Academia to lead €1.25 million European project DUALIS: 102 scholarships

Academia Institute of Technology will coordinate the DUALIS project – a pilot scholarship model under Erasmus+ for talents in strategic STEM fields in Europe. The European Commission evaluated the project under the Erasmus+ Policy Experimentation action with 94 out of 100 points . The total value of the project is approximately €1.25 million, of which €1.125 million in Erasmus+ funds is allocated to scholarships; this is complemented by approximately €2.53 million in national, institutional and industrial co-financing.

102 scholarships in five countries

The project will award 102 scholarships across ten study programmes in five countries. The first scholarships will be announced for the academic year 2027/28. Academia scholarship recipients will have their full tuition fees covered, as well as accommodation, insurance and transport. Each scholarship holder will complete two combined intensive programmes (BIP) and a 2–4-month work placement in a company in another European country, whilst being supported by two mentors – one academic and one from industry.

Priority for scholarships will be given to young people with fewer opportunities, women in STEM fields and students from less developed regions.

Five partners and more than 50 industrial partners

Academia leads a consortium of five higher education institutions: alongside it are FH JOANNEUM (Austria), ESTIA – École Supérieure des Technologies Industrielles Avancées (France), Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre (Portugal) and Mondragon Unibertsitatea (Spain). Together with the Austrian partner FH JOANNEUM, a cross-border engineering pathway Academia – FH JOANNEUM will be established.

The project builds a network of more than 50 industrial partners; the ecosystem includes, amongst others, AVL List, Infineon Technologies Austria, Magna Steyr, Safran Helicopter Engines, Dassault Aviation, Lauak Group and Mecadaq Group. In Slovenia, the project is supported by the Association of Higher Vocational Colleges, the Styrian Chamber of Commerce and the Maribor Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Why DUALIS

Europe needs engineers and specialists in data and cybersecurity who can work in companies from day one. Dual study programmes – half at the institution, half in a company – enable this, but for many young people they are financially out of reach, especially when the work placement takes place abroad. DUALIS tests a scholarship model that removes these barriers: it covers tuition fees, accommodation, insurance and transport, and assigns each student an academic and an industrial mentor.

The scholarships are intended for the fields of artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, application development, mechanical engineering and manufacturing technologies. The results of the pilot (approximately 11,500 days of mobility) will form the basis for shaping the Erasmus+ programme 2028–2034; the scholarship model and the handbook for dual study programmes will be published through the EU4DUAL and EURASHE networks.

What follows

The project is in the grant agreement preparation phase. The call for scholarships for 2027/28, including conditions, criteria and deadlines, will be published on the project page DUALIS – you can leave your e-mail address there and we will notify you when it is published. Companies wishing to become work placement hosts or industrial mentors are invited to visit the page For Companies.

Funded by the European Union. Project DUALIS, No. 101354447, Erasmus+ Policy Experimentation. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

Source: Academia (7. 10. 2026); stran /projekti/dualis/, plan/brief-projekti-faq.md. Besedilo sestavljeno iz povzetka in objavljenih dejstev (izvirni članek ni v repozitoriju).

This English summary was produced automatically from the Slovenian article and is pending editorial review. Slovenska različica