Events

We@FSE Diversity Week 

Workshop: Feeding the Monster: Rethinking Feedback in Diverse Teams 

Giving and receiving feedback is hard enough. If we add an intercultural twist to the equation, "honest," "respectful," or even "constructive" feedback can look completely different depending on our cultural background. In STEM group work, these mismatches can quietly derail collaboration, leaving some voices unheard and some feedback unspoken.

This interactive session unpacks why feedback so often gets lost in translation. Using Mitch Hammer's Intercultural Conflict Styles (ICS) framework, we'll explore how communication preferences shape the way people give and receive feedback, and why good feedback looks different depending on where you're standing.

We'll then put theory into practice with Feedback from a Monster, a playful, role-play-based serious game that surfaces these dynamics in a low-stakes, engaging way. Developed as part of the international ENLIGHT CoCreate project and already piloted in the UG BSc AI mentoring programme, the game equips participants with concrete tools for facilitating more inclusive group work in STEM settings.

When: Tuesday 6 October, 09.00-11.00
Location: 5612.0126

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We@FSE Diversity Week

Walk & Talk

Trade your usual lunch sport for some fresh air … and your usual lunch buddy for someone brand new!

Grab your own lunch, head outside, and pair up with someone you’ve never (really) talked to before, maybe someone from a different team, a different country, or someone whose path you’ve never crossed. Over the next 30 minutes, find out what gets them excited about work, what they do on a lazy Sunday, where your worlds overlap, and where they wonderfully do not!

We tend to stick to people who feel familiar: same background, same interests, same lunch table. Totally normal, but it also means that we miss out on the people who could teach us something else. A 30-minute walk is a low-key way to cross that invisible line, swap perspectives, and maybe make an unexpected new friend along the way.

Stuck on what to ask? No stress: we’ll hand you a few conversation starters to break the ice. No small talk about the weather required (unless you really want to…).

When: Tuesday 6 October, 12.00-12.45
Location: Entrance Bernoulliborg 

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We@FSE Diversity Week

Workshop: Beyond Nice: Kindness and Hostmanship as Professional Practice

What does it truly mean to welcome students into our institutions, especially across lines of culture and difference? Drawing on Jan Gunnarsson and Olle Blohm's concept of hostmanship and Catherine J. Denial's pedagogy of kindness, this interactive session invites participants to reconsider hospitality, trust, and compassion as foundations of teaching, as prerequisite rather than a complementary add-on. 

We will offer educators and staff a chance to reflect on how genuine care can reshape classrooms and everyday academic life, and to look into possibilities within your own reach.

We hope participants leave with a renewed perspective and practical tools to bring back to their own practice. 

When: Thursday 8 October, 09.00-11.00
Location: 5173.0141

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We@FSE Diversity Week

Education for Lunch: Making Diversity our Strength: How to Harness Diversity across our Learning Environments for Pluri-perspective Learning and Transformation?

In universities like ours, people with different backgrounds, talents and walks of life learn and work together every day. How do we, as lecturers, recognise, accommodate and harness the multi-faceted diversity within our learning environments? Which diversities do we embrace, prioritise and ignore? Why create space to learn across boundaries?

In this Education for Lunch session, Marloes Ambagts draws on her PhD research to explore how and why you currently harness diversity in your work. She invites you to use pluri-perspective learning as a lens to rethink (y)our learning environments in dialogue with non-usual suspects.

This is a hybrid session. You can join us either at Zernike or online. 

When: Thursday October 8, 12.00-13.00
Location: 5173.0141 & online  (Google meet link will be sent upon registration)

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We@FSE Diversity Week

Workshop: Seen and Accepted: Fostering Belonging through a Neurodivergent Lens

A sense of belonging significantly influences wellbeing, resilience, and academic success. Yet belonging does not arise spontaneously: it depends on genuine connection with others, on being seen and accepted for who one is.

Establishing such connection requires greater care when engaging with individuals whose communication styles or ways of experiencing the world differ from our own. Without adequate awareness of these differences, well-intentioned interactions may inadvertently leave others feeling overlooked.

This session examines belonging through a neurodivergent lens. Our guest speakers Dr. Yvonne Groen, Drs. Jadwiga Michlewiz, Dr. Novika Purnama Sari (faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences) will present their research alongside professional experience as study advisors, offering insight into the conditions that support belonging for neurodivergent individuals.

The session will also draw on lived experiences from the audience. Rather than a one-directional presentation, participants are invited to contribute their own perspectives and questions throughout the discussion. Whether neurodivergent themselves, working with neurodivergent students or colleagues, or seeking to deepen their understanding, all participants are encouraged to engage.

Guest speakers:
Dr. Yvonne Groen (neuro/biopsychologist), 
Drs. Jadwiga Michlewiz (former Research Master student in Psychology),
Dr. Novika Purnama Sari (education specialist).

When: Thursday, October 8, 13:00-15:00 
Location: 5173.0141

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Imagining Just Futures: A conversation on science, education, forms of justice, and worlds in the making

When:Fr 26-06-2026 2.00 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.Where:House of Connections

The future is not something that happens to us. It is built in classrooms, in laboratories, in community centres, in collectives, in the stories we tell about science, in the questions we allow students to ask, and dare to ask ourselves, and in those we silence or never think to raise. Every pedagogy is already a choice about what kind of world we are making possible and what interruptions and wonderings we are engaging with. Join us for an open conversation with diverse voices across Global North and South contexts, at the intersection of science, pedagogy, justice, and collective flourishing. Through dialogue, we will explore how scientists and science educators are already enacting just futures in their work, and ask: how do we cultivate the imagination to build the worlds we need?

Whether you work, study, or want to reflect on science, education, sustainability, engineering, geography,  psychology, politics, or somewhere in between, if you are curious about how knowledge, power, and pedagogy shape our collective futures, this conversation is for you. This isn't a lecture. It's a collective act of thinking out loud. A live illustrator will capture ideas as they emerge, and we'll close by co-creating a manifesto together with everyone in the room for what science and education for just futures could be.

Come ready to listen, to question, and to imagine. 

Programme
14:00 – 14:05 — Opening: Eduarda Boing Pinheiro and Yang Zhang
14:05 – 15:00 — Conversations with speakers:

• dr. Haira Gandolfi - University of Cambridge
• prof. Laura Colucci-Gray - University of Edinburgh
• dr. Paulina Bravo Gonzalez - Universidad Católica del Maule
• prof. Sara Tolbert - Monash University

• Facilitators: dr. Betzabé Torres Olave and prof. Lucy Avraamidou

15:00 – 15:45 — Questions and small group discussions
15:45 – 16:15 — Open plenary
16:15 – 17:00 — Drinks, nibbles, and continuing the conversation with open spaces for connection between speakers, facilitators, and attendees

This event is part of JustCLIma, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research project (Grant Agreement No. 101208591) led by Dr Betzabe Torres Olave. Learn more via Cordis

See review below

STEM Education for Sustainable Futures:
A joint event of INFINITE and Up-STEAM

Location: House of Connections
Date: Thursday 23 April 2026
Time: 11:00 – 16:00

You are warmly invited to attend the joint final conference of two Erasmus+ projects INFINITE and Up-sTEAm that were coordinated by the Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen.

• INFINITE aimed to prepare Higher Education instructors and students to critically and ethically exploit AI-based technology for their professional and pedagogical practices.
• Up-STEAM aimed at providing learning opportunities to university students to develop their competences in designing and delivering inclusive and non-formal STEAM activities.
  

In line with the aims of the two projects, this conference will focus on:

• Responsible and ethical use of AI in Higher Education
• Non-formal STEAM education

The day includes multiple interactive activities such as a panel discussion, workshops, and poster presentations. There will also be a lot of opportunities for networking and knowledge exchange among the projects and participants.

Who should join?

• Students and future educators
• Tenure track professors (especially those with education focus - TTEs)
• Academics & educators
• Project partners
• Anyone interested in AI, (non-formal) STEAM education, and innovative learning
  

Review event

Up-sTEAm Final Conference Highlights Innovation, Collaboration, and Impact
The Up-sTEAm project successfully concluded its journey with a dynamic and forward-looking Final Conference titled “STEM Education for Sustainable Futures”, held at the House of Connections in Groningen. The event, co-organised with the cconsortium of the INFINITE project, brought together educators, researchers, policymakers, and innovators to explore the future of STEM education, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, inclusive learning, and sustainable development.

The conference opened with a high-level panel discussion on “STEM education for sustainable futures: Focusing on AI and informal education”. Esteemed speakers included Prof. Justin Dillon (University College London), Prof. Digna Couso (Autonomous University of Barcelona), Dr Christina Fox (Utrecht University), Dr Luana Silveri (University of Groningen), and Dr Carol Garzón López (University of Groningen, Campus Fryslân). The panel was moderated by Dr Mohammad Gharesifard and Dr Francisco Castillo (University of Groningen), who guided a rich exchange of ideas on the evolving role of STEM education in addressing global challenges.

A central highlight of the conference was the presentation and hands-on exploration of the Up-sTEAm Digital Toolkit, one of the project’s key outcomes. Through dedicated workshops, participants engaged with:

• Cross-cutting modules, designed to foster interdisciplinary STEM learning

• Content-specific modules, tailored to subject-focused teaching and learning needs

These sessions demonstrated how the Up-sTEAm project supports educators in integrating innovative, inclusive, and sustainability-oriented approaches into their teaching practices. In parallel, additional workshops explored AI literacy and digital capacity building in higher education, while a seminar session addressed the importance of student wellbeing and the balance between AI and human connection in learning environments.

The conference concluded with poster presentations, networking opportunities, and knowledge exchange among approximately 70 participants, reinforcing the collaborative spirit that has defined the Up-STEAM project.

Over its duration, Up-sTEAm has developed practical tools, pedagogical resources, and a strong European partnership aimed at enhancing STEM education through inquiry-based, inclusive, and future-oriented approaches. The Final Conference marked not only the conclusion of these efforts but also the beginning of continued impact through dissemination and adoption of project results. For more information about the Up-sTEAm project and access to its resources, visit the project website or follow upcoming dissemination activities.

Webinar: Longing for more liveable futures: the role of science education

When:We 28-01-2026 2.00 p.m. - 3.00 p.m.Where:University of Groningen

This webinar explores how science education can respond to the current socioscientific polycrisis, including climate change, geopolitical conflict, global health challenges, and the growing influence of AI and Big Tech on education. Prof. Lucy Avraamidou will argue for the urgent need to re-imagine the purpose of science education, with a focus on social change and social justice. Drawing on examples from ongoing research and practice, the webinar will highlight curricular and real-world initiatives at the intersection of science and the arts, situated in both school and out-of-school contexts worldwide. The session will conclude with a brief introduction to the Up-STEAM project and its platform.

Date & time: Wednesday 28 January 2026, 14:00–15:00 CET
Speaker: Prof. Lucy Avraamidou (University of Groningen)

Workshops on neurodiversity

When:Th 09-10-2025 09.00 a.m. - 10.30 a.m.Where:5616.0144 (Feringa Building

These workshops for lab educators and lecturers explore neurodiversity as a fundamental aspect of human diversity in educational settings. Participants will examine both medical and social models of neurodiversity while moving beyond deficit-based approaches to recognise the unique strengths of neurodivergent learners. The sessions will also address common challenges faced by neurodivergent students while providing practical strategies for inclusive lab and classroom environments. Emphasising student-centred approaches, the workshops encourage educators to engage directly with learners to understand individual needs and co-create supportive strategies. By the end of the session, participants will have developed an understanding to transform educational spaces into environments where neurodivergent students can thrive alongside their neurotypical peers, ultimately enriching the learning experience for all.

Play to Learn: Integrating Gamification into Education

When:Th 20-03-2025 12.00 p.m. - 1.00 p.m.Where:Linnaeusborg, 5173.0149

How can game-based learning enhance student engagement and deepen understanding? This seminar explores the power of gamification in education and features an inspiring Best Practice Award 2025 (BPA) nominee from FSE.

Dr. Edith Koh from the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) at FSE will provide insights into the educational theories that support gamification.

Prof. Ranjita Bose from BSc Chemical Engineering will present a successful implementation of game-based learning in her course. By incorporating game-based challenges, this approach transforms the theoretical nature of polymer chemistry into an interactive and engaging learning experience. Students are encouraged to think critically, make decisions, and connect complex concepts to real-world applications.

The session will conclude with an open discussion, during which participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and explore how game-based learning can enhance their own courses.

Cultural diversity & STEM? But, science is universal!

When:Th 06-03-2025 3.30 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.Where:5616.0128, Feringa Building

This workshop will focus on cultural diversity in the context of STEM education. It will explore how students’ diverse backgrounds influence their expectations and learning approaches and how teachers need to recognise and accommodate these differences to develop and adjust effective teaching strategies. Ultimately, this process will foster the development of teachers’ own intercultural competences.

Workshop: Designing for effective feedback

When:Tu 21-01-2025 3.30 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.Where:5161.0134 Bernouilliborg (ALC)

For formative assessment to be effective in promoting student learning, good feedback practices are essential. This workshop introduces lecturers to seven principles of good feedback practices. Participants will apply these principles to the analysis of teaching approaches and reflect on the effectiveness of their own feedback practices.