ANIS Scholarships 2022: 11 modern educational projects receive sponsorships from the ITC industry in Romania

ANIS, the Employers’ Association of the Software and Services Industry, marks the fifth edition of the ANIS Scholarships program. This year, 11 innovative tech courses, which were designed by young professors from prestigious universities in the country, received sponsorships from the local ITC industry. Course topics cover the fields of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Big Data, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, IoT, Virtual Reality and Tech for All (the introduction of technology in non-IT universities). The cumulative value of the ANIS Scholarships offered by local ITC companies in 2022 is 55,000 euros.

“The ANIS Scholarships program enjoys increasing success year after year. Well received since the first edition, this way of supporting and stimulating teachers who want to prepare their students for the latest challenges in the labor market is attracting more and more applications from academia. It thus becomes increasingly clear that through this initiative we managed to create a real bridge of collaboration and mutual support between the university environment and technology companies. We are equally happy that the sponsors are very involved in the ANIS Scholarships project, some of them have been with us since the first edition of the program. The ITC industry is aware of the potential of the partnership with the academic sphere, as the main source of training generations adapted to the transformations of the digital age”, said Gabriela Mechea, Executive Director of ANIS Romania.

For the 2022 edition of the ANIS Scholarships program, there were 30 applications, being young teachers who teach at the most important universities in Romania. To be eligible, candidates must hold the title of lecturer or university assistant, be at least 40 years old and introduce or update a course/laboratory with innovative teaching methods, in one of the proposed technological fields. The submitted projects were evaluated according to several criteria: the innovative character of the course/laboratory and its sustainability, the structure, objectives and subject matter of the course/laboratory, respectively the profile of the candidate and the innovative teaching methods.

This year’s eligible projects were evaluated by a committee made up of 12 representatives of the academic environment and the ITC industry, respectively: Prof. Dr. Lenuța Alboaie (Professor FI, AI. I. Cuza Iaşi University), Dr. Răzvan Bologa ( Cybernetics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies), Prof. Dr. Cosmin Bonchiș (Vice Dean FMI, University of West Timisoara), Cătălina Dodu (Atos IT Solutions and Services), Dr. Radu Gramatovici (Vice Chancellor, University of Bucharest), Daniel Ilinca ( Softbinator Technologies), Vasile Manta (ACS Dean, Gh. Asachi Technical University Iași), Ion Moldoveanu (Deutsche Bank Global Technology), Dr. Simona Motonga (Vice President of the Senate, Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj), Prof. Dr. Răzvan Rughiniș (Vice Dean ACS, Politehnica University of Bucharest), Dr. Honoriu Valean (Cluj Technical University), Prof. Dr. Radu Vasiu (President of the Senate, Timișoara Polytechnic University).

Sponsored projects in 2022 fall into the following cutting-edge technologies: AI/ML (two courses), Big Data (one course), Blockchain (one course), Cybersecurity (two courses), IoT (two courses), Tech for All ( two courses) and Virtual Reality (one course).

This year’s edition of the ANIS Scholarships was supported by important companies with a presence on the local market, namely: Adobe Systems Romania, Atos IT Solutions and Services, DB Global Technology, Endava Romania, eMAG, Microsoft Romania, Softbinator Technologies, Wipro Technologies and Zitec.

In the 5 editions since the launch of the ANIS Scholarships project, 151 university teachers, from 51 faculties throughout the country, have applied with projects, 58 scholarships in total, worth 280,000 euros, have been awarded.

ANIS 2022 scholarships – sponsored projects

Of the 11 projects chosen for sponsorship in 2022, two are in the AI/ML category. One of them, Image Processing, was proposed by Otilia Zvorișteanu and Ștefan Achirei (Grigore Asachi Technical University in Iasi), receiving the sponsorship of Microsoft Romania. The second one, Intelligent Decision Support Systems, was proposed by Laura-Nicoleta Ivanciu (Technical University of Cluj-Napoca), and was sponsored by Endava Romania.

In the Big Data category is the Software Systems Engineering project, proposed by Bogdan-Costel Mocanu (Polytechnic University of Bucharest). This course was sponsored by Adobe Systems Romania.

Another course, in the Blockchain category, was sponsored by Softbinator Technologies. It is about the project proposed by Costin Carabaș (Polytechnic University of Bucharest), Foundations of Blockchain.

Two sponsored projects in 2022 come from the Cybersecurity area. One is supported by Eduard-Constantin Stăniloiu (Polytechnic University of Bucharest): Computer programming and programming languages ​​4 – the course was sponsored by DB Global Technology). The second project of this kind belongs to Alexandru-Gabriel Tudorache (Grigore Asachi Technical University in Iasi), being entitled Cryptography and data security; this course is sponsored by Atos IT Solutions and Services.

Two other projects selected for sponsorship come from the IoT category. One of them was made by Mădălina-Georgiana Berceanu (Polytechnic University of Bucharest). The Smart Sensor Systems course was sponsored by Wipro Technologies. Also, the Internet of Things course, prepared by Nicolae-Alexandru Botezatu (Grigore Asachi Technical University in Iasi) is sponsored by eMAG.

In the Tech for All category, there are two other courses sponsored by the ANIS Scholarships 2022. The first is Media Innovation and Technology, proposed by Bogdan Oprea (University of Bucharest), and which received a scholarship from Zitec. The second one is made by Șerban-Andrei Zanfirescu (University of Bucharest, it is about the course Computer Science applied in psychology and cognitive sciences. The company Atos IT Solutions and Services offered this sponsorship.

The Virtual Reality category this year includes the Multimedia Technologies and Virtual Media course, proposed by Aurelia Ciupe (University of Cluj). This scholarship was offered with the support of Endava Romania