The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Mondragon Unibertsitatea and the European university alliances OpenEU and EU4Dual will launch T-LED (Testing Labour-Oriented European Degrees), a project to develop and adapt eight joint degrees to meet the requirements of the recently approved Joint European Degree Label, which aims to recognize official degrees jointly designed and delivered by a range of European universities. The proposal has been positively rated by the European Commission in the Erasmus+ European Degree Exploratory Action call for proposals. The project is one of 14 European initiatives designed to test and develop the future European label for joint degrees, one of the European Commission's strategic priorities in its push for a more cohesive European Higher Education Area. 

With a planned duration of three years, T-LED will make it possible to test the requirements of the European label in online, dual learning, hybrid and work-based programmes. A total of 14 European countries are involved in the initiative. In addition to providing financial support, the project will enable the UOC to be directly involved in testing the requirements, tools and processes that are to pave the way for the implementation of the future European Degree label in Europe. 

The project will make use of both OpenEU's (coordinated by the UOC) expertise in open, digital and distance learning and EU4Dual's (led by Mondragon Unibertsitatea) specialist knowledge and experience in dual learning and collaboration with the business world. As a result of the partnership between the two alliances, two complementary university models will be combined to design more flexible and inclusive European degrees closely attuned to the requirements of society and the labour market. 

AQU Catalunya and Unibasq, the university quality assurance agencies for Catalonia and the Basque Country respectively, as well as UNED, will also be involved as associated institutions.

"This new project is yet another European recognition of the opportunities provided by educational models based on lifelong learning, a recognition that reflects the long-standing work carried out by the UOC in partnership with our fellow members of the OpenEU alliance," said Pastora Martínez Samper, the UOC's commissioner for international action.

"This initiative enables our institutions to both highlight the importance of getting businesses and organizations involved in the design and development of university degrees and work towards obtaining European recognition for this collaborative model," said Jon Altuna, Academic Vice Rector of Mondragon Unibertsitatea and coordinator of the EU4DUAL alliance.

Under the initiative, four existing joint degrees will be updated and four new ones will be created from scratch at bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree levels. The programmes will focus on areas of particular importance to Europe, such as software development, industrial transformation, sustainability, health, risk management and digitalization.

Flexible mobility and employability

One of the challenges facing mobility between countries is precisely establishing how the European label's requirements can be applied to educational models aimed at people who combine study with work, need more flexible learning options or are unable to spend extended periods abroad. As lifelong learning gains increasing prominence in European priorities, the project aims to promote this more flexible and inclusive model aligned with the needs of the labour market, as well as help students combine international mobility with their personal and professional responsibilities.

The project also seeks to increase the involvement of businesses and other social players in the design of degree programmes. Dual learning programmes will combine academic study with structured workplace training periods, while online programmes will include international projects, collaboration with employers and experiences developed by teams from different countries.

More support for a wide range of profiles

In addition to helping to adapt the Joint Bachelor's Degree (the first OpenEU joint degree programme) to the European label's requirements, the UOC will lead the part of the project relating to student support, with responsibility for coordinating measures to foster the inclusion in the joint programmes of students with diverse profiles, especially those balancing their studies with work, caregiving or other commitments.

Furthermore, the UOC will work to ensure the secure exchange of academic data between participating institutions and coordinate a European graduate tracking protocol to gain deeper insight into graduates' career progression, assess the extent to which degree programmes meet the needs of the labour market and make improvements to the programmes based on its findings.

Eight degree programmes in key strategic areas

The four programmes to be adapted to the European label's requirements are the Bachelor's Degree in Software Development and Testing, the Master in Enterprise Risk Management, the European Joint Master in Digital and Sustainable Manufacturing Engineering and the Joint MBA in Green Economy and Sustainable Future.

The Bachelor's Degree in Software Development and Testing, which is coordinated by the UOC with the Open Universiteit of the Netherlands and UNED, will be delivered entirely online and will carry a total of 180 ECTS credits. The first edition is scheduled for academic year 2026/2027 and will train professionals to cover the entire software cycle, from design and development to testing, maintenance and quality assurance.

The Master in Enterprise Risk Management, coordinated by the Open University of Cyprus, is already up and running and will be modified to comply with the new European requirements. The European Joint Master in Digital and Sustainable Manufacturing Engineering, coordinated by Mondragon Unibertsitatea, will welcome its first cohort of students in autumn 2026, while the Joint MBA in Green Economy and Sustainable Future, coordinated by Savonia University of Applied Sciences, will launch in January 2027.

The four new degrees will be a Master's Degree in Climate Emergency and Sustainability, a Master's Degree in Healthy Living and Integrated Health, a Master's Degree in Project Management for the Digital Industry and a multidisciplinary industrial doctoral programme.

As for the Master's Degree in Climate Emergency and Sustainability, a pilot is scheduled to start in winter 2026/2027, with full roll-out planned for 2028. The Master's Degree in Healthy Living and Integrated Health will start in autumn 2027, followed by the Master's Degree in Project Management for the Digital Industry in autumn 2028.

The pilot for the industrial doctorate programme, which will be based on a combination of online research training and projects carried out in collaboration with companies, will launch in winter 2027/2028, with full roll-out expected to begin in academic year 2028/2029. In addition to an academic supervisor, students will have a professional supervisor for their thesis to promote knowledge transfer and support the application of the knowledge acquired to real-world challenges arising in industry and society.

From university alliances to joint degrees

T-LED strengthens collaboration and learning between two university alliances with different educational models. OpenEU, whose members include open and distance universities, seeks to increase access to higher education and encourage lifelong learning. EU4Dual specializes in dual learning, an approach based on combining academic training with work experience.

The partnership between the two alliances will lead to the creation of more flexible and inclusive European qualifications aligned with the needs of the labour market that support both full-time students and those who are combining their studies with work. This project further establishes the UOC's position as one of the European universities with a significant role in defining today's European Higher Education Area, consolidating its position of leadership in the development of open, digital and international higher education models.