Blended Intensive Program (BIP) A.Y. 2024-2025

[italian version]

Blended Intensive Program (BIP) consists of short-term physical mobility abroad with a compulsory virtual component before the mobility. Blended Intensive Program needs to be composed of international jointly designed learning activities set by a minimum of 3 higher education institutions (HEIs) from 3 European countries.

Higher education institutions involved in the BIP partnership:
University of Padua (Italy - coordinator and hosting institution of the physical mobility), VSB - Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic - partner), Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic - partner), and University of Vaasa (Finland - partner).

Periods:
1) on-line part: from 7th March to 4th April 2025 (approximatively - program under definition),
2) face-to-face part: from 4th June to 12th June 2025.

Main topics:
Module 1: “Introduction to energy harvesting and urban sustainability” (1 ECTS);
Module 2: “Thermal energy accumulation and reuse techniques from road pavements, buildings, and underground structures” (1.5 ECTS), constitute by module 2.1 (“Thermal energy accumulation and reuse techniques”), module 2.2 (“Smart building facades and transport infrastructure energy systems”), and module 2.3 (“Geothermal and subsurface energy storage solutions”);
Module 3: “Reuse of heat from green infrastructures and agriculture” (1 ECTS);
Module 4: “Digital twins and monitoring systems for energy management” (0.5 ECTS);
Module 5: “Group projects” (2 ECTS). This activity will consist of collaborative group projects focused on designing an energy harvesting solution for a specific urban application; analysis of potential energy output, cost-benefit assessment, and carbon impact. The outcome will be a practical experience in conceptualizing and presenting energy solutions with a focus on implementation feasibility.

Target skills and knowledge:
This teaching activity intend to provide students with multidisciplinary notions that can contribute to the European objectives of reducing emissions, improving energy management, reducing the phenomenon of urban heat islands, and improving the quality of life in European cities. This activity is motivated by the serious lack in Europe of qualified technicians with interdisciplinary skills in the fields of energy harvesting for carbon neutrality. The students will be able to play a fundamental and growing role in various sectors, to increase their competitiveness and continue the active implementation of the European Green Deal directives. To this purpose, the course includes lectures (also in on-line mode), practical case studies, Q&A sessions, seminars, visits of sites and exercises/group projects. Site visits to experimental and operational sites to observe real-life applications of energy harvesting technologies.

Teachers:
Professors, researchers and technicians from partner universities and organizations active in the field of urban energy management.

Participants:
Participants need to be learners from HEIs in the partnerships, learners from HEIs outside the partnerships, zero-grant learners. Participants can be also learners of the hosting HEI, learners from non-European countries (KA171 mobility), learners who are already on mobility at the hosting HEI (Erasmus mobility for study/traineeship, Erasmus Mundus, etc.).
The students that participate in the BIP must be enrolled at University of Padua (Italy) for the entire BIP period (virtual and face-to-face activities). If they receive another EU scholarship in the same period (Erasmus mobility for study / traineeship, Erasmus Mundus, PNRR, PON, etc) they have zero grant. PhDs are considered students (not staff).
At the end of the BIP activities the University of Padua awards 6 credits (ETCS) to all the students through the BIP.

Accomodation: many accommodations (residences, colleges, apartments and establishments holding agreements) in Padua are reserved for international students enrolled in University of Padua, for which there is also an International Housing Office (housing@unipd.it). For further information, visits the “Housing” web page of University of Padua.

Organizational Support: University of Padua can support the students enrolled in BIP face-to-face activities (e.g. rent of rooms, meals, purchase of materials / services for activities, educational trips, attendance fees, etc.). Each international student participating in BIP face-to-face activities will be enrolled in the University of Padua and will be covered by insurance (accident and civil liability). No fees are requested for these two.

Course unit contents
The teaching activity will deal with the theory and applications regarding the harvesting, accumulation, and reuse of thermal energy within urbanized areas. In particular, the issues relating to the harvesting, accumulation and reuse of thermal energy absorbed by road pavements, buildings, underground structures as well as waste thermal energy from industry and agriculture will be covered. Themes:
A) energy harvesting from smart building facades, thermal exchangers, and thermal storages;
B) thermal optimization of road pavements and energy harvesting systems for transport infrastructures;
C) geothermal technologies, in particular structures for the accumulation and reuse of geothermal energy or underground thermal storages;
D) reuse of heat from green infrastructures and agriculture in urban areas.
Moreover, monitoring, sensors, control/management systems, complex modelling (digital twins) and simulation of energy flows will be approached in this activity.
First period of lessons: online activities will be dedicated to theory and practical examples of the harvesting, accumulation, and reuse of thermal energy within urbanized areas. A practical exercise will be presented on these topics. Second period of lessons: in presence, the students will be divided in groups to solve the practical exercise. Practical works, lectures, seminars, and educational visits to test or experimental sites will be also organized. The teaching will be held by national and international researchers, technicians and professionals, managers of organizations involved in the sectors indicated above, also coming from various partner universities, active in research and applications in these fields.

Learning Outcomes: understanding the importance of energy harvesting and its applications in urban contexts; ability to explain and apply methods for thermal energy storage and reuse in urban environments; skill in designing and evaluating energy harvesting systems for buildings and transportation infrastructure; understanding geothermal energy's potential and designing solutions for energy storage and reuse; knowledge of sustainable solutions that integrate agriculture and green infrastructure for energy recovery; ability to model and simulate energy flows using modern digital tools.


More information will be published in this webpage in the next days (24th – 28th February 2025).
For more information, please, contact: Prof. Augusto Cannone Falchetto (augusto.cannone@unipd.it) and/or Ing. Giovanni Giacomello (giovanni.giacomello@unipd.it).