EPIDI

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has changed not only the way we learn, but also work. Since March 2020 students have seen their internships get cancelled or switched from traditional internships to remote ones. As a result, many of them have found themselves unprepared in this unusual and constraining situation. The European Partnership for Innovation in Distant Internships (EPIDI) is a European project co-financed by the ERASMUS+ programme, aimed at promoting remote internships and fostering collaboration between different private and public actors at a European scale. With this aim in mind, the EPIDI team will be working for the next two years on the implementation of a Best Practice Guide on “How to undertake successfully remote internships” and at a later stage on the development of e-learning modules geared towards students, employers, teachers and university administrative staff. As a matter of fact, The Best Practice Guide and the e-learning modules will be created from a Europe-wide survey, completed by people who have already engaged in a working activity remotely. EPIDI strongly believes that remote internships may be an enriching opportunity for both; interns and employers at different levels. Indeed, since summer 2020, we have seen many internship offers clearly stating the possibility of working remotely. Thus, the number of companies hiring interns worldwide has significantly increased, showing that working remotely can increase the establishment of professional opportunities. Last but not least, EPIDI is composed of three members of the first European University Alliance for an Innovative Campus Unifying Regions (EPICUR): the University of Strasbourg (UNISTRA), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (AMU). This European project has been running since April 1, 2021, and will come to an end on March 31, 2023.