Category: News

With the integration of eUniv into the European Network of Academic Integrity (ENAI), the university has been able to take part in the fourth edition of the PhD Summer School organized in Konstanz (Germany) by the ENAI, from September 16 to 20.

eUniv’s commitment to staying updated and connected in matters of academic quality and integrity is clear, and as a result of these sessions, measures and policies followed by universities across Europe and other parts of the world have been observed, with the presence of institutions such as Coventry University (UK), the University of Maribor (Slovenia), or Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Canada), among many others.

During this week, the latest trends in a wide variety of areas related to academic integrity were discussed. From addressing plagiarism to implementing policies and guidelines at an international level, which led to particularly enriching debates. The various presentations by doctors and specialists in academic integrity followed a format of presentation and debate aimed at developing solutions and improvements in the field, with the following standing out in particular:

• Mladen Borovic (University of Maribor, Slovenia): Technical challenges and solutions for achieving academic integrity values in generative AI, which addressed the implications of AI and highlighted promising solutions such as the use of watermarking and its legal integration by the European Union in 2026.

• Ece Zehir Topkaya (İzmir Democracy University, Turkey), Özgür Çelik (Balıkesir University, Turkey) & Durmuş Özbaşı (Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey): What makes a well-developed academic integrity policy?, a session where various policies developed by leading universities around the world in terms of academic integrity were compared and analyzed.

• Irene Glendinning (Coventry University, UK): Academic publishing, peer review and misconduct in research and publishing, which highlighted the challenges faced by scientific journals and the solutions derived for detecting and reporting fraudulent elements in this field.

In January 2025, the first forum on the use of artificial intelligence as a learning tool in higher education will be held, organized by the Alma Mater University Institute (IUAM) of eUniv. In line with its goal of promoting research on the university institution from all social science disciplines, IUAM aims to address the debate on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and how it is rapidly changing the learning landscape.

AI enhances various aspects of university life beyond teaching, such as administrative tasks, faculty support, research, data analysis, and student services. AI offers numerous possibilities to enrich teaching and learning experiences through personalized tutoring and intelligent content creation. This transformation is driven by technological advancements, increased accessibility to AI tools, and the recognition of AI’s educational benefits. However, the integration of AI into university classrooms has sparked significant debate. While AI presents exciting opportunities for educational improvement, it also raises concerns and ethical challenges.

In this regard, all information about the forum can be found on the IUAM website. In any case, the forum, which will take place in a hybrid format, will be structured around five different presentations:

• AI and student learning outcomes
• AI and teaching practices
• Ethical considerations
• Future trends and challenges
• Case studies and best practices

All submissions must be sent via email to submissions.researchforum2024@euniv.eu before November 30, 2024.

The 56th edition of the Catalan Summer University dedicated its first day, corresponding to Saturday, August 17, 2024, to celebrating the 37th Andorran Day, which, as every year, was organized by the Andorran Society of Sciences (SAC), with the support of FEDA and the Government of Andorra. This year’s monographic topic was Globalization and Andorra, and the program included an extensive list of participants, each from their sectoral or social perspective, which contributed to shaping very interesting debates about the future of the country.

Among the presentations related to higher education, the academic protonotary of eUniv, Dr. Marc B. Escolà, presented his on The globalization of the university offer from Andorra: future perspectives, placing special emphasis on the typological differences between universities, which are especially contrasted when considering academic internationalization.

Also present at this year’s UCE activities were the Coordinator of Humanities studies, Francesc X. de Fantova, Dr. Llum Torrens, Coordinator of Catalan Language and Literature studies, the Director of the University Institute of Applied Technology, Joaquim Vallès, and the Vice-Rector for Academic Organization, Dr. Eladi Llop.

The agreement includes, among others, the creation of an institutional delegation of the Barcelona University in Sant Julià

The European University and the Ateneu Barcelonès reached an institutional cooperation agreement last June, which marks the beginning of a relationship born with the desire to promote and strengthen the Catalan language within the area of ​​Catalanophony. The rector of the eUniv, Dr. Antoni Noguero, and the president of the Ateneu Barcelonès, Isona Passola, signed the agreement which includes several collaborative activities.

“We are an Andorran university and, as such, it is also our responsibility to defend the use and survival of the language”, said Dr. Noguero. In the same way, from the Ateneu they pronounce themselves adding that “this kind of initiatives, which go beyond borders, allow us to feed back with a clear objective; may the language survive”. The commitment between both entities is clearly reflected in the agreement to create an institutional delegation of the Ateneu Barcelonès at the eUniv headquarters in Sant Julià de Lòria.

Thus, the agreement also contemplates that both entities collaborate in the organization of conferences, round tables and presentations, the edition of publications and the organization of training programs. In addition, the collectives of the eUniv and the Ateneu Barcelonès will be able to make use of the respective libraries.

The Ateneu Barcelonès is an association that has supported Catalan society and culture for more than one hundred and fifty years, with the aim of being one of the main centers of intellectual debate.

Its main objectives are to promote citizen cultural self-education, promote an open, transversal and constructive dialogue with civil society, be a center for the dissemination of national debates and a creative nucleus to promote intellectual activity collective.

From August 17 to 23, 2024, the 56th edition of the Catalan Summer University will take place in the town of Prada de Conflent. This year’s program of events includes the traditional day organized by the Andorran Society of Sciences, with the sponsorship of the Government of Andorra and FEDA, and which this year will address the topic “Globalization and Andorra”.

The conference will take place on Saturday, August 17, and a total of 21 presentations will be presented in person, to which another 13 will be added in the subsequent publication.

Among the face-to-face presentations that will be presented during the afternoon is the presentation by Dr. Marc B. Escolà, Academic Prothonotary of the eUniv, who will discuss “The globalization of the university offer from Andorra: future perspectives”.

On July 10, 2024, the inter-institutional cooperation framework agreement was signed between eUniv and the Miguel Hernández University of Elche. This agreement is accompanied by two other specific agreements, one dedicated to arranging the stays of visiting teaching and research staff from both universities, and the other to the regulation of the academic conditions of the exchanges of the respective students.

These agreements are part of eUniv’s institutional strategy, aimed at fostering institutional links with the international academic environment, and especially with universities in Catalan-speaking territories.

As a result of these agreements with the Miguel Hernández University, in the next academic year 2024-2025, the eUniv will receive researchers from the Faculty of Law of the Illicitan university, who will carry out research stays dedicated to the comparative analysis of various institutions of the private international law.

At the proposal of the Vice-Rectorate for Research, the Academic Board of the eUniv approved, in the session of July 9, 2024, the appointment of Dr. Josep Serrano i Daura as Director of the Fiter i Rossell Chair of Legal History.

Dr. Serrano is currently the coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program at the eUniv. He has been professor of Legal History at the Universities of Barcelona, ​​Pompeu Fabra and Internacional de Catalunya. He is also the director of the Journal of Catalan Historical Law, published by the Catalan Society of Legal Studies, a subsidiary of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, and is also an active organizer of specialized scientific calls in the field of history legal throughout the Catalan-speaking territory.

Dr. Serrano is the author of a huge and continuous scientific production, which has earned him all the academic research accreditations from the quality agencies. Among his most recent works, the monumental Leyes Históricas de Cataluña (2024), published in four volumes in Madrid by the publisher of the Official Gazette of the Spanish State, stands out.

The Fiter i Rossell Chair of Law History is the result of the agreement between eUniv and the Layret Foundation, and the appointment agreement of Dr. Serrano establishes as the start date for the exercise of managerial functions the next September 1, 2024.

At the proposal of the Management of the J. H. Newman Doctoral School, the Academic Board of the eUniv approved, in the session of July 9, 2024, the organization of a new Doctoral Research Line (LRD) dedicated to the systematic study of the academic disciplines incorporated as courses by university institutions.

In accordance with the proposal presented, this LRD will have an empirical orientation and will start from a common analytical model, built on three basic elements: the legal and academic regimes, the curricular arrangements and the evolution of the supply and demand of each teaching In principle, the LRD will have as a temporal framework the 21st century and as territorial the Principalities of Andorra and Catalonia, which will be the subject of the corresponding comparative analysis within the European Higher Education Area.

With this LRD, which is added to that of University History, the eUniv strengthens its strategic specialization in research on the university institution, which becomes the central object of study for all the research activity of the eUniv.

The approval agreement for this LRD envisages the start of admissions from next September 1, 2024, and its coordination will be in charge of Dr. Jesús M. Prujà.

The Diari d’Andorra published on Friday, July 5, 2024, an opinion article by Lluís Serés Escolà, pre-elector of the Universitat Europea-IMF, with the title “Andorra noble: personal and non-transferable”.

We attach the link to the article: https://www.diariandorra.ad/opinio/la-tribuna/240705/andorra-nobiliaria-personal-i-intransferible_154194.html.