of implementation, to co-create a more specific common research and innovation strategy and a common agenda to accelerate the transformation into a European multi-institutional research and innovation center for smart and sustainable regions. In 2025, the last year of implementation, Politehnica University Timișoara through the Department of ID/IFR and Digital Education continued to manage the WP4 work package, focused on developing competences in open science, education and innovation, by organizing pilot training programs, MOOC courses and strengthening technology transfer structures through a common digital infrastructure.
Workshop Open Education & Science Practices 2025 UPT
The 12th Workshop Open Education & Science Practices 2025 UPT was organized with the support of the E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators project, bringing together over 500 participants, The sessions addressed the impact of artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and blockchain on education and research, providing practical examples and case studies. Among the initiatives highlighted in several presentations were the E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators project, with a series of detailed presentations highlighting initiatives in promoting open science and innovation in open education.
Foundations of Open Practices
Four free and flexible online courses, developed within the E³UDRES² Ent-re-novators project with the contribution of the UPT team, have been launched. The „Foundations of Open Practices” courses are Licensing and Open Licensing (copyright and Creative Commons licenses), Open Education (creating and using Open Educational Resources - OER), Open Access and Open Science (publishing transparent research and Open Innovation (principles of collaboration and innovation). They are freely accessible to all students and staff in the E³UDRES² Alliance.
European Researchers' Night: Innovation showcased by E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators
September 26
During the event European Researchers' Night, the E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators project was presented to the general public through the results of applied research developed by UPT, attracting over 7.000 visitors Nokia Campus and over 200 at the Technical Museum. UPT's participation underlined the project's objectives to strengthen research networks and regional innovation ecosystems, giving participants the opportunity to see first-hand how fundamental and applied research contributes to the development of innovative solutions with a real impact on the European community.
E³UDRES² - Ent-r-e-novators PhD Summer School 2025
On June 2-6, 2025, in the framework of the E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators project, the first edition of the PhD Summer School - Open Practices in Higher Education, which brought together over 470 students international experts from 22 countries and 14 European experts.
Over 5 days, the program included sessions on artificial intelligence, the use of virtual reality in education, tools for open science, open access and entrepreneurship strategies, offering participants both practical workshops and mentoring sessions. The activities were recognized by the award of 2 ECTS credits and open digital certificates (badges) attesting the acquired competences in areas such as open licensing and the use of the Arena Hub E³UDRES² platform.
E³UDRES²
E³UDRES² Arena
In 2025, the project launched the E³UDRES² Arena, a Moodle-based digital learning system that acts as a centralized hub for Alliance activities. The platform facilitates the organization of joint courses, workshops and iLiving Labs, enhancing educational and research collaboration between all members of the partner universities through advanced digital tools and a multilingual interface.
For his major contribution to the development of this digital ecosystem, our colleague, ș.l.dr.dr.eng. Andrei Ternauciuc , was awarded the E³UDRES² Award of Excellence in Internationalization at UPT 2025 Excellence Awards Gala , a recognition that underlines the essential role of Politehnica University Timișoara in the digitalization and internationalization process of the Alliance.
E³UDRES² meetings and visits
Talent App
January 31
DeL hosted an international delegation from the E³UDRES² University Alliance (Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, Germany, Portugal) to work on the development of the „Talent App” platform. The platform aims to facilitate students' search for career opportunities and continuous skills development by providing access to modular educational resources and connecting talented young people with companies. The UPT team, represented by Dr. Diana Andone, Conf. Dr. Ing. Vlad Mihăescu and Conf. Dr. Ing. Silviu Vert, worked intensively on this concept. In order to collect valuable feedback, a focus group with UPT students was organized the following day.
January 31
DeL hosted representatives from UCLL University of Applied Sciences (Belgium) and St. Pölten University Of Applied Sciences (Austria), E³UDRES² partners, to develop joint educational modules in the form of micro-credit courses. These modules will be integrated into a future master program and will focus on the development of advanced communication and intercultural competences, essential for modern business environments, in line with the requirements of Industry 5.0. From UPT participated Prof. Dr. Ing. Radu Vasiu, Prof. Univ. Dr. Anca Drăghici, Conf. Dr. Ing. Vlad Mihăescu, Dr. Ing. Diana Andone and Eng. Paul Stiegelbauer.
E³UDRES² Arena digital platform
October 22
On Wednesday, October 22, 2025, a working meeting took place at the DeL headquarters in the framework of the E³UDRES² project. Representatives from the executive management of the project (Michal Karpíšek and Klaas Vansteenhuyse) and members of the UPT team attended. Discussions centered on the current status and future development of the E³UDRES² Arena digital platform to strengthen the digital education, research and innovation dimension of the alliance. The international delegation showed a particular interest in the work of DeL and the UPT digitization strategy, seeking to integrate DeL good practices into the overall E³UDRES² strategy.
Erasmus+ CBHE LECTURE
Central mission of the project Erasmus+ Lecture is to strengthen the resilience of the Ukrainian education system by introducing high European skills in Teacher training standard. The aim is to use EU expertise as a key vector for modernizing the curriculum, shaping future educators not only as skilled professionals but also as highly ethical individuals. By developing new Higher Education Standards and specialized modules (such as those dedicated to Adaptive Learning, Inclusive Education and Digital Skills), READ supports the integration of Ukrainian education into the European Education Area.
As a partner, Polytechnic University Timișoara, through the ID/IFR and Digital Literacy Department plays an active role in this process and is responsible for the development of a toolkit for competences.
Erasmus+ Lecture launch
February 20-21, Rome
Dr. Diana Andone, Director of DeL, attended the project launch meeting Erasmus+ CBHE LECTURE, at the University of Rome Tor Vergata from February 20-21, together with partners from Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, University of Tartu, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Berdyansk State Pedagogical University and Kharkiv National Pedagogical University.
The agenda of the meetings included detailed presentations of the partners, discussions on teacher training systems in different countries, planning of project activities and determining the next steps. It was an excellent opportunity to better understand the challenges faced by Ukrainian higher education teachers.
Erasmus+ LECTURE study visit
December 08-12
The Polytechnic University of Timisoara (UPT), through the Department of ID/IFR and Digital Education (DeL), successfully hosted Study visit four-day (09-12 December 2025) delegation of teachers and academic staff from Ukraine, offering an intensive program that combined theoretical sessions with practical visits, aiming to deepen EU best practices in the implementation of teacher training programs, with a particular focus on information and digital competences.
The delegation, consisting of over 20 people, brought together representatives from the six partner universities in Ukraine: H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University (KhNPU), Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University (VSPU), Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University (TNPU), Berdyansk State Pedagogical University (BSPU), Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University (USPU/UDPU) and Volodymyr Vynnychenko Central Ukrainian State University (CUSU).
Day 1: Digital Fundamentals and edutainment demonstrations through VR/XR applications
UPT. Dr. eng. Diana Andone, Director of the Department of ID/IFR and Digital Education, presented „ABC to Learning Design and Digital Competences”.
DC4EU (Digital Credentials for Europe)
project DC4EU
focuses on the implementation of all necessary identification measures to facilitate the issuance of educational credentials and professional qualifications in the Education sector as well as in the Social Security sector, within a consortium of 80 organizations from 23 countries (21 EU Member States + Norway and Ukraine). The project has the support of 43 public organizations and 49 private entities, including relevant sectoral institutions, ministries and digitization agencies from various Member States, developing a comprehensive governance model and an ambitious dissemination plan, which guarantees the expected relevance and impact.
EBSI-NE: Proposal for the deployment of EBSI production nodes and provision of support services to the EBSI network at the European level
A key part of Europe's digital evolution, the project focuses on the expansion of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI). The initiative proposes to strengthen the EBSI by adding 18 new validator nodes, increasing its capacity and robustness. EBSI-NE provides specialized support services for all stakeholders, positioning Europe as a leader in Blockchain innovation and contributing to a more connected, secure and technologically advanced European e-environment landscape.
As a partner, the Politehnica University of Timisoara coordinates a series of seminars localized at European level and was responsible for organizing the first event dedicated to demystifying and promoting the EBSI infrastructure. UPT's contribution includes the logistical management of the learning formats, the issuing of digital badges for participation, as well as ensuring the accessibility of educational materials under Creative Commons licenses.
Training in developing blockchain technologies for education, development of EBSI nodes
February 11
On 11 February, within the Digital Deploy EBSI-NE project, the Department of ID/IFR and Digital Education of UPT organized, in collaboration with UEFISCDI, the webinar “Training in developing blockchain technologies for education, development of EBSI nodes” over 80 participants, with the objectives of strengthening the European blockchain network.
During the event prof. em. em. dr. eng. Radu Vasiu gave an overview of the initiative, Prof. dr. Ing. Carmen Holotescu, explored how blockchain technology can fundamentally transform the educational landscape and the benefits it brings to students and institutions in a presentation on „Blockchain impact in education„.
The technical details regarding the installation and role of EBSI nodes at UPT were explained by Prof. Dr. Eng. Andrei Ternauciuc, while dr. ing. Diana Andone, drd. Victor Holotescu and Cosmin Cioranu complemented the presentations with information on the integration of digital wallets and supporting tools in the European ecosystem.
Participation was free and participants received a digital certificate of participation - EBSI-NE Open Badge.
Publications
1. Frydenberg, M. and Andone, D., 2025. Improving skills, transforming worlds: personalized learning and global learning with TalkTech. Ubiquity Proceedings , 6 (1).
2. Poce, A., Andone, D., Hurenko, O. and Ferrer, GT, 2025 Bridging the skills gap in teacher education in Ukraine: Developing a competency toolkit for future educators. Shaping the future of education in the age of artificial intelligence: Promoting inclusion, innovation and ethical growth , 15 , p. 177.
3. Sanfilippo, F., Tataru, M., Hua, MT, Johansson, IJS and Andone, D., 2025 Gamification of cultural immersion: virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) in city heritage. IEEE Transactions on Games .
4. Sorescu, V. and Andone, D., 2025. Improving user experience for the Spotlight Heritage Timisoara Timisoara web platform with artificial intelligence technologies. Ubiquity Proceedings , 5 (1).
5. Vasiu, R., Ternauciuc, A., Mocofan, M. and Andone, D., 2025. Development of the E3UDRES2 European Universities Alliance Researcher Bank. Ubiquity Proceedings , 5 (1).
6. Torre, EM, Poce, A., Andone, D. and Tătaru, MC, 2025. 360° virtual tours at the National Roman Museum. Making cultural heritage participatory, accessible and personalized.
7. Rotaru, O., Vert, S. and Vasiu, R., 2025. Evaluating the usability of requirements collaboration features in requirements management tools 8. Nicula, AS, Ternauciuc, A. and Vasiu, RA, 2025. A smart housing recommendation tool for Timisoara students: reinforcement learning and geospatial analysis in a modern application. Applied Sciences , 15 (14), p.7869.