The Cyprus Interaction Lab (https://www.cyprusinteractionlab.com/) of the Social Computing Research Center (http://www.socialcomputing.eu) at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) has secured funding under the Erasmus+ program (Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education) with the project “Enhancing Research Understanding through Media” (ERUM).
The Cyprus Interaction Lab is a partner in the two-year project, which is coordinated by the University of Vienna and has received a total funding of 350,000 euros. The ERUM project includes also five additional leading universities with distinguished research activity in the field of Media education, as follows: University of Alcalá (Spain), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), University of Versailles (France), Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), and the European University Foundation (Luxembourg).
The main objective of the ERUM project is to develop a relevant transversal educational offer on the topic of “quality of information between mis and disinformation today” for higher education students who are partaking in the shaping of the present and future of the information and knowledge society. It also brings about a shift in the way higher education institutions and media are collaborating vis-a-vis evidence-based and research communication.
In addition to the Assistant Professor Andri Ioannou (ERUM local coordinator), Michael Sirivianos (Assistant Professor), SotIrios Chatzis (Assistant Professor) and Yiannis Georgiou (Postdoctoral Researcher and ERUM project manager) are also involved in the project, on behalf of the Cyprus University of Technology.
Project results are expected to make a significant contribution to increase the international reach of the academic and research community through relevant publications in leading scientific journals and conferences. At short and mid-term, higher education students from different study fields will benefit from advanced learning tools and material to develop and reinforce their skills and resilience related to the mis/disinformation topic. At long-term, the project will enable the establishment of structured collaboration between media and academia on a structural systemic level.