<< Background >>HE institutions, as engines of innovation, have the mission to equip young people with the right skills, knowledge and attitudes to drive innovation forward. But studies of graduates’ employability reveal the gap in highly demanded transferable skills such as creativity, problem solving, motivation, and critical thinking, coupled with resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility, that become increasingly important in the Covid era. This gap is defined as skills mismatch: a mismatch between skills and jobs which shows that HE education is not providing the skills demanded in the labor market”.Equally interested is the fact that those soft skills that are more highly on demand nowadays are “learnableThose finding raised questions about the role higher education institutions should play in preparing students for the graduate employment market and how they can strengthen their collaboration with career guidance actors in equipping HE students and graduates with not only the technical skills required for their chosen career but the sought-after soft skills as well. One possible approach will be the collaboration of HE Institutions with career guidance experts aiming at selecting “teachable” soft desirable skills and incorporate them in the teaching methods via ICT toolsOne effective way of incorporation is to apply the principles of game-learning process (often called serious or educational games). One promising type of serious game is the scenario-based game in where learners progress through a scenario, making decisions and taking actions as they go aiming at succeeding by demonstrating the behaviors or skills desired by the game designer. Furthermore, an equally promising -although rather new -didactic method in delivering the scenario-based game is the educational escape rooms. Moreover, an effective game-based learning tool that can be used to apply the scenario-based game in a form of escape rooms is the 3D VW learning environment (OpenSim)<< Objectives >>The E-SCAPE project’s main objective is to design and apply a pedagogical approach which will focus on the identification of selected “teachable” soft desirable skills, their enrichment with academic sources as well as real-world cases and their incorporation into the teaching process of HE via the assistance of Game learningThe specific objectives of the project are:•To reinforce the employability skills of HE students and graduates•To upgrade the training methods of HE offered modules•To upgrade the demands of the labor market •To reinforce the link of HE institutions and labor market actors•To foster digital skills of the target groups through the provision of an innovative 3D virtual world learning environment in where they can perform gamified activitiesThe project will address two main target groups:-HE students from all levels (junior, senior, master, Ph.D.), and graduates -HE educator, Career guidance experts (such as tutors, mentors, internship / business liaison coordinators)<< Implementation >>The methodology for managing and implementing E-SCAPE project will be developed in two dimensions -one horizontal and one verticalIn particular, the managerial and sharing/promotion activities are considered horizontal support activities and run throughout the entire duration of the project.The foreseen 4 Project Results are the vertical support activities and are planned to follow a waterfall-like lifecycle consisting of the following stages:Stage 1: Definition and Explanation of the key skills needed in the labor market and make them teachable for HE sectorStage 2: Creation of the gamified activitiesStage 3: Development of the gamified learning environment: Stage 4: Testing and evaluate the produced pedagogical approach<< Results >>E-SCAPE’s main objective as well as its specific objectives (as mentioned in the previous section) were the basis upon which the following Project Results (RP) have been planned and designedPR1: E-SCAPE Teaching Framework which aims to define and explain the key skills, needed in the volatile contemporary labor market and to equip HE teachers with a skills framework, guiding principles and innovative learner-centered resources to teach them in an attractive way.PR2: E-SCAPE Game-based educational scenarios for digital escape rooms which aims to support HE students from diverse fields of study in developing essential transferable skills applicable in various life and career situations.PR3: E-SCAPE 3D Virtual World Educational Platform -the game-based learning tool that will be used to apply the E-SCAPE gaming scenarios in a form of escape rooms PR4: E-SCAPE impact assessment and multiplication guide aiming at ensuring the E-SCAPE pedagogic approach are quality, coherent products which adequately meet their objectives and are relevant to the needs of the target groupsThe main expected outcomes from E-SCAPE project are:•HE students from all levels (junior, senior, master, Ph.D.) and graduates with improved employability skills and better understanding about the role of skills for personal productivity, competitiveness and fulfillment, and for long-term and sustainable growth (from PR1, PR2, PR4)•HE educators and career guidance experts with reinforced mutual understanding of offered academic skills and needed market skills (from PR1,PR2, PR4)•HE students from all levels (junior, senior, master, Ph.D.) & graduates and HE educators and Career Guidance experts with reinforced digital skills due to their familiarization with 3D VW learning environment as well as due to their exposure to the game-learning process (from PR3, PR4)

The objective of this proposal is the organization of a multidisciplinary network (Reliable Diagnostic Point Of Care/ReDiPOC network) to submit a project in the call “Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)” of Horizon 2020. The network will be coordinated by the French partner, Anna-Maria Papini. The European network will be based on a multidisciplinary expertise going from Chemistry & Physics to Biology & Engineering with applications in Biomedical sciences (from bench to bedside). The hard core of the network will aggregate top level European scientists of Universities and SMEs, and will focus on integrating new partners (in the field of diagnostics and clinics) in order to improve the strength of the FET proposal. The financial support asked to the ANR will help to bring the network to life and extend it before writing a proposal with the final aim to guarantee the commercialization of final molecular diagnostics. This will be possible thanks to the collaboration between Universities and SMEs covering the gap between Research & Development. The FET proposal will combine Synthetic Antigenic Probes (SAPs) to newly developed label-free diagnostic devices: 1) the prototype of an electrochemical detection diagnostic "point-of-care" device based on innovative amperometric detections performed in microfluidic channels. 2) nano-sensors integrating high frequency surface acoustic wave devices that provide very precise biomarkers detection in organic fluids. Both technologies: a) will use the adapted SAPs, b) will use IgY antibodies as calibrators, c) will be compared with SAPs-based ELISA using positive and negative sera as controls.

<< Objectives >>The FUTURE WOMEN project main objectives are 1) to increase awareness of female students on the challenges and opportunities arising from the digital transformation of the economy and barriers constraining women’s meaningful digital empowerment, to support them to pursuit careers linked to the digital economy jobs and self-employment, particularly in STEM fields of engineering and ICT where advanced digital skills are needed; and 2) equip career counsellors to better guide them.<< Implementation >>To achieve its main objective, the FUTURE WOMEN project consortium will a) benchmark career trends in the digital economy and STEM and produce infographics; b) identify women role models in STEM careers where advanced digital skills are needed and create videos; c) develop and test a MOOC focused on digital economy for women, to develop female students’ digital skills for STEM jobs; and d) develop and test a CDP programme for career counsellors to better support female students.<< Results >>The main outcome of the FUTURE WOMEN project is the learning lab and online forum platform for female students and career counsellors, a two ICT-based educative tool that a) gives free and user-friendly access to the full set of the project’s learning materials (reports, infographics, videos, MOOC, CDP) and b) promotes discussion and exchange of practices in new and innovative methods and tools on digital economy and STEM demand trends through the newsgroup.