Author: duponam
The 17th EAS Virtual Cafè on “Dual Career Mentors and Mentees getting ready for the next academic year” will be held on Monday July 7, 2025 (from 12:00 CET).
Dual career represents a tremendous opportunity to empower sportspersons through an effective mentor-mentee relationship, which is the key aim of the ERASMUS+Sport DC MENTOR project (101132309).
On behalf of the EAS Executive Committee, I inform you that the 17th EAS Virtual Cafè on “Dual Career Mentors and Mentees getting ready for the next academic year” will be held on Monday July 7, 2025 (from 12:00 CET).
12:00 Welcome – Prof. Alejandro Leiva Arcas, UCAM, Murcia, Spain
12:10 XXI Century skills for dual career athletes – Kivanc Semiz, PhD, RTEU, Rize,Turkiye
12:25 Mentors-mentees interaction: An innovative approach – Gamze Aydin, Project coordinator at Sports Tech Turkiye, Kirklareli, Turkiye
12:40 The DC MENTOR platform: Future skills for dual career – Kamil Kazim Sari, Collective Innovation, Oslo, Norway.
12:55 General discussions and concluding remarks
We look forward to meeting you for this important dual career event
More information will be available at www.dualcareer.eu
On May 28, 2025, the representatives from all six partner countries of the ERASMUS+Sport SMART START for DC project gathered online for a coordination meeting to assess the development of the SS4DC digital platform to empower young high school athletes (aged 14 to 19) by providing innovative psychological assessment tools, career guidance, and education in transferable skills through a centralized digital environment.
During the meeting, the technical development coordinated across multiple work packages resulted on time and specific focus was given to ensuring the platform’s accessibility, multilingual interface, and gamified learning components, all key to reaching and engaging the target group effectively. Thus, the project team discussed the testing phase and shared feedback from initial internal trials of the SS4DC platform before its official launch. Participants also discussed the preparation of upcoming pilot activities, which will involve around 180 student-athletes for evaluating the platform’s usability and educational impact before the broader rollout planned later this year.
The importance of inter-partner communication and consistency in the delivery of results was also emphasized. The partners agreed on detailed action points to finalize the platform content, test environment, and dissemination strategy in the coming weeks. This coordination meeting highlighted the consortium’s strong collaborative spirit and commitment to delivering a high-quality, inclusive, and sustainable digital solution for young athletes. With development in its final stages and pilot testing on the horizon, the SMART START for DC project is well on track to fulfill its mission of supporting dual career pathways across Europe.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neith er the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
On May 15 and 16, 2025, as Member of the Executive Board of EAS Laurence Blondel participated in the final event of the ERASMUS+Sport SAMEurope project (https://www.sameuropeproject.eu) organized by INSA Lyon. SAMEurope aimed to bring together European universities, companies, and sports bodies and institutions to discuss the challenges and opportunities for ERASMUS+mobility of dual career at tertiary education level.
During the first day, an overview of the SAMEurope project was provided and the key deliverables Guide of Good Practices (https://www.sameuropeproject.eu/guide-of-good-practices/) an online platform (https://www.sameuropeproject.eu/platform/) and a sociological study (https://www.sameuropeproject.eu/sociological-study/) for ERASMUS+ mobility opportunities at tertiary educational level have been illustrated. Furthermore, the Tri’Crit’Race sport event has been presented, an an overview of the mission, vision and activities of the EAS network has been offered.
On the second day, hosted at Matmut Stadium, participants explored the INSA Lyon high-level sport programme and joined a round table on how international mobility benefits dual career university students, with insights from athletes, companies, and alumni. The event concluded with the presentation of a sociological study on employers’ perceptions of dualcareer graduates and discussions on collaborations for further improvements of European actions at higher educational level. In fact, it is essential to support dual career university students so they can succeed both in their academic journey and in their future professional careers. The ideas proposed by the SAMEurope project were very well received by the audience, with the actual partners of the consortium expressing their approval and support, and new potential partners showing interest in joining the initiative and the platform.
A final wrap-up outlined key takeaways and the path forward for dual career support in Europe. In fact, this event provided an opportunity to strengthen ties between crucial stakeholders in charge of supporting DC students, from both the sport and the academic environments and it was the right place to address any remaining questions, creating meaningful discussions about the future of SAMEurope.
On May 19, 2025, the 16th EAS Cafè “Sport Innovation: Promoting Employability of Student-Athletes and Sport Professionals” was organized in cooperation with the ERASMUS+Sport COMPATH project (101050955) and attended by approximately 70 participants from diverse backgrounds, including students, academics, and sports professionals.
Mr. Hakon Ege (Colin Collective Innovation, Oslo, Norway) illustrated the aims and outcomes of the COMPATH project (101050955), introduced the speakers, and moderated the discussion on how emerging sports technologies are reshaping career opportunities within the sports industry.
Ms. Eleni Mageirou, MSc (NYSA Sweden, Jönköping, Sweden) presented practical examples on the wearable technologies used in field sport evaluation, which also nurture advanced skills of athletes involved in their personal and team data collections and interpretations. Dr. Christopher James Keating, PhD (ACSM-EP, UCAM, Murcia, Spain) gave an overview of the Esports and EGaming of university Spanish teams participating in national and international competitions, which are provided full logistic, psychological, and dual career support, being eSport athletes officially included in dual career university paths. Finally, dr. Mauro Mandorino, PhD (Parma Calcio, Parma, Italy) highlighted the opportunities provided by smart science and how technology is used, and data collection is organized at Parma Calcio for shaping professional soccer players performances.
The shared expertise of the speakers inspired attendees to delve deeper into topics of interest and foster meaningful discussions around dual career pathways, making this event a success and looking forward to continuing these valuable discussions in the future.
The event also informed on the upcoming events encompassing the 2025 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship (deadline July 1, 2025; https://www.dualcareer.eu/call-for-papers-bengt-nybelius-scholarship-2025/) and the 2025 EAS Annual Conference to be held on October 6-8, 2025 in Riga, Latvia. These announcements were met with enthusiasm, further underlining the growing importance of dual career initiatives in sport.
Further information about the COMPATH project – Promoting Employability of Young Student-Athletes through ‘‘Competence Hub’’ on Sport Innovationis – is available at https://sportsinnovationshub.com
COMPATH is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
On May 16, 2025, the Partners of the FIND ME ERASMUS+Sport project gathered in Oslo, Norway, to participate in the third transnational meeting, hosted by Collective Innovation AS (COLIN). FIND ME aims to support student-athletes by providing a multilingual, user-friendly platform to access dual career opportunities in higher education.
Burak Caliskan and Ege Hakon welcomed the participants and summarized the progression of the project, including the two scientific papers summarizing the evidence- (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1566208/abstract) and eminence-based (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1507951/full?utm_source=F-NTF)
research necessary to develop a sound FIND ME platform. The Partners agreed to further analyse the findings of the FIND ME survey and semi-structured interview to be disseminated to the scientific community.
Matteo Perissinotto (OKKAM), presented the technical architecture of the platform, including its multilingual and modular design, and highlighted the data gathering based on previous research and stakeholder inputs. Then, the Partners discussed how to engage universities in the project, also considering the resources available at www.whed.net. Nenad Stojiljkovic (University of Nis) proposed to increment the visibility of FIND Me through promotional gadget with the project logo (e.g., bags, notebooks, patches, etc.), whereas partners will keep sharing posts and pictures of the project activities and communication/dissemination.
At the end of the meeting, the Partners had the opportunity to visit the museum of winter sports and the sky jumping trampoline.
More information on the project will be provided during the 2025 EAS Conference to be held in Riga, Latvia, next October 6-8.
FIND ME is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
On May 14 and 15, 2025, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe (COE) held the annual meeting of its Governing Board and Consultative Committee in Strasbourg, France.
On May 14 the 41 country representatives of Governing board and the 30 sports organisations of the Consultative Committee participated in separate in-camera meetings. The Consultative Committee discussed the activities to promote the European Sports Charter, the implementation of its Term of Reference, and the upcoming events. They also elected Guido Battaglia (Centre for Sport and Human Rights) as a member of the bureau to complete the current mandate.
On May 15 the joint meeting and the launch of the new joint project of the European Union and Council of Europe “Sport for All – Promoting inclusion and combating discrimination against persons with disabilities” took place. The EPAS past activities and the implementation of the 2024-2025 strategy and the draft strategy for 2026-2027 were summarized, whereas the draft guidelines on “safer recruitment in sport: human rights-compliant screening of professionals and volunteers in contact with children”, the Resolution on “Collaborative governing and good governance in sport: supporting a fresh approach to match its societal importance”, and the 19th Conference of Ministers Responsible for Sport, to be hosted by Monaco in November 2026 were discussed. Then, on the lawn of the Council of Europe the participants took part in a training session of blind football.
For the next two years, the new elected Chair of the Governing Board Bureau will be Solene Charuau (France) whereas Ioanna Paraskevopoulou (Cyprus) will act as Vice-Chair, and Antonio Parrilla (Italy), Simon De Coster (Belgium), Marija Jurcevic (Croatia) and Elnur Mammadov (Azerbaijan) as members. Solene Charuau will also act as the Gender Equality Rapporteur.
More information, is available at www.coe.int/epas.
The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe (COE) provided also an opportunity for disseminating the ERASMUS+Sport projects in which EAS is currently collaborating: COMPATH (101050955) https://sportsinnovationshub.com; DC Mentor (101132309) https://dcmentor.eu, DiscoverU (101134052) https://discoveru.eusa.eu, Find Me (101134043) https://findmeproject.net, Smart Start for DC (101133555) https://www.facebook.com/p/Smart-Start-4-DC-61556732943039/, and Talent (101090147) https://talent-edu.eu.
The COMPATH (101050955) Project’s final transnational meeting took place in Oslo on May 6, hosted by Collective Innovation (COLIN), with the active participation of all project partners. The meeting focused on reviewing the project’s progress and discussing the remaining tasks as the project approaches its conclusion.
The meeting opened with a welcome by the host institution, from Håkon Ege by COLIN, followed by updates on the development and piloting of the digital learning modules that form the backbone of the COMPATH platform. A detailed review was presented regarding the assignment of piloting responsibilities for the 12 modules across the project partners.
Each partner is now carrying out localized implementations of the modules based on their expertise and regional needs. The participants expressed overall satisfaction with the progress achieved and the collaborative spirit demonstrated throughout the COMPATH project.
Following this, discussions were held on ongoing and upcoming dissemination activities. For a multiplier event, EAS committed to launch the 16th EAS online Cafè on “Sport Innovation: Promoting employability of student-athletes and sport professionals” to be held on Monday May 19, 2025 (from 13:00 CET), which is central to sharing the project results with wider audiences.
The meeting concluded with reflections from all project partners, reassuring their commitment to disseminating the project’s outcomes and sustaining its impact beyond the project’s official end.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
The 16th EAS Virtual Cafè on “Sport Innovation: Promoting employability of student-athletes and sport professionals” will be held on Monday May 19, 2025 (from 13:00 CET).
Technology plays a relevant role for employabiity in sport, and the key aim of the ERASMUS+Sport COMPATH project (101050955).
13:00 Welcome – Hakon Ege, Colin Collective Innovation, Oslo, Norway
13:10 Wearables, technology and supporting Student Athletes – Eleni Mageirou, MSc, NYSA Sweden, Jönköping, Sweden
13:25 Esports and EGaming of university student-athletes – Christopher James Keating, PhD, ACSM-EP, UCAM, Murcia, Spain
13:40 Smart Science: How Technology and Data Shape Performance at Parma Calcio – Mauro Mandorino, PhD, Parma Calcio, Parma, Italy
13:55 General discussions and concluding remarks
We look forward to meeting you for this important dual career event
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neith er the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
On April 28–29, 2025, a transantional meeting of the ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnership Smart Start for Dual Careers project was held in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The project is currently in a key development phase, focusing on the creation of a test version of the online platform and the design of MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) tools – free online courses tailored to young people, teachers, and sports coaches. The content will include video materials, interactive tasks, quizzes, and certificates, all aimed at helping students balance their education and sports development.
During the meeting, the participants from the Partner organizations (Sportsko učilište PESG, Croatia; EAS – The Dual Career Network, Malta; Champions Factory, Bulgaria – meeting host; MindSpin, Cyprus; Edirne Kırkpınar Spor Lisesi, Turkey; and APS ASD Margherita Sport e Vita, Italy) discussed in detail the platform’s structure, functionality, visual identity, accessibility, and user experience. Particular emphasis was placed on ease of use, personalized content, and user motivation. Ideas were presented for integrating instructors, customized avatars, and video materials that will be accessible through both the platform and YouTube.
In addition to technical aspects, the team also focused on communication strategy. It was concluded that a strong digital presence is essential, and that social media activities, along with outreach through schools and sports clubs, will play a vital role in the project’s dissemination efforts.
The project team agreed on the next steps, which include pilot testing with young people in partner countries, developing supporting educational materials, and final technical adjustments to the platform. Once completed, the platform will offer digital certificates upon successful completion of the modules, giving learners official recognition for their efforts.
Stay connected with Smart Start for Dual Careers on social media!
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556732943039
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/smartstartdualcareer/
Dear EAS Members and Dual Career Friends,
the EAS Executive Committee wishes you a happy Easter and takes the opportunity to update you on the recent and future activities.
Recent activities
February 20-21: The EAS Executive Board held its first in-person 2025 meeting in Frankfurt (Germany) , during which the activities of the Network have been organized and the 2024 activity and financial reports unanimously approved (https://www.dualcareer.eu/the-eas-executive-committee-meets-in-frankfurt/).
March 17: The EAS President visited the Headquarter of CISM to meet CISM Secretary General Navy Captain Roberto Recchia, CISM Academic Director Lieutenant-Commander Florentia Sfakianou, and dr. Andrea Carletti from Sport4Impact (https://www.dualcareer.eu/eas-meeting-the-international-military-sports-council-cism-and-the-sport-4-impact-in-brussels/).
March 18: The EAS President participated with other stakeholders to a consultative meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) on the role of the EU policies in shaping the European Sport Model (https://www.dualcareer.eu/eas-invited-at-the-european-parliament-as-a-stakeholders-to-the-eu-policies-in-shaping-the-european-sport-model/).
March 31: The 15th EAS online Cafè “From talent identification to talent support” has been organized in cooperation with the consortium of the ERASMUS+Sport TALENT (Cloud-based education for creative sport talents- 101090147) project (https://www.dualcareer.eu/the-15th-eas-cafe-on-dual-career-for-talented-athletes/).
April 1: EAS reminded to send long abstracts (5-15 pages) before April 27, 2025 to be published in the monograph Dual Career in School and University – Innovative Bridges between Sport and Education https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1085273800304586&set=pb.100064659286748.-2207520000
April 10-11: The EAS President participated in the EU Sport Forum 2025 in Kraków, Poland, which provided a unique opportunity to envisage the advancement of EU sport policies through a high-level dialogue. https://www.dualcareer.eu/eu-sport-forum-2025-in-krakow-poland/
April 11: The Talent Team met in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to celebrate the project’s achievements, to share knowledge, and to plan for the future of this impactful project dedicated to fostering equal education, preventing exclusion, and supporting dual careers for young athletes. https://www.dualcareer.eu/talent-project-concludes-successful-final-event-in-sarajevo/
April 14: The Call for the Bengt Nybelius Scholarship has been launched. Researchers up to 40 years of age could be eligible for the Bengt Nybelius Scholarship by submitting as first author an original manuscript related to the scope of EAS before July 1st, 2024 (midnight CET) by e-mail to info@dualcareer.eu. By July 31, 2024, the winner will be informed that EAS will arrange travel, accommodation, and registration at the Annual EAS Conference to be held in Riga, Latvia on October 6-8, 2025. https://www.dualcareer.eu/call-for-papers-bengt-nybelius-scholarship-2025/
April 15: The EAS President participated in the EUSA-NUSA online meeting focused on possible implementation of university sport, during which the new initiatives at EUSA, Croatian Academic Sport Federation, Polish University Sport Association, University of Salerno, Hungarian University Sport Federation, and the Dual Career Network have been presented. https://www.dualcareer.eu/discoveru-at-the-online-eusa-nusa-meeting/
The ongoing EU-funded ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnerships
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
COMPATH (101050955), the Collaborative Partnership coordinated by COLLECTIVE INNOVATION AS (Norway) aims to Promote Employability of Young Student-Athletes through ‘‘Competence Hub’’ on Sport Innovation. Drawing inspiration from the findings from a study on the educational needs of young people who are aiming for a career in sports innovation, and the development of Digital Sport Innovation Competence Hub. The final event will be held in Oslo next May 6, 2025. https://sportsinnovationshub.com
DC Mentor (101132309), the Collaborative Partnership coordinated by Sports Tech Consulting Education Tourism Organization Trade Limited Company (Turkeye) aims to Advancing Athlete Employability through Career Mentorship and Education. In particular, the project is designed to offer assistance to athlete for mitigating their difficulties in pursuing dual careers through tools and solutions in relation to life skills, future skills and 21th century skills. On June 17, 2025, the University of Murcia, Spain, will host the next transnational project meeting. Further information is available at https://dcmentor.eu
DiscoverU (101134052), the Collaborative Partnership coordinated by EUSA (Slovenia) aims to assess qualifications of elite athletes and to prepare them to the labour market. The project will develop e-learning materials for a Future Skills Curriculum, an Athlete Career Mentorship Platform Work, and organize Power up Workshops for Elite Athletes. Events and webinars. Last April 15, DiscoverU presented new opportunities for university sport at the EUSA-NUSA webinar. Further information is available at https://discoveru.eusa.eu
Find Me (101134043), the Collaborative Partnership coordinated by the University of Nis aims to structure an evidence-based European user-friendly platform specifically tailored for dual career at university level. On March 10, 2025, the Find Me Team organized an online meeting to finalize the online platform providing information about dual career opportunities at university level based on the findings of a survey recently published on an open access scientific journal (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1507951/full?utm_source=F-NTF). Further information is available at https://findmeproject.net.
Smart Start for DC (101133555), The Collaborative Partnership coordinated by Sportsko Uciliste PESG (Croatia) aims to encourage the dual career of young high school athletes aged 14 and 19. on February 4, 2025, the SmartStart4DC Team met online to align the goals and methodologies for the creation of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on transversal skills for empowering youth athletes aged 14 to 19 years and helping them juggling training, classes, and personal life (https://www.dualcareer.eu/online-meeting-of-the-smart-start-for-dc-team/). Further information is available at https://www.facebook.com/p/Smart-Start-4-DC-61556732943039/
Talent (101090147), the Collaborative Partnership coordinated by the Uciliste Centar Izvrsnosti Splitsko-Dalmatinske Zupanije Ustanova Za Obrazovanje Odraslih (Croatia) aims to develop a cloud-based education for creative sport talents. Further information is available at https://talent-edu.eu. The Talent Project Consortium Board held its last online meeting on March 4, presented the Talent Guidelines during the 15th EAS cafè on March 31, and held the final transnational meeting in Sarajevo on April 10-11 https://www.dualcareer.eu/talent-project-concludes-successful-final-event-in-sarajevo/. Further information is available at https://talent-edu.eu
Upcoming events
April 27: Deadline for submission of manuscripts to the Monograph Dual Career in School and University – Innovative Bridges between Sport and Education. For further information: prof. Rajmund Tomik (r.tomik@awf.katowice.pl).
April 28-29: Transnational Meeting of the ERASMUS+Sport project Smart Start for DC to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
May 6: Final event of the ERASMUS+Sport project COMPATH to be held in Olso, Norvegia.
May 14-15: EAS will participate to the 19th meeting of the EPAS Council of Europe Governing Board and joint meeting with the EPAS Consultative Committee.
May 15-16: The Member of the EAS Executive Committee Laurence Blondel will take part in the event Dual Career & International Mobility: Connect with a network of universities supporting student-athletes, to be held in Lyon (France) by the ERASMUS+Sport SAMEurope Consortium. On May 15, a cocktail party with front row seats to watch the elite cycling Criterium of the Tri’Crit’Races is planned. Registration to the event is required before 20 April at https://www.sameuropeproject.eu/dual-career-event-may-2025/.
May 16-17: Transnational Meeting of the ERASMUS+Sport project Find Me to be held in Oslo, Norvegia.
May-June: The 16th EAS cafè will be organized. Invitation will be posted on the EAS website (https://www.dualcareer.eu)
Bengt Nybelius Scholarship
July 1 (midnight CET): To be eligible for the 2025 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship, applicants up to 40 years of age must submit their original work related to the scope of EAS by e-mail to info@dualcareer.eu. More information is available at (https://www.dualcareer.eu/call-for-papers-bengt-nybelius-scholarship-2025/).
EAS Conference
October 6-8: the University of Latvia will host the 2025 EAS Annual Conference “Dual Career of Elite Athletes: Integrating Sport and Education for Future Success”.The Conference is the most important opportunity for the dual career community to be informed on the best practices at local, regional, and national levels, the findings and outcomes of EU-funded dual career projects, and the recognition of researchers awarded the Bengt Nybelius Scholarship. The final deadline for abstract submission is September 13, 2025.
Special thanks to the EAS Members for renovating their involvement in our Network (https://www.dualcareer.eu/membership/) and to the Members of the EAS Executive Committee for strong commitment to the advancement of the European dual career culture.
Prof. Laura Capranica,
EAS President
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu