Research and training
Research areas
- Innovative teaching and technologies
Research on active learning methodologies, digital environments and the educational applications of artificial intelligence. - Emotional and socio-emotional skills
Research on social and emotional learning (SEL), classroom climate, well-being and prevention through education. - Creativity, STEM and equity
Research on creativity, talent development, gender equity in STEM and inclusive educational practices. - Work, learning and human development
Research on skills development, vocational education and training, and lifelong learning to support human development and the digital and green transitions. - Lifelong learning and educational transitions
Research on educational and career guidance, upskilling and reskilling, lifelong learning, and equitable access to adult education. - Sustainability and complexity
Research on sustainability, responsibility, social equity, human relationships, and education in contexts of uncertainty and global challenges. - Neuroscience and cognition
Research on brain development, cognitive processes, learning and memory, with a focus on advancing neuroscience-informed and evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning.
Research projects and collaborations
EUTOPIA - European University Alliance
Ca’ Foscari University is a member of EUTOPIA, a European alliance made up of ten universities that share a common vision oriented towards building the university of the future. The initiative promotes close collaboration among the partner universities to develop innovative models of teaching, research and training, founded on the principles of excellence, inclusion, internationalisation and openness to society. In line with the European Union strategy for European Universities, EUTOPIA fosters the mobility of students, teachers and researchers, the development of joint projects and the creation of interdisciplinary educational and research pathways, with a challenge-driven approach, aimed at addressing the main contemporary social, environmental and technological challenges.
The alliance brings together the following universities: Babeș-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, CY Cergy Paris Université, Technische Universität Dresden, University of Gothenburg, University of Ljubljana, NOVA University Lisbon, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and University of Warwick. Through this international network, Ca’ Foscari contributes to the development of shared initiatives in research, educational innovation and academic cooperation at the European level.
PRISMA is a national project aimed at promoting psychological, emotional and relational well-being within Italian university communities, with particular attention to students. Coordinated by the University of Ferrara and developed in collaboration with a network of eight Italian universities, the project adopts a multidimensional approach that integrates research, prevention, training and health- and well-being-promotion interventions.
Within PRISMA, Ca’ Foscari carries out research on the role of emotional skills in the university context, with particular reference to the relationship between faculty members' socio-emotional skills and students’ well-being. In parallel, it promotes initiatives addressed to the academic community, including creative-music workshops, video-making workshops and workshops dedicated to topics of great social and educational relevance, such as sport and well-being, cyberbullying, eating disorders, eco-anxiety and addictions, with the aim of fostering more inclusive, informed and health-promoting learning environments.
Centre for Qualifying Teacher Training
Ca’ Foscari University, in collaboration with the IUAV University of Venice, the “Benedetto Marcello” Conservatory of Music of Venice and the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, has established the Venice Inter-University Centre for the initial training of secondary school teachers. The Centre was created with the aim of offering highly qualified pathways for the training of future teachers, promoting an integrated model that combines solid disciplinary, pedagogical, didactic and methodological competences.
Through collaboration between university institutions and those of Higher Education in Art, Music and Dance (AFAM), the Centre fosters the development of innovative educational practices, critical reflection on the teaching profession and the preparation of teachers able to face the challenges of contemporary schooling, with particular attention to inclusion, methodological innovation and the quality of teaching and learning processes.
Training
“Emotions and Creativity” Laboratory
A programme addressed to upper secondary schools and dedicated to educational and career guidance, with the aim of promoting fundamental soft skills such as emotional skills, creativity and critical thinking.
Through experiential activities, participatory methodologies and tools for individual and group reflection, the pathway supports students in identifying their strengths and talents, fostering more informed educational and professional choices.
The methodology integrates evidence from educational research, neuroscience and the psychology of learning, combining emotional-education activities, creativity exercises, reflective practices and moments of collaborative discussion.
The laboratory enhances the role of emotions and creativity in personal development and in learning processes and is characterised by an interdisciplinary approach that combines pedagogy, neuroscience and the development of soft skills, placing at its centre the discovery of personal vocation and the construction of an informed life project.
The initiative has been carried out at numerous schools in the Veneto Region (also thanks to the dissemination promoted by the Regional School Office for Veneto), and the Campania Region, recording a high number of participation requests.
