VDU Profesinių kompetencijų vystymo centras

✈️ This week, representatives of Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas / Vytautas Magnus University participated in an Erasmus+ job shadowing visit at the University of Trieste (Università degli studi di Trieste), Italy 🇮🇹 – a valued partner within the Transform4Europe alliance. The VMU delegation included training organisers Raimonda Zinkevičienė and Toma Valušytė, Communication Specialist Gintarė Visockytė at the VMU Professional Competence Development Centre, and Deputy Director at the VMU STEAM Didactics Centre (VDU STEAM didaktikos centras) Gabrielė Viduolytė.

📚 Across inspiring and productive week, we had numerous meetings with colleagues from different university units and explored how the University of Trieste develops professional growth and lifelong learning opportunities for university staff, students, and society. We exchanged experiences on staff training, postgraduate activities, science outreach, communication strategies, and international collaboration initiatives. We also had the opportunity to learn more about training programmes focused on innovative teaching and learning approaches, aimed at strengthening educational quality, engagement, and continuous professional development in higher education. 🤝

👥 We were delighted to meet and learn from many wonderful colleagues, including Valentina Celli (Manager of the Technical and Administrative Staff Unit), Silvia Agostini and Selina Schmidt (Transform4Europe Project Managers), Laura Poretti (operator Internationalisation Service Sector), Samantha Tedesco (Administrative and Management Officer), Sara Frausin and Samantha Bergamo (Administrative Support Specialists), Sonia Orel (Officer, Administrative–Managerial Sector), Giorgia Amatiste and Cristina Jogna Prat (Administrative Support Specialists), Laura Sartori (Head of the Communications Staff Unit and External Relations and Marketing Service), and Prof. Matteo Cornacchia (Full Professor and Rector’s Delegate for Innovative Education, Department of Humanities).

🏫 One of the highlights of the visit was experiencing campus life: exploring the student campus, visiting the multimedia production laboratory 🎥 where lecturers and students can film, edit, record, and create digital learning content and academic projects, and visiting the new T4EU Student Garden. 🌱

☀️ Thank you to the University of Trieste team for the warm welcome, meaningful conversations, generosity in sharing experiences, and the opportunity to bring home new ideas and inspiration for future professional development and lifelong learning initiatives at VMU.

🚀 Transform4Europe encourages non-academic staff of T4EU and other universities, stakeholders and other interested persons to participate in this interactive webinar "Generative AI for University Administration: Real Use Cases for Immediate Impact" on 📅 June 11, 10.00–12.00 CEST, via MS Teams. Lecturers – Associate Professor Dr. Cristina Cachero, Professor Dr. David Tomás, University of Alicante.

This session offers a practical introduction to Generative AI for university administrative staff, focusing on real use cases with immediate value for daily work. Rather than presenting AI as a purely technical topic, the course is structured around common administrative tasks such as drafting responses to student queries, summarising regulations and procedures, and creating reusable assistants for recurrent workflows.

👉 Apply here: https://forms.office.com/e/8WwtLPDMw7

We invite to participate in NORDPLUS online training 🎯"Guidelines, Traffic Lights, and Forming Consensus and Customized Support: Implementing AI in University Teaching and Learning"🎯, will take place on June 10, 14:15–15:45 pm. The session will be conducted by lecturer, designer (AI), MA Joakim Tervonen from the University of Oulu. The lecture consists of how teachers’ use of AI in teaching is supported in practice at the University of Oulu, through the university’s AI guidelines, the AI traffic light model, and upcoming solutions such as the AI roadmap for teaching. The session also presents AI-based tools currently available to teachers, along with support structures such as digipedamentor activities and peer networks. 👏

⬇️ Registration: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=iRNwEFtPeEC66iCeOcYhDpCk4DHagdpMv5DC7K6iIbFUNVk3MlczUzI2Sjg2SlIxVlZITFJVNVFIRC4u&route=shorturl

🧩 Transform4Europe encourages staff of T4EU and other universities, stakeholders and other interested persons to participate in this interactive webinar "The importance of digital accessibility: how to create accessible digital content" on 📅 June 9, 10.30–13.30 CEST, via MS Teams. Lecturer Associate Professor Pepi Parreño, University of Alicante.

The objective of this webinar is to highlight the importance of digital accessibility and provide participants with the necessary guidelines and standards to create accessible digital content. Specifically, the course covers the creation of accessible text documents, presentations, PDFs, and multimedia content, including the use of AI as a tool to achieve these goals.

👉 Apply here: https://forms.office.com/e/tJzyFcQD4e

📢 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲! | 𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗦𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪 𝗛𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻
Join us for LETSGROW Hybrid Training “𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀” taking place 𝟮𝟵 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 – 𝟭 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 at the University of Alicante in Spain and online, via MS TEAMS. This training will explore how intellectual property rights can support innovation and be used as strategic assets, with a special focus on the agri-food sector. Lecturer Robert Pocklington Vicente – Senior IP Expert & Stakeholders Manager at the Latin America IP SME Helpdesk.

🔹 Audience: Academic and non-academic staff.
✈️ Good news: Travel and accommodation costs may be covered for university staff of LETSGROW consortium partners.

📌 REGISTRATION is now open – secure your place and don’t miss this opportunity. VMU employees who wish to attend training at the University of Alicante and apply for travel funding are invited to register by JUNE 5:
https://forms.office.com/e/q0b36Q9WdE

🌐 More information: https://mokymosiakademija.vdu.lt/naujienos/3864

🚀 VDU Profesinių kompetencijų vystymo centro vadovė dr. Aistė Ragauskaitė, mokymų organizatorė Toma Valušytė ir komunikacijos specialistė Gintarė Visockytė dalyvavo „Transform4Europe Week“ renginyje, kuris vyko Lisabonoje, Universidade Católica Portuguesa 🇵🇹. Dr. Aistė Ragauskaitė dalyvavo WP3.5 partnerių susitikime, skirtame mikrokredencialų politikos rengimui T4EU aljanso lygmeniu, bei kituose susitikimuose su T4EU partneriais. Tuo tarpu Toma Valušytė ir Gintarė Visockytė, kartu su T4EU projekto vadovu Tomas Mickevičius WP5 partnerių susitikime pristatė šiais metais vykdomas profesinio tobulėjimo mokymų veiklas universitetų akademiniams ir neakademiniams darbuotojams ir ateities planus. 🤝

🌐 PKVC komanda taip pat dalyvavo „Global Partnership Forum“, „Open Science“ seminare ir kituose universitetų darbuotojams aktualiuose renginiuose bei diskusijose. „Transform4Europe Week“ – vienas svarbiausių T4EU aljanso renginių, suburiantis studentus, akademinius ir administracijos darbuotojus iš įvairių Europos universitetų bendradarbiavimui, žinių mainams ir inovatyvių aukštojo mokslo sprendimų kūrimui. Šių metų renginys Lisabonoje vyko tema „Community, Communities: Engage to Transform“ ir subūrė apie 470 dalyvių iš 36 šalių.
🌿 Grįžtame kupini naujų idėjų ir motyvacijos naujam profesinio tobulėjimo veiklų sezonui. Džiaugiamės prasmingais susitikimais, vertingomis diskusijomis ir sklandžiu bendradarbiavimu su T4EU partneriais visoje Europoje! ☺️

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🚀 The Head of Vytautas Magnus University Professional Competence Development Centre, Dr. Aistė Ragauskaitė, training organiser Toma Valušytė, and communication specialist Gintarė Visockytė participated in the “Transform4Europe Week” event in Lisbon at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. 🇵🇹 Dr. Aistė Ragauskaitė took part in the WP3.5 partners’ meeting dedicated to the development of the micro-credentials policy at the T4EU alliance level, as well as in other meetings with T4EU partners. Meanwhile, Toma Valušytė, Gintarė Visockytė and T4EU project manager Tomas Mickevičius presented this year’s professional development training activities for academic and non-academic university staff and future plans during the WP5 partners’ meeting. 🤝

🌐 The PCDC team also attended the “Global Partnership Forum,” the “Open Science” seminar, and other events and discussions relevant to university staff. “Transform4Europe Week” is one of the key events of the T4EU alliance, bringing together students, academic staff, and administrative employees from various European universities to foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the development of innovative higher education solutions. This year’s event in Lisbon was held under the theme “Community, Communities: Engage to Transform” and brought together around 470 participants from 36 countries.
🌿 We return full of new ideas and motivation for the upcoming season of professional development activities. We are delighted with the meaningful meetings, valuable discussions, and smooth collaboration with T4EU partners across Europe! ☺️

ATVIRIEJI MOKYMAI | Birželio 8 d. 11.00–15.00 val. VDU darbuotojus, studentus ir visus norinčius kviečiame į mokymus „Saugus stovyklavimas arba kaip kelionės į gamtą nepaversti kelione į ligoninę“ 🙌, kuriuos ves VDU KTF lektorius, šaulių civilinės saugos kuopos vadas dr. Gabrielius Edvinas Klimenka. Mokymai vyks VDU, V. Putvinskio g. 23, 414 aud.

Mokymų metu supažinsime su saugaus stovyklavimo ir keliavimo principais bei veiksmais, padedančiais išvengti papildomų rizikų ar komplikacijų, jei saugumo reikalavimų nebuvo laikytasi.

👇Registracija: https://mokymosiakademija.vdu.lt/mokymai/studijos/3774

🔎 Transform4Europe invites academic and non-academic staff, stakeholders and other interested persons to join the T4EU Diverse and inclusive campus activity 📌"Inclusive Course Design and Assessment for Online and Hybrid Learning Environments"📌, taking place on 📅 June 2, 12.00–13.30 CEST, via “StreamYard”. Lecturer Rosabel Martínez Roig, Universitat d'Alacant.

This seminar explores how to design inclusive online and hybrid courses by anticipating barriers to access, participation, and assessment. It introduces key principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and offers practical strategies to support diverse learners in digital environments. Participants will gain concrete ideas to enhance inclusivity in their teaching practice.

📩 Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecuJZk2bAgSEz4QmOph6pJSF8FxqS6p5ZZanzpsB44PyfwPw/viewform

VDU darbuotojus maloniai kviečiame dalyvauti birželio mėnesio profesinio tobulėjimo veiklose – nuo mokymų akademiniams ir neakademiniams darbuotojams iki tarptautinių „Transform4Europe“, „Nordplus“, LETSGROW projektų mokymų.

👉Kviečiame registruotis:

Profesinio tobulėjimo galimybės VDU darbuotojams birželio mėnesį VDU Profesinių kompetencijų vystymo centras maloniai kviečia dalyvauti birželio mėnesio profesinio tobulėjimo veiklose – nuo mokymų akademiniams ir neakademiniams darbuotojams iki tarptautinių „Transform4Europe“, „Nordplus“, LETSGROW projektų mokymų. Nuorodos užsiregistravusiems...

🚀 Transform4Europe invites academic and non-academic staff of T4EU and other universities, stakeholders and other interested persons to join the webinar "AI in our workplace(s): Hype and reality", taking place on 🔎 May 28, 9.00–11.00 CET, via MS TEAMS. Lecturer – Professor Alberto Bartoli, University of Trieste.

The impressive capabilities of „large language models“ such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini have sparked huge interest and promise to have a deep, potentially disruptive impact on many different sectors of society. Virtually every organisation's board and top management is pressuring everyone to use so-called „AI“, usually without specifying exactly how, and without addressing the deep and still unsolved reliability issues of this technology.
Yet, more than three years after ChatGPT was launched and despite an unprecedented amount of investment, many people are still struggling to see significant changes in their daily work. In this seminar, we will attempt to provide a balanced view of this (impressive) technology and distinguish between hype and reality.

📩 Apply here: https://forms.office.com/e/8WwtLPDMw7