www.sefi2026.eu

Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

05/2026

SEFI NEWSLETTER

Monthly news feed about engineering education in Europe and overseas

SEFI 2026

Early Bird Registrations Open

📅 7-10 September 2026

📍 Prague, Czechia

Register now to secure the best rates for the SEFI Annual Conference, Europe’s leading event in Higher Engineering Education - Early Bird pricing ends on 3 July!

Special discounts are available for SEFI members, and even better discounts await BSc, MSc, and PhD students — making this a can’t-miss opportunity to learn, connect, and grow alongside the best in the field.

More details on www.sefi2026.eu

Register here

SEFI 2026

Special Session: Community building around research career challenges

📅 6 September 2026

📍 Prague, Czechia

This event, organised on the sidelines of the SEFI 2026 Annual Conference, will focus on community building for you who have experienced challenges around your chosen research career in recent years. This might be connected to opportunities connected to external factors including but not limited to changes in funding, changes in institutional or organisational priorities, or having to relocate due to personal reasons.

More information here.

Register here

SEFI REGIONAL EVENT 2026

Register to the SEFI Regional Event 2026 at the University of Aveiro

📅 18–19 June 2026

📍 University of Aveiro, Portugal

As part of the Engineering Education Research & Action Week, the SEFI Regional Event 2026 will focus on engineering education for sustainable development, bringing together educators, researchers, and practitioners to explore innovative approaches to teaching and learning in engineering.

The programme will feature a series of interactive workshops, keynote talks, and a public presentation of the findings from the exploratory project “Empathic Engineering Education for Sustainable Development”, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Learn more

SEFI PODCAST

Emotions to solve wicked problems

Engineering students are increasingly expected to work towards solving ‘wicked’ problems. Tackling such complexity can invoke a range of emotions, and educators are increasingly required to support students in situations when they are confronted with uncertainty and value conflicts. In this month's episode, Johanna Lönngren (Umeå University Sweden) joins to speak about how engineering students talk about, and collaboratively deal with, emotions when they work with complex sustainability problems.

Listen here

SEFI JEEA

Student reflections on a graduate course for developing research thinking

This study assessed the effectiveness of teaching a research methodology course conceptualized using Self-Determination Theory (SDT). SDT — defined by three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness — is applied in the classroom with the goal of creating a needs-fulfilling environment. The study found that the course successfully achieved its objective of developing, strengthening, or nurturing research thinking in graduate students, and the findings may inform practitioners’ efforts to structure courses with researcher mindset or research identity outcomes.

Author: William Kisaalita (University of Georgia)

Read here

SEFI JEEA

Exploring the applications of plasma physics in the semiconductor industry through challenge-based learning

This study investigates the integration of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) into a master-level plasma physics course, with the aim of bridging the gap between academic research and industrial applications in the semiconductor sector. The course design centred on reverse-engineering fabrication processes for advanced nanoelectronics, challenging students to apply plasma processing concepts to authentic, industry-relevant problems.

Authors: Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway, Adrie Mackus, Johanna (Sanne) H. Deijkers from Eindhoven University of Technology

Read here

CEEA-ACÉG

SEFI signs Memorandum of Understanding with Canadian Engineering Education Association

SEFI President Emanuela Tilley and CEEA-ACÉG President Gabriel Potvin seek to encourage collaboration between the two organisations as well as the exchange of information about their relevant activities, while promoting understanding and cooperation between their respective members.

We are thrilled to embark on this journey alongside our Canadian colleagues and look forward to shaping a more connected future for the next generation of engineers!

Read more

ENGINEERING EDUCATION RESEARCH SIG

SEFI Summer School 2026: Thoughtful Advice, Deep Reflections, and a Strong Sense of Academic Community

This month, the 4^th SEFI Summer School on Engineering Education Research took place at Aalborg University. The Summer School brought together a committed group of early career researchers and experienced scholars in a highly interactive and supportive learning environment.

Throughout the programme, the teaching team demonstrated strong dedication, collegiality, and care in facilitating the sessions, dialogues, interactions, teamwork, supporting early career colleagues’ professional growth. The participants were highly engaged, contributing actively to discussions, group work, reflections, and exchanges across the different activities.

A huge thank you to all of the organisers, speakers, and mentors for facilitating such a fantastic event!

Read more

ETHICS SIG

7th SEFI Ethics Spring Symposium brings scholars and educators together on empathy and care

The SEFI Ethics SIG held its 7^th Spring Symposium from 20–24 April at the National Ethnographic Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia, Bulgaria. The symposium created a reflective and interdisciplinary space for examining relational ethics in engineering education, with a programme that combined keynote lectures, panels, workshops, dialogue circles, and informal community-building activities. The event was designed as an embodied space for connection, attentiveness, and reflection.

Thank you to all the organisers, speakers, and participants for another hugely successful symposium!

Read more

SEFI@WORK

Webinar recordings for April and May

FROM MEMBERS

UCL

CEE Summer Course Series: Learn from a Faculty-Wide Engineering Education Transformation

The UCL Centre for Engineering Education invites engineering and STEM educators, programme leads, curriculum designers, and education leaders to take part in a summer short course series focused on leading educational change.

Drawing on UCL’s Integrated Engineering Programme, a flagship example of faculty‑wide, research‑informed curriculum transformation, the series offers insight into a fully implemented approach to change. Through interactive workshops, hands‑on design activities, peer learning, and networking, participants gain practical tools and strategies to enhance project‑based learning and support curriculum innovation in their own contexts.

More info

UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

Centre for Engineering Education Annual Report Released

The 2026 Annual Report of the Centre for Engineering Education (CEE) at the University of Sheffield has been released. The Centre supports educators in becoming world leaders in their field. By focusing on high quality, original teaching, they aim to inspire students through transformative education that celebrates diversity and prepares them to lead with integrity.

The report highlights the continued growth of the Centre and its activities across engineering education scholarship, international collaboration, professional development, mentoring, and educational innovation.

Read here

FROM PARTNERS

AAEE2026

Call for Abstracts and Workshop EOIs: 37th Australasian Association for Engineering Education Annual Conference

Hosted by the UNSW Faculty of Engineering in Sydney from 13–16 December 2026, AAEE2026 will bring together educators, researchers, students, and industry partners to share evidence‑based innovations that advance engineering education.

Under the theme “Making the Impossible, Possible,” the conference invites bold thinking, creative futures, and practical steps toward transformative engineering education. The Call for Abstracts is now open! For more information, visit aaee2026.org or email [email protected].

TEACHER EDUCATION NETWORK

International Conference on STE*M Education – “Reimagining STEM Education”

⏳ Abstract Submission Deadline: 14 June 2026

📍 Stellenbosch University, South Africa

📆 Conference Dates: 21–23 September 2026

This conference brings together researchers and practitioners who are passionate about making STEAM education more inclusive and accessible for all learners. Whether you work in education, research, or innovation, this is a great opportunity to share insights, connect, and collaborate. Contributions are welcomed across all educational contexts and study phases, aligned with strands including Rethinking Teaching, Learning and Assessment in STEM Classrooms, Inclusive and Equitable STEM Education, and Professional Teacher Development and Capacity Building in STEM Education.

More info

CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship: SARChI Chair in Engineering Education

⏳ Second Application Deadline: 29 June 2026

The SARChI Chair in Engineering Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) invites applications from suitably qualified applicants for three Postdoctoral Fellowships

in the field of Engineering Education Research (EER). This is an opportunity for early-career scholars to work with a locally relevant and internationally connected research community based at CPUT.

Led by Professor Jenni Case, the SARChI Chair in Engineering Education launches in August 2026. Prof Case is an international leader in EER and this programme will be centred on engineering education in the Global South, with a special focus on South Africa, specifically on the University of Technology sector.