Date: 16–17 May 2025 · Venue: Collective Innovation, Oslo, Norway
Partners in the FIND ME ERASMUS+ Sport project convened on 16 May in Oslo for their third transnational meeting, hosted by Collective Innovation AS (COLIN). FIND ME’s mission is to help student-athletes identify “dual-career” opportunities by creating a multilingual, easy-to-use platform that maps the support offered by European universities.
Progress to Date & Scientific Foundations
Opening the meeting, Håkon Ege reviewed project milestones and highlighted two peer-reviewed papers that underpin the platform:
Evidence-based review—a systematic synthesis of research on student-athletes’ needs
Eminence-based review—expert perspectives on dual-career practice
Partners agreed to deepen the analysis of FIND ME’s survey and interview data and to disseminate the results to the academic community.
A Platform Coming Soon – One Click to Europe’s Universities
Built with a modular, multilingual architecture, the FIND ME platform will soon enable student-athletes to compare, at a glance, the dual-career services provided by higher-education institutions across Europe—ranging from flexible study timetables and scholarships to mentoring schemes and on-campus training facilities.
Why is this important?
A scoping review of more than 3,000 student-athletes from 23 countries (2014–2024) revealed persistent obstacles: inflexible curricula, limited financial aid and inadequate access to sports infrastructure. By making these factors transparent, FIND ME will help athletes select the university that best matches their academic, sporting and financial needs.
The beta version of the platform will be released shortly, with the full launch scheduled for autumn 2025.
Technical Briefing & Outreach
Matteo Perissinotto (OKKAM) presented the platform’s technical blueprint, noting that data collection draws on prior research and stakeholder feedback.
Engaging universities: Partners explored strategies for onboarding institutions, including resources such as whed.net.
Visibility: Nenad Stojiljković (University of Niš) proposed branded promotional items (bags, notebooks, patches) to raise awareness, while partners will continue sharing project updates on social media.
Cultural Programme
After the meeting, delegates visited the Holmenkollen Ski Museum and ski-jumping tower, followed by a traditional meal at Frognerseteren restaurant. On 17 May they joined local celebrations of Norway’s National Day with fellow project partners.
What’s Next?
6–8 October 2025, Riga: Latest FIND ME developments will be showcased at the EAS Annual Conference.
Platform launch: Full public release planned for autumn 2025.
About FIND ME
FIND ME is funded by the European Union. The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA); neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
