The multiple and plural crisis that began in 2008 has had a profound impact on people's well-being and happiness, reaching far beyond the loss of jobs and income, and affecting citizens' satisfaction with their lives. Countries worst hit by the global financial crisis, such as Greece and Cyprus, saw their happiness levels, as well as their average life satisfaction levels, fall sharply. They also saw a rise in suicides and depression rates. Despite the vast number of studies that focus on the current social and economic situation in Cyprus and Greece, little is known about the impact of the crisis on students’ well-being, happiness and life satisfaction levels, and about how students themselves experience this impact. This proposed research project, which will be carried out (if funded by the EU) at the European University of Cyprus under the supervision of Prof Marios Vryonides, will use a comparative and an intersectional approach to explore the impact of the crisis on students’ well-being in Cyprus and Greece, in order to understand patterns of inequality that affect happiness attainment in children. Moreover, it will raise important questions about the possible role of education in the promotion of students’ well-being in said contexts. Through an in-depth look at students’ lives in Cyprus and Greece, this project will provide new ways for exploring the practices and discourses through which well-being and happiness are constituted. It will give secondary school students the opportunity to discuss their experiences and share insights into the impact of the crisis on their society, on education and especially on their own everyday lives, and to share their thoughts and views on the role which education could play in tackling this impact. It will also seize the opportunity to explore policy developments in this field, situate them within the European context, and strengthen the body of relevant literature.

Global demand for cyber security experts is forecasted to outstrip supply by a third before the end of the decade, with companies struggling against what industry experts call the “largest human capital shortage in the world” according to Financial Times. The 2020 (ISC)² Global Information Security Workforce Study estimated that there are ~168,000 unfilled information security positions in Europe and 3.1 million worldwide. This deficiency became even more visible since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is predicted to get even worse over time.The interest in cybersecurity education and skills is of long standing within the EU and it has been a policy concern since the publication by the European Commission of the first EU cybersecurity strategy in 2013.In this context, the DJM-CYBER project aims to develop a multidisciplinary joint master’s degree in cybersecurity, taking industry, academia and policymakers’ inputs into account. This unique joint master’s degree will allow students to gain state-of-the-art hands-on education in cybersecurity and data protection, which will enable them upon entering the European job market to work towards a more secure Europe. This project will utilize the expertise and knowledge of the partnership to develop the new range of cybersecurity experts in Europe.Importantly, our partnership consists of partners located in Central and Southern Europe aiming to ensure that this geographic region remains competitive in relation to other parts of Europe in the digital age.The partnership formed around the DJM-CYBER project is composed of partners involved in two (over four) pilot projects, namely CyberSec4Europe and SPARTA, which are chosen to address the Horizon 2020 Cybersecurity call. Two members of our consortium are part of the ERASMUS+ Sector Skills Alliance REWIRE project tasked with professional development and vocational education in the cybersecurity domain. DJM-CYBER will benefit and draw upon their results.

The progression of cancer is closely associated with alterations in the mechano-cellular phenotype and in the structure and mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in a complex and not well-understood manner. Desmoplasia, a tumour-associated fibrotic reaction, is responsible for tumor stiffening, poses a major barrier to effective drug delivery. Although novel therapeutic strategies that target cancer cells are emerging, their efficacy varies due to intra- and inter-patient variability as well as tumor heterogeneity. Notably, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is gaining prominence as a compelling alternative. This two-stage treatment harnesses both light energy and a specialized drug (photosensitizer, PS) to target cancer cells upon activation by a specific wavelength of light. However, the effectiveness of PDT is greatly compromised by various resistance factors originating from the complex TME. These factors can present several biological barriers, including desmoplasia. In this project, we propose the use of TME normalization treatment with approved anti-fibrotic drugs in combination with PDT. We aim to test the hypothesis that the combination of anti-fibrotic drugs that remodel and normalize the TME with PDT can increase the PDT efficiency. The specific research objectives are focused on breast cancer (BC) and includes in vitro study of the effect of different components of PDT treatment on BC cells, in vivo study of the effectiveness of the combination of PDT with anti-fibrotic treatment in murine BC models and mathematic modelling to optimize the combination therapies. In the proposed project, the fellow will acquire scientific and complementary skills according to his personalized career development plan and through advanced training, international and inter-sectoral mobility will reach a position of professional maturity in research.

Finding people with the right experience and skills continues to be a challenge across Europe. Skills mismatches and occupational shifts have worsened as jobs are opening up for technical professionals in Europe. It is a well-known fact that programmers are the most sought professionals in almost all European countries. Software development in a wider sense is becoming an integrated part of many different jobs in the modern society. Different sources declare thousands and tens of thousands developers needed in the labor market. Until recent years in majority of European countries software development jobs have been regarded needing educational preparation on Master’s or minimum Bachelor’s level. Today there are many successful examples of teaching programming starting already in primary schools. Examples of successful software development curricula on EQF levels 3, 4 and 5 can be found in different European countries, but they are not common yet. Also the employers are sometimes still hesitating whether the vocational training provides the skills needed in labor market.The partnership is composed by 3 members; all of them are active in ICT related training and education.Partner 1 - BCS Koolitus is ICT training and consulting company established in 1993 in Estonia, offering a full training process, from assessment of needs, till measuring the training results. BCS has been the awarding body of the professional qualifications in the field of IT since 2010.Partner 2 - CEIPES is a non-profit European organization with antennas in more than 8 European countries. Partner 3 - EUC - European University Cyprus is a private university, member of Laureate International Universities, a worldwide network of Higher Education institutions founded in the United States.The JobIT project focuses on meeting the needs of the employers with developing innovative and effective software development teaching methodologies for Vocational Education and Training on EQF levels 3-5. For this the consortium took the following actions. To study the labor market needs and the views of employers a focused analysis is a first and an integral part of the project. The study analyses the numerous ICT labor market research studies carried out in the partner countries and other European countries and study the needs for EQF level 3-5 software developers in participating countries. One focus of the study was to disseminate the understanding that vocational schools are capable of preparing skilled to start take their first job as junior programmer.Based on the study a conceptual framework was put together innovative integrated teaching methodology of the crucial subjects of software development. Crucial subjects are not just directly programming-related subjects, but also mathematics and social behavior related subjects tackling team-work, cooperation, project management etc. Good cooperation and close interaction with employers and real customers is crucial in developing the relevant methodology. Thus the methodology strongly rely on engaging field working practicians in the teaching process, but also providing real-life tasks and mentoring during practice period. The innovative methods were collected into handbook as a set of principles for the VET teachers. Based on the research results the consortium worked out a package of learning materials for web programming subjects (PHP and Javascript, testing). The accordingly developed courseware is using innovative educational technologies (mainly Scrum in Education) and gives teachers also guidelines how to use software development tools. The project also included a training component for VET school software development course teachers. The training were carried out in all three partner countries with the field specialists as lecturers. As a result of the training the participating VET teachers were confident in their knowledge and skills on teaching software development as having acquired the knowledge from specialists and straight from the companies during their practice. The VET schools now have guidelines (the handbook and web programming learning materials) to execute the innovative methodology for the crucial subjects of software development. After training and internship in companies, the VET teachers have better understanding of the employers needs and the field labor market. The European labor market will benefit from the skilled and competent VET graduates.

FA-ST provides opportunities of empowerment and development to young women (18 to 30 years of age) affected by socioeconomic barriers (migrants background, weak family support, early school leavers), and inspire them to start a business in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education) sector. The high-quality practical resources produced by the 4 partners in the FA-ST consortium are used to increase a wide set of competences, necessary to compete in the actual labour market (STEM literacy, soft and entrepreneur skills) while offering a substantial and comprehensive support to those willing to start a business in the STEM sector (fast prototyping, business planning). The main innovation that will result from the present collaboration, is a new way to fostering girls’ interest in STEM and inspiring them in choosing a career within STEM fields. The Consortium was assembled based on the need of ensuring a new representation of the different national contexts facing the challenge of young disadvantaged female integration as well as the interconnections it enjoys with the entrepreneurial empowerment in Europe. Considering the increasing importance of STEM in the global market, and the employment opportunities connected to it, increasing STEM literacy and entrepreneurial mind-sets widespread opportunities in the EU28, thus the root-based initiative like this one will offer a good starting point for a positive change in STEM situation. The project can be used as a baseline practice for STEM literacy and STEM skills development for other similar initiatives, expanding as an example to youth work and civil society initiative as a mean to validate non-formal or informal skills. The practice can be easily transferred to other institutions or countries as the skills for sustainability and responsible behaviours are relevant and applicable in all the EU (and beyond) Nations. For this reason, a version of the contents will be created in English to facilitate a wider diffusion.The project has 3 strategic objectives: *To promote a more engaging and more equal environment where all students, girls and young women in particular, can increase their STEM literacy levels *To foster equal access to better careers and job opportunities in the STEM sector for young women *To enhance the employability, and entrepreneurial skills of young women with a business idea in the STEM sector The production of the project’s results will start with gathering evidence and best practices on successful ways partners and other organizations prepared and delivered, to increase girls’ and young women’s STEM competences. During the production of the different IOs, partners will also work to form a Pan-European network involving all sort of stakeholders (youth/women/business associations, cultural associations, non-formal education providers, VET/HEI institutions, business associations…) with the aim of promoting entrepreneurial education, collaborative support to weaker groups and multi-mentoring programs. Experts from these organizations are the ones engaged as mentors. The learning environment is shaped around the 3 steps the program and can be easily adapted or modulated based on participants’ needs or local condition. Separately they can be used to (1) increase STEM literacy, (2) increase entrepreneurial skills and motivation for personal improvement and (3) create a business and connect experts and mentors. If participants will go through the whole process, it offers a complete learning experience to create a start-up in the STEM sector for young women with an entrepreneurial idea.The provision of a customized support enhancing their transition to concrete forms of self-employment (either entrepreneurial projects or joint/groups’ efforts) would provide a strong contribution to their social inclusion and employability, while maximizing the output in terms of contribution to the sustainable development of their local context.