Research Projects

Bridging V4 Universities and Business through Design Thinking

The project involves Wrocław University of Economics and Business (Poland), Palacký University Olomouc (Czechia), Comenius University Bratislava (Slovakia) and Edutus University (Hungary). These four universities will jointly conduct Design Thinking workshops aimed at identifying skills gaps and strengthening cooperation between universities and the business sector.

As part of the project, there will be four events - workshops at each of the partner universities. The first event will take place October 21-23, 2026, at the Wrocław University of Economics and Business.

The event will provide students from the V4 countries with an opportunity to take on a challenge proposed by QIAGEN related to preparing for entry into the job market and developing the skills needed to effectively showcase the competencies they have acquired during their studies.

Students will also be supported by staff from partner universities, who will document the strengths and areas for improvement identified during the workshops. The results will later be included in the toolkit, which is one of the project’s outputs.

Further workshops will take place in Bratislava in March 2027, Olomouc in April 2027 and Budapest in May 2027.

Project duration: October 2026 – December 2027

Further information:

Project website

Information about the first workshop in Wrocław

The project is co-financed by the governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

MEGASKILLS: Building the Skills People Need to Succeed

The European MEGASKILLS project aims to improve collaboration between schools and businesses. Its goal is to help people develop soft skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving, as these abilities are increasingly vital in today’s job market.

Within the project, we are:

• identifying which skills are most needed in the workplace,

• selecting the best methods for training these skills,

• developing a smart AI tool to help people assess what they already know and where they can improve,

• testing training methods using video games with students, employees, and job seekers.

Hundreds of people from different professions and countries are involved in the project. Thanks to their input, we’ll gain insights into the skills needed for the future and how people can learn them. These findings will support schools, companies, and policymakers in better preparing people for what lies ahead.

One of the key outcomes of the project is a publication on the importance of soft skills against the background of the current exponential technological developments.  The book, authored by members of our department involved in the project, was published in May 2025.

Soft Skills for the 21st Century: Defining a Framework for Navigating Human-Centered Development in an AI-Driven World

Project website: www.megaskills.eu