Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is strongly influenced by environmental factors such as UV radiation from ozone depletion. In 2022, there were 331,722 new melanoma cases globally, and by 2040, cases are expected to rise by 50%. A major challenge in treating melanoma is its ability to metastasize, especially when therapeutic targets are unclear or when tumors develop resistance to existing treatments. Recent research findings have identified the nerve growth factor receptor p75NTR as a key player in melanoma progression, invasion, and metastasis, especially in highly metastatic melanoma cells. This project aims to target p75NTR in melanoma cells and extracellular vesicles (EVs) to inhibit melanoma progression. While p75NTR role has been identified in melanoma cells, its role in tumor-derived EVs—responsible for cell communication and metastasis—remains under-explored. This project aims to block p75NTR in both melanoma cells and EVs, where co-receptors and co-effectors availability and cellular interactions differ from that within cells, potentially offering a new therapeutic approach. Leveraging phage display technique, the project will identify peptide ligands specific to p75NTR on melanoma cells and EVs. Outcomes from this Fellowship will benefit several scientific communities, including those working in biomaterials and peptide sciences and, cancer, while providing advanced training and career development opportunities for a young researcher at the intersection of targeted cancer therapies, advanced biomaterials design and peptide technology, preparing her for a leadership role in translational cancer research. By addressing both melanoma cells and EVs, this project introduces a dual-targeted strategy with the potential to transform the understanding of melanoma biology and open new avenues for more effective therapies.

<< Background >>Erasmus is the most successful mobility programme in the world. By the beginning of 2020, it was estimated that around 10 million students had already participated in this exchange programme since it was launched in 1987. However, according to statistics this represents only 1.7% of the European Union’s population, which means that the programme is still far from reaching its full potential. Most of EU surveys and reports carried out in the framework of European projects revealed that the reasons behind low participation are related to lower economic capacity of the majority of students and their families to support their stay abroad which results in unequitable access to quality higher education studies and to future employment opportunities. Mobility is politically desirable and HEIs all over Europe are currently faced with extremely demanding targets concerning the increase of students undertaking an international mobility experience. Universities have therefore a clear need to find the most effective strategies to be able to comply with such targets, and this implies not only financial resources but also the necessary conditions to allow for the widest possible participation of all students potentially undertaking a mobility experience abroad. The overall budget available for KA1 Mobility of individuals is normally satisfactory for universities and in general allows them to provide an effective answer to the existing demand of the academic community. The main issue, however, remains the fact that a significant number of students does not have the necessary financial support to complement the grant awarded by the Programme and to allow for the full coverage of basic expenses in the country of destination.<< Objectives >>Keeping in mind the findings in EU Surveys that the majority of HE students are excluded from the Erasmus programme for financial reasons, the Erasmus for All Project wants to tackle the low levels of HE student participation in Erasmus mobility exchange by proposing a more economically viable scholarship scheme that will allow any HE students to spend part of their studies abroad in any of the 33 programme countries. Contributing to reducing the existing asymmetry in the EU, promoting fairness, inclusion and equity of mobility grants between individuals and among the EU economic diversity are the ultimate goals that this project wishes to pursue. In terms of concrete objectives, they are to:- Keep the topics of inclusion and equity in the policy agenda;- Build a shared understanding among key stakeholders on the desired trajectory/evolution of the Erasmus+ grant system;- Engage with policy and decision makers on resource allocation strategies that address the needs of the political goal of widening participation in mobility;- Provide relevant and in-depth input for the mid-term review of the new Erasmus+ programme.The partnership is composed by highly compromised institutions with quality mobility in the European Higher Education Area and therefore the goals of E4A are anchored in a wider vision for the future of the Erasmus programme.<< Implementation >>The implementation of E4A will encompass the organisation of a series of activities, events and publications with policy relevance to reach the decision makers in Brussels and produce real transformation in the programme’s design, particularly concerning the funding of individual mobility at Higher Education level. Firstly, the team will conduct a mapping of other scholarship funding models to benchmark for the more advantageous examples of grant schemes. This activity will be complemented by a desk research to extract best practises of other studies in the same field and include the results of the feedback gathered during the E4A Student Social Labs – a series of local events in the partner HEIs to engage Erasmus students in voicing their needs during mobility for a reality-based and co-designed solution. These activities will culminate in the organisation of the first multiplier event: Is the new Erasmus for all? » proposals towards a more inclusive Erasmus scholarship where it will be presented the Mapping and Research Report and opening the floor for the discussions around what will be the proposal of a new scholarship calculation methodology. This second round of activities will be led by a transdisciplinary scientific working group in charge of considering multiple variables to design a more inclusive grant scheme and publish a document that gathers the methodologies used in developing this proposal. Thirdly, the organisation of a small-scale impact study will set a pilot-experiment with a sample of real Erasmus participants with similar financial conditions (economically disadvantaged), randomly selected and divided in two groups: the first will test the current Erasmus scholarship scheme and the second will test the impact and feasibility of the more inclusive scholarship calculation formula(s) developed previously. This activity will include financial support from sponsors associated to the project to assure the necessary top-ups in a more inclusive scholarship proposal. Lastly, the E4A partners will prepare a Policy Paper with recommendations based on the conclusions of all the previous activities. The partner institutions will address policy makers in a final high-level conference in Brussels: The future of Erasmus is for all! » Making participation more inclusive through a better grant mechanism to call on the need to prioritise economic inclusion as a way to increase participation in the Erasmus programme through a more equitable scholarship.<< Results >>The partnership expects to publish the following documents until the end of the project lifecycle:- Mapping and Research Report - Guidelines for a more inclusive grant calculation formula- E4A Impact Study- Erasmus4All: Recommendations towards a more social and economically inclusive Erasmus scholarship | Policy PaperWith the preparation of these publications it is expected to raise awareness and support from the main target group, the HE students, by having them engaging actively in the projects’ activities, voice their challenges and pressure political leaders to change. The aim is to achieve a more equitable and a fairer grant system that may provide a clear answer to the real needs of participants, and contribute to promote inclusion in HE.It is also expected the reinforcement of the reliability of the Erasmus programme label. By analysing and identifying the potential weaknesses and strengths of the current system, the E4A project is providing the programme an active quality monitoring system. The type of activities designed for this project will also allow the HE students to participate in the co-creation of the programme and feel their needs are heard, addressed and actually produce a real change.This reinforcement of the programme’s visibility in terms of quality will also contribute to increase the circulation of students and improve and facilitate equal access to the European Higher Education Area, which is one of the strategic priorities of the European Commission having as background the Bologna Process.A last outcome is the promotion of a continuous political debate, throughout the project implementation and after its completion, on inclusion. One of the project’s results being the Policy Paper including recommendations resulting from the overall project’s conclusions plays an important role to push inclusion higher in the policy agenda and produce substantial impact in the mid-term review of the Erasmus+ programme.The powerful project values, mission and goals anticipate a guarantee for sustainability in this framework, both partners as well as other European institutions beyond the partnership involved in student mobility are committed to and share the vision of a future truly democratic Erasmus programme.

Smart Shrinkage Solutions - Fostering Resilient Cities in Inner Peripheries of Europe is a project that offers the best practice and most feasible solutions to the problem of urban shrinkage - a continuous population decline affecting more than 1,500 cities all over Europe. By learning from the experience of the cities that once were on the edge of an abyss but have bounced back to life, by sharing the key ingredients of their success across Europe and beyond, this project enables as many shrinking cities as possible to adapt, transform, and thrive in the face of continuously and often dramatically changing circumstances.

The importance of European cultural heritage has been generally acknowledged. A significant part of this heritage, however, modern and contemporary art, runs a great risk of getting lost for future generations, because it is particularly difficult to preserve. Proper care requires resolving fundamental questions concerning the identity and authenticity of modern and contemporary artworks and the consequences for their conservation, rethinking historically grown professional distinctions as those between the curator and the conservator, re-organizing the institutional ecosystem, and establishing frameworks for international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral research and training collaboration. The aim of this Marie Curie Innovative Training Network is to educate a new generation of professional curators, conservators and academic researchers who are properly equipped to face these challenges. The key notion guiding the research and training programmes will be the notion of reflective practice. Starting from the theoretical framework of practice theory, the research programme will investigate conservation practices through the comparative analysis of their impact on modern and contemporary artworks’ biographies. The training programme will focus on the development of a reflective professional attitude, which is a pre-requisite in this increasingly complex and collaborative field.

Medical Schools in the Middle East are currently suffering from a critical shortage of scientists and academicians holding higher degrees in the various disciplines of basic medical sciences (BMS). For most of these Schools, the requirements for a Bachelor degree in Medicine include the successful completion of three years of intense coursework in BMS, prior to passing through three additional years of patient-oriented, bedside clinical coursework. Thus, iBMS-JO project responds to the needs to graduate students with deep background in BMS. This can be achieved by the establishment the first innovative intercalated BSc (iBSc) programs in BMS. Moreover, Telemedicine Labs (TL) will also be established to support the research activities of students and faculty, as well as providing services to the health care facilities. The establishment of an intercalated BSc (iBSc) programs in BMS is an opportunity for students to learn more about a particular topic, to develop transferable skills and/or participate in a more in-depth research project than previously available as part of a medical degree. This is can be offered after the 3rd or 4th year, which could also include an intercalated year into their standard medical programs, making them a 7-year degree, where an intercalation typically lasts one year. The expected outputs of this program include: n. 6 accredited iBSc programs in BMS, capacity building for the staff (at least 48): a) to design curricula in line with the Bologna process, b) to design and develop inter/multidisciplinary course curricula in clinical nutrition (at least 7 new modules, 120 students/year); and c) to apply innovative and flexible teaching and learning methods. Moreover, TL will provide research facilities for students and staff (n. >40 research project/year), which will support the iBSc programs and function as life-long learning resources and Centres of Excellence in medical education and research.